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Author: William Wycherley Publisher: A&C Black ISBN: 1408179911 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 187
Book Description
'He's a fool that marries, but he's a greater fool that does not marry a fool.' This bawdy, hilarious, subversive and wickedly satirical drama pokes fun at the humourless, the jealous, and the adulterous alike. It features a country wife, Margery, whose husband believes she is too naïve to cuckold him; and an anti-hero, Horner, who pretends to be impotent in order to have unrestrained access to the women keen on 'the sport'. A number of licentious and hypocritical women request Horner's services – the country wife among them. The Country Wife has provoked powerfully mixed reactions over the years. The seventeenth century libertine king Charles II saw it twice, and is said to have joined the 'dance of the cuckolds' at the end of one performance; the eighteenth century actor-playwright David Garrick declared it 'the most licentious play in the English language'; the Victorian Macaulay compared it to a skunk, because it was 'too filthy to handle and too noisome even to approach'. Twentieth century productions heralded it a Restoration masterpiece. Sexually frank, and as ready to criticise marriage as infidelity, the virtuosity, linguistic energy, brilliant wit, naughtiness and complexity of this ribald play have made it a staple of the modern stage. This student edition contains a lengthy, entirely new introduction, by leading scholar, Tiffany Stern, with a background on the author, structure, characters, genre, themes, original staging and performance history, as well as an updated bibliography and a fully annotated version of the playtext.
Author: John A. Vance Publisher: University of Delaware Press ISBN: 9780874137088 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 268
Book Description
"This is a study of the four plays of William Wycherley - long considered one of England's most important playwrights especially of the theatrically rich Restoration period, 1660-1700. The subject of many a study by the period's leading scholars, Wycherley has been perceived as a vigorous satirist, setting out "quite openly to teach his audience" about a multitude of personal and social sins." "This study takes issue with such impressions. It argues that Wycherley was not so much an attacking playwright but rather a thinking one - little concerned with larger social, political, and moral matters but one fascinated instead by the workings and motivations of fallible and insecure men and women - by that which is constant, pervasive and obsessive."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Author: William Wycherley Publisher: A&C Black ISBN: 1408179911 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 187
Book Description
'He's a fool that marries, but he's a greater fool that does not marry a fool.' This bawdy, hilarious, subversive and wickedly satirical drama pokes fun at the humourless, the jealous, and the adulterous alike. It features a country wife, Margery, whose husband believes she is too naïve to cuckold him; and an anti-hero, Horner, who pretends to be impotent in order to have unrestrained access to the women keen on 'the sport'. A number of licentious and hypocritical women request Horner's services – the country wife among them. The Country Wife has provoked powerfully mixed reactions over the years. The seventeenth century libertine king Charles II saw it twice, and is said to have joined the 'dance of the cuckolds' at the end of one performance; the eighteenth century actor-playwright David Garrick declared it 'the most licentious play in the English language'; the Victorian Macaulay compared it to a skunk, because it was 'too filthy to handle and too noisome even to approach'. Twentieth century productions heralded it a Restoration masterpiece. Sexually frank, and as ready to criticise marriage as infidelity, the virtuosity, linguistic energy, brilliant wit, naughtiness and complexity of this ribald play have made it a staple of the modern stage. This student edition contains a lengthy, entirely new introduction, by leading scholar, Tiffany Stern, with a background on the author, structure, characters, genre, themes, original staging and performance history, as well as an updated bibliography and a fully annotated version of the playtext.
Author: William R. Chadwick Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG ISBN: 3111632520 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 208
Author: William Wycherley Publisher: OUP Oxford ISBN: 0191611425 Category : Drama Languages : en Pages : 528
Book Description
Wycherley's four comedies are admired for their satirical wit, farcical humour, vivid characterization, and social criticism.Love in a Wood, a lively comedy of intrigue, established him as a brilliant new dramatist.The Gentleman Dancing-Master, in contrast, disappointed contemporary audiences, but the central relationship between Hippolyta and Gerrard features an original and sympathetic study of a young woman's attitudes and feelings. The Country Wife is a sharp but also highly amusing attack on social and sexual hypocrisy. The Plain Dealer, a powerful dramatic satire loosely based on Moliere's Le Misanthrope, continues and enlarges Wycherley's assault on greed and corruption. Under the General Editorship of Michael Cordner of the University of York, the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. In addition, there is a scholarly introduction, a note on staging, and detailed annotation. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Author: William Wycherley Publisher: Courier Corporation ISBN: 0486153606 Category : Drama Languages : en Pages : 353
Book Description
Comedy classics that defined a new era in drama: The Country Wife by William Wycherley; The Man of Mode by Sir George Etheredge; The Rover by Aphra Behn; and The Relapse by Sir John Vanbrugh.
Author: Barbara Kachur Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN: 1137047798 Category : Literary Criticism Languages : en Pages : 248
Book Description
Etherege & Wycherley is the first book-length study devoted solely to these two leading comic dramatists of the early Restoration period. B.A. Kachur explores the major plays by George Etherege and William Wycherley within the context of the cultural, social and political changes that marked the reign of Charles II, and addresses issues such as marriage, manners, heroism, sovereignty and anxieties over class hierarchies which preoccupied late seventeenth-century England. The book provides studies of the following plays: - She Would If She Could - The Man of Mode - The Country Wife - The Plain Dealer In addition to examining the plays as cultural and historical texts, Kachur offers: - Biographical sketches detailing the dramaturgical styles of the two playwrights - An overview of Charles II's reign, including its effects on the dramatic literature of the era - A survey of Carolean theatre and drama outlining innovations in staging, and major dramatic genres - Performance histories which illuminate the ways in which twentieth-century directors have interpreted the comedies to make them accessible to modern audiences
Author: Barbara A. Kachur Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan ISBN: 9780333575406 Category : Literary Criticism Languages : en Pages : 240
Book Description
Examining the major plays of George Etherege and William Wycherley within the context of the cultural and historical changes that marked the early years of Charles II's reign, this book addresses various issues such as marriage, manners, heroism and sovereignty that preoccupied late seventeenth-century Britain. In addition to exploring the plays as cultural and historical texts, this study offers performance histories that illuminate ways in which twentieth-century directors have altered and interpreted these plays to make them accessible to modern audiences.
Author: William Wycherley
Author: John A. Vance
Author: William Wycherley
Author: William R. Chadwick
Author: Katharine M. Roger 
Author: William Wycherley
Author: William Wycherley
Author: Melita Ann Wade
Author: Barbara Kachur
Author: B. Eugene McCarthy
Author: Barbara A. Kachur