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William Wycherley

born 1640/41, died 1.1.1716

Life

English dramatist, born around 1640 in Clive, by Shrewsbury, died 1.1.1716, London. Wycherley wrote comedies, most famously: The Country Wife (1675) and The Plain Dealer (1677) and together with Aphra Behn, John Dryden, George Etherege and Thomas Shadwell he represents the group of Carolean writers who were born before the Civil War and the Restoration of the monarchy. Wycherley's father was the steward to the marquess of Winchester. When William Wycherley was 15 years old, he was sent to school in France. After returning to England in 1660 he entered Queen's College, Oxford to study law. He left soon without a degree. Little is known of his life in the 1660s, except that he wrote several plays and he probably fought in the naval war against the Dutch in 1665. Wycherley was taken up by Barbara Villiers, duchess of Cleveland, whose favours he shared with King Charles II, and he was admitted to the circle of wits at court. Wycherley led a rampant life during at court and thus he fell ill in 1678. Two years later, he secretly married the countess of Drogheda: She was a rigid puritan who kept him henpecked. Due to this he lost his favour at court. Wycherley’s wife died in 1681, leaving him an enormous inheritance. But the will was contested, and Wycherley ruined himself fighting the case and was hence cast into a debtor's prison where he stayed for seven years. Only after this long period of time, he was rescued by King James II, who paid off most of his debts and even allowed him a small pension. This was lost when James was deposed in 1688. William Wyhcerley was born a Roman Catholic but converted later to Protestantism. However, after having been rescued from prison he converted back again to Catholicism.

Works

Wycherley wrote several comedies, which are mainly Johnsonian satires where clever knaves gull their victim. Love in a Wood; or, St. James's Park was Wycherley first play and premiered successfully in 1671 making him famous. A year later The Gentleman Dancing-Master followed but was unsuccessful. These early plays have some farcical moments and followed tradition in presenting a satiric portrait of pretentious characters, like fops, rakes and would-be wits. The most famous comedy is by Wycherley is The Country Wife (1675), which tells the story of Mr Pinchwife, a former gallant and now husband of a young country woman, of whom he is very jealous, coming to London and, along with a number of other husbands, being cuckolded by a young libertine, Mr Horner. The play is often mocking contemporary stock situations and stock characters. Thus The Country Wife is not a light-hearted comedy but a bitter satire, criticizing contemporary morals and attitudes towards love and marriage without presenting a solution. Wycherley’s other widely famous play is The Plain Dealer which was performed in 1676 and is a satire on Wycherley’s well-liked motif greed.

Sources

Corman, Brian: “Comedy” in The Cambridge Companion to English Restoration Theatre. Ed. P. Payne Fisk. Cambridge: CUP, 2003

Korninger, Siegfried: The Restoration Period and the eighteenth century. 1660 – 1780. München: Österreichischer Bundesverlag Wien, 1964.

“Wycherley.” dtv-Lexikon. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 2006.

"Wycherley, William." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 23 Apr. 2009 <http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article-8036>