Motivic complex of deception in the comedy “The Country Wife” by William Wycherley

The subject of this research is the motif-imagery analysis of the comedy “The Country Wife” by W. Wycherley. The method of motif analysis allowed revealing the core motifs and their implementation in the text, while the structural method allowed outlining the patterns and correlations between motifs. The article is dedicated to the analysis of the motivic complex, as well as the images of the characters. Special attention is given to the protagonist of the comedy Mr. Horner, whose image receives different interpretation of the researchers – from crafty libertine to playwright. W. Wycherley introduces an entire gallery of hypocrites, and each one of them seeks to fulfill their hidden motives. Comedy “The Country Wife” is considered the pinnacle of W. Wycherley’s work and multiple times has become the subject of scientific research. However, the novelty of this study lies in the analysis of the motivic complex of deception in the comedy. The study reveals the following motives associated with deception: motive of deception, motive of disguise, motive of writing / giving the note, motive of infidelity, motive of fear of infidelity (fear of becoming cuckold), motive of theater that is directly related to the image the hypocritical hero Harry Horner. All these motives create the general background of the work, and are the elements of the true or phantom motive. The character type is also important for realization of the motivic complex. The classification of W. Janz clearly indicates the prevalence of two types of hypocrisy in the comedy under review: moral (Lady Fidget, Mrs. Dainty Fidget and Mrs. Squeamish, Mr. Sparkish, Mr. Pinchwife) and intellectual (Mr. Horner).

Introduction

When and how did Pope become the literary colossus we know today? Until now scholars of Pope’s early career have focused on his involvement with the so-called ‘Scriblerus Club’ comprising Swift, Arbuthnot, Gay, and Parnell, and the circles of famous authors such as Joseph Addison and William Wycherley. This introduction begins by setting out a new context for understanding Pope’s early career: in the literary circles dominated by the Duke of Buckingham and his friends. It then explains the holistic methodological approach of the book and how its questions intersect with existing scholarship on Pope and his world. This is followed by a brief outline of the chapters.

Travesties

This chapter turns to the comedies of William Wycherley, which have long been taken to epitomize the libertine spirit of Restoration court culture. However, it argues that Wycherley (and others) pushed back against the court. The playwright's close relationship with the monarch enabled this resistance: he enjoyed royal patronage, had an affair with a royal mistress, and even received a personal visit from a concerned Charles II when he fell ill. The connection began before the poet's birth: Wycherley's family lost much of their wealth supporting the Stuarts during the civil wars, which gave William access to the court's inner circle. Such deep connections have often been read to suggest that Restoration plays promoted the aristocratic ideology of the Stuarts. The libertinism in the comedies, Jeremy Webster, Harold Weber, and others have argued, emerged from a libertine court culture, and the scandalous nature of the plays reflected the scandalous experimentation at court. But Wycherley did not include scandalous scenes to create libertine solidarity; instead, he exploited the leeway created by libertine envelope-pushing to critique royal ambitions with two figures that have entered standard theatrical vocabulary: in The Gentleman Dancing-Master (1672), the fop, and in The Country Wife (1675), the provincial girl shocked into sophistication. Wycherley immortalized but did not invent these two figures; in different ways they each come to embody anxieties at the heart of many comedies of the period. The chapter concludes that Wycherley is an outlier for his extremity and wit, but representative in his concerns.

Ways of the World

This book explores cosmopolitanism as it emerged during the Restoration and the role theater played in both memorializing and satirizing its implications and consequences. Rooted in the Stuart ambition to raise the status of England through two crucial investments — global traffic, including the slave trade, and cultural sophistication — this intensified global orientation led to the creation of global mercantile networks and to the rise of an urban British elite who drank Ethiopian coffee out of Asian porcelain at Ottoman-inspired coffeehouses. Restoration drama exposed cosmopolitanism's most embarrassing and troubling aspects, with such writers as Joseph Addison, Aphra Behn, John Dryden, and William Wycherley dramatizing the emotional and ethical dilemmas that imperial and commercial expansion brought to light. Altering standard narratives about Restoration drama, the book shows how the reinvention of theater in this period helped make possible performances that held the actions of the nation up for scrutiny, simultaneously indulging and ridiculing the violence and exploitation being perpetuated. In doing so, it reveals an otherwise elusive consistency between Restoration genres (comedy, tragedy, heroic plays, and tragicomedy), disrupts conventional understandings of the rise and reception of early capitalism, and offers a fresh perspective on theatrical culture in the context of the shifting political realities of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Britain.

«Que en estos nuestros reinos llamábamos…»: a la búsqueda de una naturalización coeva de títulos y fórmulas de tratamiento en la traducción de la dramaturgia estuarda

Resumen. La traducción de textos no-contemporáneos, ‘diacrónicos’, se puede plantear desde la lealtad romántica al original hasta la absoluta domesticación. Centrándonos en la onomástica de los títulos heredados y adquiridos y en las fórmulas de tratamiento, proponemos una naturalización histórica y cultural, de modo que la reacción del público ante la puesta en escena de la traducción sea lo más equivalente posible a la del público de la cultura de partida, hoy en día.La parte teórica arranca con la presentación y explicación de lo que entendemos como tres modos básicos de traslación, junto con la argumentación de nuestra propuesta metodológica. A continuación, se expone una taxonomía de títulos heredados o adquiridos y de las fórmulas de tratamiento posibles en los textos originales y su tratamiento traductológico, según nuestras premisas.La parte práctica se inicia con una breve comparación de las versiones que cuatro traducciones canónicas, al alemán, el francés, el italiano y el español, dieron a dos títulos heredados o adquiridos en dos comedias, dos obras históricas y una ‘problem comedy’ shakesperianas. Pero nuestro corpus propiamente hablando consta de seis títulos heredados o adquiridos (Lord, Lady, Sir, Gentleman, Mr., Mrs.), veinte fórmulas de tratamiento de respeto, entre pares, incluyendo seis insultantes o degradantes (Your Grace, Lady, Your Ladyship, Your Worship, Worshipful, Right Worshipful, Right honourable, Sir, Fellow, Goodman/Goodwife, Master, Mistress, Madam, Miss, Rascal, Rogue, Sirrah, Wench, Hussy, Slut) y cuatro fórmulas paródicas o burlescas (Your Mastership, Your Solicitorship, His Wise Head, Reverend Ladies), extraídos de tres comedias ‘estuardas’ (Carlos I y Carlos II) del siglo XVII: A new way to pay old debts (1633) de Philip Massinger, The country wife (1675) de William Wycherley y Love for love (1695) de William Congreve.Palabras clave: onomástica, equivalencia histórica y cultural, traducción, naturalización, comedia del inglés moderno temprano

1674–1675

London continued to be the centre for literary publications ranging from cheap ephemera broadsides and ballads to works offering self-improvement, such as dictionaries, and new fiction, called novels, for entertainment. The ongoing wars with the Dutch resulted in satires and lampoons on the government and the court. Parliament was increasingly concerned with the royal succession and manuscript newsbooks carried information and gossip from London and the continent into the provinces, including the Indian wars in New England. The taste in theatre favoured witty contemporary comedies by William Wycherley, John Dryden, and Aphra Behn and sensational tragedies by new dramatists including Thomas Otway and Nathaniel Lee. Productions often featured spectacular scenery, music, and special effects. Didactic writers such as Richard Baxter and Samuel Clarke offered guidance for humble readers in everyday devotional situations.

Renovating the Stage: Companies, Actresses, Repertoire, Theatre Innovations, and the Touring Companies

Within three months of Charles II’s return, the London theatres were reopened, with two companies granted royal patents. Thomas Killigrew formed the King’s Company, and William Davenant the Duke’s Company. Initially the repertoire consisted of pre-war plays, with those of Shakespeare, Beaumont, and Fletcher popular. Regular theatre-goer Samuel Pepys recorded his approval of the new actors such as Thomas Betterton, Edward Kynaston, and Charles Hart, and actresses including Nell Gwyn and Elizabeth Barry. The companies invested in new theatres incorporating continental designs for proscenium arches, scenery, and effects at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and Dorset Garden. Dramatists providing new plays included John Dryden, Thomas Shadwell, Aphra Behn, William Wycherley, and George Etherege.