Mrs Pinchwife Believes example essay topic

Gialloreto 1 Chris GialloretoEnglish 301-02-Dr. Griffin February 21, 2001 The Representation of Marriage in The Country Wife William Wycherley represents marriage in a peculiar way in The Country Wife. The classic marital values of love, trust, and becoming one with your partner in a bond of love are distorted by intense emotion. The appropriately named Mr. Pinchwife is a jealous husband who moves his new wife Margery to the country with hopes keep her from the outside world, namely the city of London, and the inevitable infidelity that lies there in his mind. However, by denying Mrs. Pinchwife her freedom, Mr. Pinchwife alienates her and encourages her resentment of him. Early in the play, when Pinchwife describes his new wife to his friends as 'ugly,' 'ill-bred,' and 'silly' (I, i, 419), the reader realizes that Pinchwife is terrified that another man will take his wife if he does not degrade and hide her. Pinchwife also states that 'Good wives and private soldiers should be ignorant' (I, i, 400).

Pinchwife believes that he has married a truly innocent wife, saying, 'A fool cannot contrive to make her husband a cuckold' (I, i, 432). The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word 'cuckold' as 'A man married to an unfaithful wife. ' Mrs. Pinchwife does initially appear to be na " ive in that she does not know what jealousy is (II, i, 56). Jealousy, however, and Pinchwife's preoccupation with it, becomes a central theme to the plot, and is the motive for many of Pinchwife's actions. Alithea, Pinchwife's sister, says about jealousy: Gialloreto 2'Jealousy... begets a thousand plagues... the loss of her honor, her quiet... her life sometimes; and what's as bad almost, the loss of this town, that is, she is sent into the country, which is the last ill usage of a husband to a wife' (IV, i, 57-67). Mrs. Pinchwife has now begun to realize how controlling Mr. Pinchwife really is.

She even refers to herself as a 'poor lonely sullen bird in a cage' ( , i, 4). Mrs. Pinchwife has grown very curious to see the city, especially when Pinchwife mentions Horner's admiration of her. Pinchwife angrily scolds his sister, saying, 'Do not teach my wife where the men are to be found... I bid you to keep her in ignorance, as I do' (II, i, 56).

But, the next day, Pinchwife agrees to take his wife, 'masked' as a young boy, into town, with hopes of dispelling her curiosity without real contact with the world. However, she is drawn away from her husband, and meets with the 'cuckold-making' Horner, who kisses her and gives her gifts. Mrs. Pinchwife is no longer a young, na " ive, innocent country wife, but a woman longing for her freedom. Pinchwife now realizes the threat presented by Horner. Desperate to end the relationship between Horner and his wife, Pinchwife forces Mrs. Pinchwife to write Horner a cruel letter, which she cleverly switches with a second, kind letter before it is sent. Mrs. Pinchwife is later caught composing a love letter to Horner, but convinces Mr. Pinchwife that she was writing it for his sister Alithea.

Pinchwife then states that 'I'd rather give him my sister than lend him my wife, and such alliance will prevent his pretensions to my wife' (V, i, 65). Mrs. Pinchwife, again in disguise, this time as Alithea, is then ledGialloreto 3 by her own husband to Horner's house. Slipping away with Horner, Mrs. Pinchwife believes that she is freed from her husband, to be with Horner forever (V, iv, 214). Horner replies that he can not be with her because she is married to Mr. Pinchwife. Later in the scene, after Mr. Pinchwife has realized what has happened and reaches for his sword, Mrs. Pinchwife refers to Horner as her second husband (V, iv, 287). In the end, Alithea assures Mr. Pinchwife that his wife is innocent (V, iv, 394).

She is not blamed for her deception, rather it is called 'the usual innocent revenge for a husband's jealousy' (V, iv, 422). Lucy, Alithea's maid, is quoted as saying 'Can there be a greater cheat or wrong done to a man than give him your person without your heart?' (IV, i, 19). In The Country Wife, marriage is viewed, particularly by Mr. Pinchwife, in an unusually jealous and deceitful light. Harcourt describes marriage as 'Rather a sign of interest than love' (II, i, 237). Lucy says of marriage: 'Marrying to increase love is like gaming to become rich, alas you only lose what little stock you had before' (IV, i, 23). For Mr. Pinchwife, his wife needed to be protected from and deprived of contact with outside world.

This led to her eventual resentment of him, and her longing for another man, but then ultimately to her going back to Mr. Pinchwife. The Country Wife depicts a strange view of the traditional bond of trust and love that is marriage..