William Wycherly’s The Country Wife by Rachel Atkins
Margery Pinchwife is a new bride, just arrived in the city with her husband and sister-in-law as Harry Horner, a notorious playboy, spreads the false rumor of his own impotence as cover for his affairs with the “honorable” women of society, including Sir Jaspar’s wife and her cohorts in the so-called “virtuous gang.” Horner’s former friend and lover, Jack Pinchwife, desperately tries to keep Margery under his control and locked away from the temptations of city life, while also marrying off his sister Alithea to Sparkish, a ridiculous fop. Margery makes her escape, Sparkish and Mr. Pinchwife show their true selves, Horner adds Margery to his conquests, and Alithea finds a better match with Horner’s friend Harcourt. Throughout, Alithea’s maid Lucy manipulates behind the scenes of everyone’s schemes, exposing a tangled web of sexual innuendo, social hypocrisy, code-switching, lies, and intrigue that leaves no stereotype unturned.