William Wycherley spent part of his life in France, and ended up being super-influenced by French literature (and probably was a member of the Big Wig Fan Club). Although he was supposed to train as a lawyer, he was obsessed with theater, and devoted his time to writing plays when he was actually supposed to be studying the law. Procrastination paid off for Willy, and now he's considered most of the important playwrights in Restoration literature.

Wycherley specialized in Comedies of Manners. His two most famous plays are The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer. Read more about these two below.

The Country Wife (1675)

The Country Wife is Restoration comedy at its most scandalous. It's a play full of sexual intrigue and sex jokes and, well, just a whole bunch of people being very naughty. These characters deserve lumps of coal in their stockings, and that's a fact.

At the center of the play is Horner, a man who pretends that he's impotent so that he can have affairs with married women. A secondary plot involves Margery Pinchwife, a wife from the country who comes to London and is seduced by all that London has to offer… and we mean all.

The Plain-Dealer (1676)

The Plain Dealer is a comedy about a sailor (Captain Manly) who falls in love with a woman only to have her ditch him for his friend. It tells of Captain Manly's attempt to gain revenge on his ex-lover and her new man.

Like Wycherley's other work, The Plain-Dealer is full of sexual innuendo and lots of laughs. It's partly based on the play The Misanthrope by Molière, who was a French playwright that influenced a number of Restoration writers.

Chew on This

Like many of his contemporaries, William Wycherley's writing was influenced by French literature. His play The Plain-Dealer is based on The Misanthrope by the French playwright Molière. Delve into The Plain-Dealer here.

William Wycherley's The Country Wife is one of the most famous comedies of the Restoration period. Ready for some fun? Well then jump right into the play here.