Description
The Country Wife was first performed in January 1672 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It traces several plot lines, the principle of which follows notorious rake Harry Horner’s attempt to carry on affairs by spreading a rumor that he was now a eunuch and no longer a threat to any man’s wife. It was controversial for its sexual explicitness even in its own time, having several notorious scenes filled with extended sexual innuendo and women carousing, singing riotous songs, and behaving exactly like their male counterparts.
With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 the eighteen year ban on theater imposed by the Puritans was lifted. Charles II’s time in France had nurtured a fascination with the stage and, with his...