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Chargement... The Plain Dealerpar William Wycherley
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William Wycherley (1640-1716) was an English dramatist of the Restoration period. He was born at Clive, Shropshire near Shrewsbury. He spent his early years in France, where he was sent, at fifteen, to be educated in the heart of the "precious" circle on the banks of the Charente. While staying there, Wycherley converted to Roman Catholicism. He returned to England shortly before the restoration of King Charles II, and lived at Queen's College, Oxford. Pleasure and the stage were his only interests. His play Love in a Wood was produced early in 1671 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, but was published the next year. It is, however, on his two last comedies -The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer- that Wycherley's fame rests. The Country Wife, produced in 1672 or 1673 and published in 1675, is full of wit, ingenuity, high spirits and conventional humour. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)822.4Literature English English drama Post-Elizabethan 1625-1702Classification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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I initially liked the fact that it was a twist on this stock story, but I found it poorly written. I love the intricate, elaborate language of restoration comedies, but this play's writing is just tortured and confused. And, what's worse, neither witty nor funny. There are lots and lots of insults and sketches of various "types" that the hero, Manly, hates, but they're just the typical sorts of insults (lawyers are bloodsuckers and liars, woman are inconstant, courtiers are flatters, wits are simply insultmongers) you find anywhere, with no imagination to gild them.
And the twist itself (that Olivia, the tested woman) is just a money-hungry seducer just really doesn't strike me as a clever subversion of the genre. Wycherly adds a single decent woman to the play, in the form of the breeches part Fidelia, who follows Manly around as he moons over and tries to be revenged on, Olivia. She's such a poorly drawn character, however, that the miraculous "happy" ending does little to save the play from feeling mysogynistic and bitter. The subplot in which Manly's friend tries to blackmail a pettifogging widow into marrying him is even less likely to arouse any sort of sympathy, in my opinion.
I know, the Restoration was a cynical time, but the better plays at least have some sort of spark to them--wit, sparkling language...something. ( )