Journal Entry #1: The Country Wife

I really liked The Country Wife; it reminded me a lot of Moliere’s Tartuffe, which I read in one of my previous literature classes. There is no doubt Moliere’s work was an influence on this one. It was a controversial play, just like Moliere’s, and didn’t go over well with the higher officials due to the amount of sexuality it portrayed. Just like Tartuffe, the officials wanted to keep it off stage and from printing due to the message it was portraying. In my opinion, it was showing how corrupt society was becoming. 

This play is an example of just how much of an impact Moliere’s plays made on other writers. The set up seemed quite similar to Tartuffe: the antagonist, Horner, makes a claim of impotence (in other words, he can’t “get it up”) to try to gain the trust of the other characters. After he has done this, he will use his “charm” and sexual references to lure the ladies in so he can have his way with them. As the play states, he wants to “cuckold” them. Horner, whose name suggests just what it seems to intend (“horny”), is the womanizer. Horner is the Tartuffe of this play, he tricks the family and others into believing that he has given up his old ways, when really he is playing them all. Alethea, who will be marrying Sparkish, seems to be the only one who can see through Horner’s plan. Alethea represents Damis, the son of Orgon in Taruffe who eventually takes things into his own hands to prove Tartuffe guilty; and Sparkish represents Orgon, who is completely oblivious to what is going on in the household. The roles of the household are not the same as in Tartuffe, but the qualities and relations of “who’s who” are the same. I believe that Sparkish represents a wide group of people who become so oblivious to what is occurring in society, and do not want to admit the problems occurring. I often wonder how people can be so oblivious to what is going on around them; I can understand if someone does not want to get caught up in the drama that is around them because that can be hard to handle and you do not want to get lost in it all to where you cannot get out; but, to completely isolate yourself from your surroundings and the occurrences around you, especially in your family, that is absurd. In my opinion, it is as if they are happy with their life and what they have, so, they assume there is nothing wrong as long as nothing is happening to them. However, when something does happen it seems they try to put the blame on someone else even when they do not have all the facts. We see this in the play when Margery writes a letter to Horner, but finishes the letter with Alethea’s signature. Pinchwife later tells Sparkish about the letter, but fails to mention that Margery wrote it, therefore, making it seems as if Alethea is cheating on him. He becomes outraged and admits that he was only attracted to her for her money. 

In society, you can look at someone who can seem so good natured but it takes on slight situation to see their true colors. You can see situations like these even today. I’ve seen it many times with family and even some close friends. It does not take much to see the true nature of someone, but it’s shocking when it is someone who you have put your trust in and care about. Betrayal is one of the main issues that this play is trying to stress; it’s making the reader aware that society is full of betrayal and deception. Whether the deception is coming from someone you just met, or whether it is from a friend, family member, or someone else you put your trust in, like a government official. One of the reasons that government officials did not want plays such as Tartuffe and The Country Wife to be printed or performed on stage is because they believe the writers are oppressing them and the laws they have set. The writers are simply making the public aware of the corruption within the government and society; the laws they have set are flawed, especially in the marriage system. In these times, it was dangerous to try and speak your mind to government officials, so, really the only way someone could get their point across was to write about it. If you could make the public more aware of the problems that were trying to be covered up, in the eyes of some people you were a saint. 

Though the public was aware of womanizers, The Country Wife brought about the outlook that people would have to be extra cautious because it could even be someone whom you have put your trust into. This is quite scary; to think that someone you know and trust could be after your wife. In my opinion, in today’s society more than ever, sex is becoming more main-stream. Hormones are raging, and men will give it their all to get what they want. I have seen so many times, guys trying to use their charm on women and gain their trust but looking to get nothing more than sex from a woman. Sometimes the women know that and are okay with these one-night stands, but when a girl thinks there is something special, only to face heartbreak, it is sad. Quite a few of my friends have had to go through this, and it is sick that people who can be so deceptive. I’m also sad to say that I have known guys and been friends with guys who have done that. They will do all they can to gain the trust of a girl just to get sex; I’ve seen it go on for weeks and even months. I have never understood this, a lot of people say that women are complicated and men are so simple; but, I’m not so sure of that anymore, because despite being a man I can say that some men are quite difficult to understand as well. How someone can be so heartless only to fulfill sexual needs, and even go as far as getting someone in a relationship to cheat, is beyond my understanding.  

The Country Wife is a great play once you take the time to understand it and pay attention to it. I like it a lot because, like I said before, it makes the reader aware of so much that is going on in society; and even if we knew it was going on, it helps make aware how much more serious it is than we originally thought.