Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Country Wife, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Reputation, Appearance, and Hypocrisy
Love, Marriage, and Misogyny
Theatre, Puritanism, and Forbidden Desire
Town vs. Country
Summary
Analysis
The next morning, in Pinchwife’s house, Lucy dresses Alithea for her wedding to Sparkish. Although Lucy admits that Alithea looks pretty, she feels that she has wasted her effort and that she may as well have dressed “a corpse for a second hand grave” as a bride for her wedding day. Lucy is angry with Alithea because she has sent Harcourt away, but Alithea insists that she has long been promised to Sparkish and is not willing to go back on her word of “honor” and break her engagement. Lucy says that it is wrong for Alithea to marry a man she does not love. Although Alithea thinks she may learn to love Sparkish with time, Lucy thinks this is unlikely.
Lucy feels that Alithea’s beauty is wasted on Sparkish because he does not see it and only thinks about himself. She views Alithea’s wedding as a type of “death” because Alithea will be mistreated and will no longer be seen by men who might love her. Alithea, unlike the other women in the play, is genuinely “honorable” and would be unlikely to cheat on Sparkish even if she disliked him.
Themes
Lucy laments that people put so much stock in “honor” as, she feels, it does them more harm than good. Alithea admits that she likes Harcourt more than Sparkish but feels obliged to Sparkish because he has such faith in her “virtue.” Alithea is afraid of marrying a jealous husband as she dreads the way that jealous husbands treat their wives. Her greatest fear is that a jealous husband may send her to live in the country. Lucy remarks that the thought of a life in the country terrifies the town women as much as the thought of being confined in a monastery.
Lucy suggests that “honor” gets you nowhere in Restoration society. Alithea believes that Sparkish is not jealous because he believes she is incapable of being dishonest. However, he is not jealous because he does not notice her or care about what she does. Alithea is wary of a jealous husband because she has seen her brother’s example. However, a small amount of jealousy is considered necessary to prove love. In European Catholic countries, promiscuous women could be put in a monastery as punishment. The country is believed to be sexless, like a monastery, because one is away from the hedonistic social life of the town.
Themes
Sparkish arrives accompanied by Harcourt, who is dressed up as a parson. Alithea is incredulous and, when she asks why Harcourt is dressed this way, Sparkish informs her that this is not Harcourt, but Harcourt’s brother Ned, who is a chaplain. Alithea is amazed at how gullible Sparkish is and tries desperately to convince him that this is Harcourt in disguise. Sparkish thinks that she is the one who is foolish and unreasonable.
Sparkish is easily fooled and has been taken in by Harcourt’s trick. He believes he is too intelligent to be fooled and, therefore, is easy to fool. Alithea, who is clear sighted, immediately sees through Harcourt’s ruse. Ironically, Sparkish believes she is the fool when she tries to point it out.
Themes
Harcourt insists that he is a chaplain and wishes to marry Alithea that morning, but Alithea easily sees through him and wishes to postpone the wedding. Lucy takes Harcourt’s side and tries to persuade Alithea to let the “chaplain” marry her. Finally, Sparkish, who will not listen to Alithea’s objections, marches her off to be married, followed by Harcourt (the “chaplain”), and Lucy.
Harcourt implies that he, himself, wants to marry Alithea. This is a pun on the term marry, which means both to be married to and to perform the ceremony of a marriage.
Themes
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