The mood throughout The Country Wife is lighthearted and jovial, interspersed with satirical moments that carry a slightly more cutting quality. Wycherley aims to make many of his characters into objects of amusement; as such, the mood is rarely ever serious, as is characteristic of a comedy of manners.
While characters' antagonistic relationships with one another—such as the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Pinchwife—are often played for laughs and aimed at keeping the mood light, there lies beneath all this joviality the darker aspects of women's treatment within society, as well as the dehumanizing and transactional manner of marital, sexual, and romantic relationships. This contrast between mood and the text's deeper implications can be readily observed in this interaction between Mr. and Mrs. Pinchwife from Act 3, Scene 1:
PINCHWIFE. Nay, if you are not well, but are so concerned because a lewd fellow chanced to lie, and say he liked you, you’ll make me sick too.
MRS PINCHWIFE. Of what sickness?
PINCHWIFE O, of that which is worse than the plague, jealousy.
MRS PINCHWIFE. Pish, you jeer! I’m sure there’s no such disease in our receipt-book at home.
On the surface, the mood in this passage remains rather light, with Pinchwife and Margery bantering in a manner one may be accustomed to hearing from married couples. It is clear, however, from this interaction, that both parties feel trapped in the marriage for different reasons and cannot find any means of recourse. When examined on a deeper level, the implications of this passage are darker and more grim than the overall mood would imply.
