English Study Buddy

1.    What view of the country do you gain from this play?

2.    ”The crime’s the less when ’tis not known.” How does the ending of the play reflect the supposed truth of this statement?

3.    ”In this world of trickery and ingenious deception there is no room for serious moral judgment.”  Do you agree with this assessment of The Country Wife?

4.    ”I love to be envied, and would not marry a wife that I alone could love; loving alone is as dull as eating alone.” Discuss Wycherley’s treatment of love and marriage in the play in the light of this quotation.

1.      “All the characters wish that their lives were better than they are, but the play constantly reminds us that life does not always fit our wishes.”  Discuss Farquhar’s view of life as it is presented in this play.

2.      “The basic stratagem of the Beaux is simple and unpleasant; but what makes Farquhar’s comedy genial is the misunderstandings and mistakes that follow from it.” Comment on Farquhar’s use of comic misunderstandings and complications that might be said to make his comedy more genial.