author
William Wycherley
1640–1716
Known for the sharp, scandalous wit of Restoration comedy, this English playwright is remembered above all for The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer. His work helped define the bold, satirical voice of the London stage after the monarchy was restored.
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William Wycherley [Four Plays]
by William Wycherley
About the author
Born in Shropshire in 1641, William Wycherley spent part of his youth in France before studying at Oxford and later at the Inner Temple. Those experiences fed into the polished manners, social satire, and worldly edge that shaped his writing for the Restoration stage.
He made his name in London with a small group of comedies, including Love in a Wood, The Gentleman Dancing-Master, The Country Wife, and The Plain Dealer. The last two became his most famous works, admired for their biting dialogue and their fearless look at vanity, hypocrisy, and sexual politics in fashionable society.
Wycherley also moved in courtly circles and had a life marked by reversals as well as success, including debt and imprisonment. Even so, his plays endured, and he remains one of the central dramatists of Restoration comedy.