About the work
"The Country Wife" (performed on German stages as "Die Unschuld vom Lande") is a Restoration comedy by William Wycherley. It premiered on January 12, 1675, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London, performed by the King's Company.
Plot
The rake Horner spreads a rumor that he became impotent on a trip to France so he can gain secret access to the wives of jealous husbands. In a parallel plot, the naive, newly married country woman Margery Pinchwife discovers the temptations of London — and Horner.
Cultural significance
Contemporaries hailed the play as the bawdiest and wittiest yet seen on the London stage, and it remains one of the major comedies of the Restoration era; its frank treatment of sexuality has given it a checkered production history for centuries.