William Wycherley (1641–1715) is now only remembered for one play, The Country Wife. But Wycherley's satire is as sharp now as ever and his revelation of the follies and crimes of his society is still both wickedly funny and savagely perceptive.
In this book, which was originally published in 1979, Peter Holland brings together the disciplines of theatre history and literary criticism in a close study of the manner and significance of the staging of plays in the Restoration.