Drama: Love, Marriage and Sexual Politics

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, although "The Country Wife", a 1675 restoration comedy by William Wycherley, and "A Doll's House", an 1879 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, were written at different times, both portray the sexual politics that existed between couples during those periods. The author point out that both stories involve possessive love, marriages fraught with deception and struggles between the sexes; however, these plays differ in several significant ways. The paper relates that Wycherley's Margery is unsophisticated at the beginning of the play while Ibsen's Nora maintains a level of city sophistication throughout the play. The author states that the primary conflict between the couples is sex for Wycherley but money for Ibsen. The paper reveals that, while both Nora and Margery hold the majority of the power by the end of each play, Nora uses her power to leave her husband while Margery stays and manipulates her husband.

Table of Contents:
Love
Marriage
Sexual Politics
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Both men also treat their wives as being stupid. In Act I, Torvald calls out to Nora from his study, asking if it was his "little lark twittering out there" (Ibsen Act 1). He goes on to ask if she is his "little squirrel bustling about" and, later, takes her by her ear and calls her his "little featherhead" (Act 1). Clearly, Torval is objectifying his wife, rather than identifying her as a thinking woman. Similarly, Pinchwife feels that Margery is too stupid to make any plans to deceive him, even when she proves herself to the audience to be very capable of doing just that."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. New York: Dover Thrift, 1992.
• Wycherley, William. The Country Wife. In The Broadview Anthology of Drama: Plays from the Western Theatre, Vol. 1, Jennifer Wise and Craig S. Walker, eds. City: Broadview Press, 2003. 552-604.

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