William Wycherley

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William Wycherley

William Wycherley (* 1640 in Clive , Shropshire , † January 1, 1716 in London ) was an English playwright of the Restoration period .

Life

He was born in Clive, Shropshire , was able to study in France because of his wealthy family , converted there to Catholicism and devoted himself to French literature and culture. In 1660 he returned to England and joined the Inner Temple Bar , but did not pursue his studies seriously. Instead, he was interested in the fashionable appearances and literary currents of his era and spent time with the Restoration Wits such as John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester , Etherege and Charles Sedley .

In 1671 he wrote his first piece, Love in a Wood . His most famous pieces are The Country Wife (1675) (German Die Unschuld vom Lande ) and The Plain Dealer (1676).

After 1676 Wycherley turned his back on the theater and in 1679 secretly married a wealthy widow, the Countess of Drogheda, (a connection that aroused the monarch's displeasure since Charles II had offered Wycherley a position at court). When the widow died shortly thereafter, Wycherley inherited the property, but debts and litigation earned him several years in prison. He was finally released at the behest of King James II , who paid Wycherley an annual pension.

The Miscellany poems appeared in 1704. The young Alexander Pope was an admirer of Wycherley and probably helped him with the editing of the poems.

expenditure

  • The Complete Works of William Wycherley . Ed. Montague Summers. 4 vols. London, 1924.
  • The Country Wife and Other Plays . Ed. Peter Dixon. Oxford University Press, 1996 [2008].
  • The Plays of William Wycherley . Ed. Arthur Friedman. Oxford, 1979.

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Wycherley, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English playwright
DATE OF BIRTH 1640
PLACE OF BIRTH Clive , Shropshire
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 1716
Place of death London