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Essay / Hornor's deceptive ways of gaining power While some characters appear powerful due to their status, honor, and reputation, other seemingly powerless characters are able to gain power over these characters through trickery . The protagonist Horner deliberately places himself and his reputation in a situation seen as powerless and deceptively manages to gain power over many other characters. The women in the play, in a less powerful position due to the unfortunate gender roles of the time rather than by choice, also use deception to gain power over their seemingly more powerful husbands using Horner's betrayal to their advantage . Wycherley, by showing that the women in the play can only rise to power by taking advantage of Horner's unlikely situation, may have ridiculed the gender roles of the time and suggested that they were unfair. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayAlthough it may seem more likely that one can derive the most power from a strong reputation and a good status, the protagonist Horner deliberately tarnished his own reputation in order to gain more power unexpectedly. Power in The Country Wife tends to consist of the ability to threaten another character, usually of a sexual nature. Husbands fear becoming cuckolds if their wives sleep with other men. Horner spread the rumor that a botched surgery had left him impotent, leaving friends and acquaintances with the impression that he had lost his power and was even less of a man. At the end of a long joke about store signs, his friend Sparkish delivers the punchline “Have you never seen Master Horner?” He lives in Russell Street, and that's a sign of a man, you know, since he came out of France! (Wycherley 1.1.273-5). Sparkish suggests that, since Horner is now apparently "powerless", he is no longer really a man, just an indication of one. A store sign is a physical representation of what the store offers, but offers nothing beyond that. Similarly, Horner is now seen as a representation of a man incapable of engaging in manly activities, such as reproduction. By losing his ability to reproduce, he loses the only power he would otherwise have over other men and which seems to concern them most; the ability to threaten other men with the prospect of becoming cuckolded. Now that he is considered a eunuch, he has freer access to his friends' wives. Another friend of his, Sir Jaspar, after himself confirming the rumor that Horner was now practically a eunuch, said to him: “Please come and dine with me, and play cards with my wife after dinner; you are still fit for women at that game” (1.1.106-7). He first shows that he has been deceived enough by Horner to trust him in the company of his wife by inviting her into his presence. He then compares Horner to a woman. At the time of the play, women still lacked most forms of power, showing that he perceived Horner as less powerful due to her physical condition. The phrase "suitable for women at this game" also implies that he is not suitable for women at other "games", namely sexual intercourse, another indication that he no longer views Horner as a threat holding any form of power over him. him. Ironically, his confidence that Horner won't be able to make him a cuckold is exactly what turns him into a cuckold. Horner, by making himself appear less powerful and less threatening, acquires morepower over husbands that they cannot perceive by taking advantage of his permitted proximity to the married women in the play, many of whom become his lovers. they too gain power over their husbands, power being defined as the capacity to threaten. While Horner acted deceptively to alter his audience perception so that he would be seen as less powerful, the women in the play are inherently less powerful simply because of their gender. While Horner acted to increase his power over the men in the play, the women act deceptively in order to gain power over the men that they never had to begin with. Their power lies in their ability to use trickery to secretly subvert their husbands' wishes and, like Horner, to turn husbands into cuckolds. The most restrained woman in the play, Margery Pinchwife, is frequently locked away by her husband so that she will not leave the house and have an affair, particularly with Horner. However, when her husband finds her writing a letter to Horner, she gives the impression that she is doing Alithea a favor. Concerning Alithea, Margery’s husband says, “Well, I solve the problem; Horner will have it. I prefer to give him my sister rather than lend him my wife, and such an alliance will prevent his claims on my wife” (5.1.64-66). This is another statement heavy with dramatic irony. Margery disguises herself as Alithea, so Pinchwife is "ready for Horner [his] wife", and the "alliance" created when the disguised Margery and Horner meet is exactly the one Pinchwife was trying to avoid. Here Margery gains power over her husband by tricking him into allowing her to make him a cuckold. The power wielded by Horner and her lovers is shown to the audience most explicitly in the way they speak to each other in front of their husbands. Particularly in the famous "Chinese scene", Horner and his wives speak in a way that makes it clear to the audience that they are having an affair, but which the husbands dismiss as innocent conversations because they, still believing Horner impotent, are ignorant. implications. The Chinese scene begins with Horner and Lady Fidget locked in a room while her husband Sir Jaspar and their friend Squeamish stand outside. When they go out, Fidget says that she "worked hard and musty to get the prettiest piece of china" (4.3.87-8). The word "china" in this play has already been given sexual connotations, although they were subtle and might not be understood until Squeamish also asks Horner to give him some china. Fidget tells her "as far as I know, he doesn't have any more" (4.3.197-8), insinuating that she has finished him off and that he no longer has the energy to have sex again . Squeamish persists, so Horner tells him, "I can't make china for you all, but I'll have a cart for you too, another time" (4.3.203-4). A “scroll” refers to a cylindrical porcelain vase, clearly a phallic symbol, indicating that Horner also offers to satisfy his sexual needs once he is physically capable. (4.3. footnote 204). It's still possible to interpret the scene as innocent until Fidget asks Horner, regarding what he had just said to Squeamish: "What do you mean by that promise?" and Horner replies "Alas, she has an innocent and literal understanding" (4.3.206-7). Incidentally, Horner's assertion that Squeamish understands this conversation literally is an admission to the audience that he and Fidget spoke metaphorically. Depending on how Squeamish's character is played, the audience could interpret her actions as an innocent request for decorative china or, if she asks suggestively, a.
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