Vey punny Wycherley
I can’t remember if this was covered in class or not but did anyone ever notice the pun in Pinchwife’s name? Please tell me somebody else noticed something going on behind the lines here or is end of the semester stress eating away at my psyche?
Pinchwife. PINCH. WIFE.
PINCH.....FREAKING......WIFE. The whole name in itself is a summary of the meaning behind the play’s narrative: in how methods fail to confirm someone’s loyalty to someone else. His name is his downfall, he wants to control his wife but that leads to all of his troubles. By him literally “pinching” (restraining) his wife from leaving for London continuously throughout the text and this overprotective tendency he has results in her being more curious about leaving altogether! Pinching something makes it irritated, makes it swell up until it cant handle the pressure anymore.
Moral of the story, dont pinch your wives/girlfriends/lady of significance in your life, okay? Okay. Dont do it.