Motivic complex of deception in the comedy “The Country Wife” by William Wycherley

The subject of this research is the motif-imagery analysis of the comedy “The Country Wife” by W. Wycherley. The method of motif analysis allowed revealing the core motifs and their implementation in the text, while the structural method allowed outlining the patterns and correlations between motifs. The article is dedicated to the analysis of the motivic complex, as well as the images of the characters. Special attention is given to the protagonist of the comedy Mr. Horner, whose image receives different interpretation of the researchers – from crafty libertine to playwright. W. Wycherley introduces an entire gallery of hypocrites, and each one of them seeks to fulfill their hidden motives. Comedy “The Country Wife” is considered the pinnacle of W. Wycherley’s work and multiple times has become the subject of scientific research. However, the novelty of this study lies in the analysis of the motivic complex of deception in the comedy. The study reveals the following motives associated with deception: motive of deception, motive of disguise, motive of writing / giving the note, motive of infidelity, motive of fear of infidelity (fear of becoming cuckold), motive of theater that is directly related to the image the hypocritical hero Harry Horner. All these motives create the general background of the work, and are the elements of the true or phantom motive. The character type is also important for realization of the motivic complex. The classification of W. Janz clearly indicates the prevalence of two types of hypocrisy in the comedy under review: moral (Lady Fidget, Mrs. Dainty Fidget and Mrs. Squeamish, Mr. Sparkish, Mr. Pinchwife) and intellectual (Mr. Horner).