William Wycherley (c. 1640 - January 1, 1716) was an English dramatist of the Restoration period.

He was born at Clive, near Shrewsbury, where his family was settled on a moderate estate of about £600 a year. Like Vanbrugh, Wycherley spent his early years in France, where he was sent, at fifteen, to be educated in the heart of the "precious" circle on the banks of the Charente. Wycherley's friend, Major Pack, says that he "improved, with the greatest refinements", the "extraordinary talents" for which he was "obliged to nature". Although the harmless affectations of the circle of Madame de Montausier, formerly Madame de Rambouillet, are not chargeable with the "refinements" of Wycherley's comedies — comedies which caused even his great admirer Voltaire to say afterwards of them, "Il semble que les Anglais prennent trop de liberté et que les Françaises n'en prennent pas assez" (It seems that the English take too much liberty and the French don't take enough) — they seem to have been much more potent in regard to the "refinements" of Wycherley's religion.

While in France Wycherley converted to Roman Catholicism. He returned to England shortly before the restoration of King Charles II, and lived at Queen's College, Oxford where Thomas Barlow was provost. Under Barlow's influence, Wycherley returned to the Church of England. Wycherley only lived (according to Wood) in the provost's lodgings, being entered in the public library under the title of "Philosophiae Studiosus" in July 1660. And he does not seem to have matriculated or taken a degree.

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19 famous William Wycherley quotes http://bit.ly/5bOg0Y
listlike (ListLike) Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:10:01 -0000
19 famous William Wycherley quotes http://bit.ly/5bOg0Y
As William Wycherley said - "Go, go to your business, I say, pleasure, whilst I go to my pleasure, business."
StevenGalvan2 (Steven A Galvan) Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:46:21 -0000
As William Wycherley said - "Go, go to your business, I say, pleasure, whilst I go to my pleasure, business."

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