-
BORN
in Clive, Shropshire -
Period: to
lifespan
-
CIVIL WAR BEGINS - the Marquess’s estates were confiscated and his dad was thrown in prison
-
SENT TO STUDY IN FRANCE - aged 15
-
CONVERTED TO ROMAN CATHOLICISM - while in France
-
COMES BACK TO ENGLAND
-
RECONVERTS TO PROTESTANTISM - after going to Oxford
-
STUDYING LAW AT THE INNER TEMPLE, LONDON
-
Period: to
OBSURITY!!!! "may" have been in the war & been abroad
-
FIRST PLAY DEBUT - 'LOVE IN A WOOD'... success
-
SECOND PLAY - 'THE GENTLEMAN DANCING MASTER'...dissapointing
-
THIRD PLAY - 'THE COUNTRY WIFE'... triumph
-
THIRD/FINAL PLAY - 'THE PLAIN DEALER'... success
-
NO MORE PLAYS... poor health & financial issues
-
SECRET MARRIAGE TO COUNTESS DROGHDA
she terrorized him and baggarred him to death -
WIFE DIES
he inherits a 15 year lawsuit from the Countess' first husbands will -
GOES TO PRISON
-
Period: to
PRISON
-
KING JAMES GETS HIM OUT OF PRISON
King James II, an admirer of The Plain Dealer, settled Wycherley’s debts and released him from prison four years later, in 1686. James even granted Wycherley a pension of £200 per year -
KING JAMES RUNS AWAY & PENSION STOPS
this pension ceased in 1688 when James fled England and William III acceded. Thereafter Wycherley resigned himself to living in a small way, dividing his time between London and Shropshire -
WILLIAM POPE PUBLISHES REVISED VERSION OF WYCHERLYS WORK
The teenage Pope, in particular, became a friend and even revised some of Wycherley’s verse; the published volume, which appeared in 1704, was not well received. -
REMARRIES
Illness, depression, and financial hardship beset Wycherley in his final years, and the capstone of these afflictions was a very sordid transaction that led to his remarriage in 1715 at age 74. A cousin of Wycherley’s, one Captain Thomas Shrimpton, suggested that Wycherley might discharge his debts by marrying a young woman named Elizabeth Jackson and, with her, a considerable dowry -
DIED
