Topic summary
The Provoked Wife
The Provoked Wife (1697) is the second original comedy written by John Vanbrugh. It made its first appearance in Lincoln's Inn Fields in May, 1697. The premise of the plot, of a wife trapped in an abusive marriage considering either leaving it or taking a lover, outraged some sections of Restoration society. A later unfinished play by Vanbrugh was completed by Colley Cibber and staged under the title The Provoked Husband in 1728.