A sharp Restoration comedy that follows a spirited woman chafing under her coarse, jealous husband's bullying; bored and provoked, she seeks amusement and sympathy in fashionable circles, setting off a chain of flirtations, deceptions, and confrontations. The play uses witty dialogue and farcical situations to satirize marriage, honor, and social manners of the time, ultimately forcing a comic reckoning that exposes the husband's excesses and reorders domestic appearances.