Rule a Wife and Have a Wife

It was revived in the Restoration era in an adaptation, like many of Fletcher's plays; the revised version was printed in 1697 and repeatedly thereafter, and proved to be among the dramatist's most popular works.

[1] External evidence, including Herbert's entry in his records and the 1640 quarto, assigns the play to Fletcher alone.

[3] Henry Purcell’s song "There’s not a Swain" is traditionally sung in this play at the beginning of Act 3.

The tune of the song occurs, without lyrics, as a hornpipe in The Fairy-Queen, Purcell's musical adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The first scene of act one begins with Juan and Perez, both officers, conversing about their attempts to recruit soldiers for the war in the Low Countries.

The play, with the threat of war, helps to explain why the men will agree to marriage terms that are less than ideal.

Leon, it turns out, does mind, and his objections escalate to show that he won't be happy as a cuckold.

However, she pawns Perez's collection of tchotchkes to the usurer Cacafogo, who gives her, in exchange, a fortune, even though they are worthless.