In the original versions of chess in India, the game was based purely on military strategy, so all of the pieces corresponded to the different components and people of an army. But around the time of Queen Isabella of Castille, the look and ideas of chess began to change. In the year 1000 in Europe, the piece of the King's adviser was morphed into the Queen piece. In her monograph, The Birth of a Chess Queen: A History, Marilyn Yalom discusses how this change coincided with the increase in power of women in the world. "Yet, from the twelfth century onward, she seems to have acquired special value, far beyond her limited mobility on the board…The heightened authority invested in queenship during the course of the Middle Ages spilled over to the little queen on the board and paved the way for her to become the game’s mightiest piece...It should not surprise us that the queen’s official transformation into the strongest piece on the board coincided with the reign of Isabella of Castile (1451-1504)". In the world of The Country Wife, men make the rules and women must abide by them. However, under the noses of the men, the women have created their own set of rules and manage to completely dupe the men. So in reality, the women rule the world in which the characters live. In modern day chess as well, the Queen is the most powerful player on the board.
Yalom, Marilyn. Birth of the Chess Queen: a History. New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2004. Print.
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