As a Muslim man, I have never really thought much about [polygyny][1] and I am more of a one woman person.  However, under what circumstances can a husband be involved with a potential second wife?

Does the first wife have to know about the second wife?  What if there was a specific "purpose" for the second wife? (This sounds awful; perhaps the words are not correctly used here.)

In today's society (21st century) women are (rightfully) independent and earn their own money etc.  But some do need companionship or the like---can a Muslim man be engaged in such a scenario where perhaps the first wife does not fulfill all his needs, but the potential second wife can?

For instance, the first wife may not be able to fulfill all his needs but is a good person and divorce/talaq is heavily disliked in Islam legally (by Allah SWT) therefore in order to try not to displease Allah SWT; can a second wife be brought into the picture?


  [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny