The Comedy of Manners [Paperback]

Originally published in 1970, this title starts with an introduction, in which Professor Muir distinguishes between the Comedy of Manners and other types of comedy and traces its origins in English and French literature, there are then chapters on the major writers  Etherege, Dryden, Wycherly, Congreve, Vanbrugh, Farquhar  and on Jeremy Colliers attack on the immorality and profaneness of the plays. This is followed by a discussion of the reasons for the decline of comedy in the eighteenth century and an account of its revival by Sheridan and, belatedly, by Wilde. Professor Muir takes issue with a number of recent critics on the dramatic value of the plays.

Preface.  1. Introduction  2. Sir George Etherege  3. John Dryden  4. Shadwell and Otway  5. William Wycherley  6. Thomas Southerne  7. William Congreve  8. Sir John Vanbrugh  9. George Farquhar  10. Decline and Renewal.  Bibliography.  Index.

First published in 1970, the introduction distinguishes between the Comedy of Manners and other types of comedy and traces its origins in English and French literature, then chapters on the major writers  Etherege, Dryden, Wycherly, Congreve, Vanbrugh, Farquhar  and on Jeremy Colliers attack on the immorality and profaneness of the plays.