Page 54 - DENG402_HISTORY_OF_ENGLISH_LITERATURE

Unit 7: The Restoration Period or Beginning of Neoclassicism, Comedy of Manners

treatment of society’s mores; some, such as David L. Hirst, have performed close readings of the Notes
texts themselves in order to judge the comedies on their merits as comedies.
The comedy of manners is a genre of play/television/film which satirizes the manners and
affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters, such as the miles glorious in
ancient times, the fop and the rake during the Restoration, or an old person pretending to be
young. The plot of the comedy, often concerned with scandal, is generally less important than its
witty dialogue. A great writer of comedies of manners was Oscar Wilde, his most famous play
being “The Importance of Being Earnest”.
The comedy of manners was first developed in the new comedy of the Ancient Greek playwright
Menander. His style, elaborate plots, and stock characters were imitated by the Roman playwrights
Plautus and Terence, whose comedies were widely known and copied during the Renaissance. The
best-known comedies of manners, however, may well be those of the French playwright Moliere,
who satirized the hypocrisy and pretension of the ancien regime in such plays as L’École des
femmes (The School for Wives, 1662), Le Misanthrope (The Misanthrope, 1666), and most famously
Tartuffe (1664).

Notes Modern television sitcoms that use the mockumentary format, such as The Office and
Modern Family, use slightly altered forms of the comedy of manners to represent the
daily and work lives of the average people.
In England, William Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing might be considered the first comedy
of manners, but the genre really flourished during the Restoration period. Restoration comedy,
which was influenced by Ben Johnson’s comedy of humours, made fun of affected wit and acquired
follies of the time. The masterpieces of the genre were the plays of William Wycherley (The
Country Wife, 1675) and William Congreve (The Way of the World, 1700). In the late 18th century
Oliver Goldsmith (She Stoops to Conquer, 1773) and Richard Brinsley Sheridan (The Rivals, 1775;
The School for Scandal, 1777) revived the form.
The tradition of elaborate, artificial plotting and epigrammatic dialogue was carried on by the
Irish playwright Oscar Wilde in Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being
Earnest (1895). In the 20th century, the comedy of manners reappeared in the plays of the British
dramatists Noel Coward (Hay Fever, 1925) and Somerset Maugham and the novels of P.G.
Wodehouse, as well as various British sitcoms. The Carry On films is direct descendant of the
comedy of manners style.

7.4 Summary
If the English romantics exalted Shakespeare’s works as the greatest of their classics, his
effect on the Germans was positively explosive.
Rousseau is an important figure. He loved to go for long walks, Climb Mountains, and
generally “commune with nature.” His last work is called Les Reveries du promeneur
solitaire
Critics agree that the masters of the comedy of manners were George Etherege (1635-1692),
William Wycherley (1640-1716), John Vanbrugh (1664-1726), William Congreve (1670-
1729), and George Farquhar (1678-1707).
Vanbrugh’s The Relapse: Or Virtue in Danger (1696) has two plots, only slightly con-
nected, and includes seduction, infidelity, impersonation, and the attempt to gain another’s
fortune.

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