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Love for Love, by the well-known Restoration dramatist William Congreve, is a racy, broad, farcical comedy, which relies on mistaken impressions, disguises, and deception for much of its humor. Yet it is not the kind of silly drawing-room drama of wit many people imagine Restoration comedies to be. Underlying its complicated plot and clever dialogue is a serious exploration of such themes as good government, sexual ethics, gender roles, the complications of sophisticated society, and the difference between being and seeming.
Love for Love is one of Congreve’s two best-known plays, the other being The Way of the World (1700). In each play, Congreve uses sexual gamesmanship to explore and satirize the complexities and duplicities of his society. The play is also “metatheatre,” or theatre that is a comment on theatre itself. Many of the characters are playacting parts to each other, and the dialogue negotiates the arena of sexual conquest, gender relations, and the exchanges inherent when marriage is part of a play. Moreover, Congreve’s play enters into a conversation with the theatre of its time; Love for Love is a response to an earlier popular play, Love for Money. Arriving as a writer late in the Restoration period, Congreve uses the stage to comment upon an increasingly complex society and class structure that often seemed frivolous.
encyclopedia dot com
Love for Love is one of Congreve’s two best-known plays, the other being The Way of the World (1700). In each play, Congreve uses sexual gamesmanship to explore and satirize the complexities and duplicities of his society. The play is also “metatheatre,” or theatre that is a comment on theatre itself. Many of the characters are playacting parts to each other, and the dialogue negotiates the arena of sexual conquest, gender relations, and the exchanges inherent when marriage is part of a play. Moreover, Congreve’s play enters into a conversation with the theatre of its time; Love for Love is a response to an earlier popular play, Love for Money. Arriving as a writer late in the Restoration period, Congreve uses the stage to comment upon an increasingly complex society and class structure that often seemed frivolous.
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236 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1695
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About the author
William Congreve
520 books86 followers"William Congreve was an English playwright and poet.... William Congreve wrote some of the most popular English plays of the Restoration period of the late 17th century. By the age of thirty, he had written four comedies, including Love for Love (premiered 30 April 1695) and The Way of the World (premiered 1700), and one tragedy, The Mourning Bride (1697).
Unfortunately, his career ended almost as soon as it began. After writing five plays from his first in 1693 until 1700, he produced no more as public tastes turned against the sort of high-brow sexual comedy of manners in which he specialized. He reportedly was particularly stung by a critique written by Jeremy Collier (A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage), to the point that he wrote a long reply, "Amendments of Mr. Collier's False and Imperfect Citations."
A member of the Whig Kit-Kat Club, Congreve's career shifted to the political sector, where he held various minor political positions despite his stance as a Whig among Tories."
Unfortunately, his career ended almost as soon as it began. After writing five plays from his first in 1693 until 1700, he produced no more as public tastes turned against the sort of high-brow sexual comedy of manners in which he specialized. He reportedly was particularly stung by a critique written by Jeremy Collier (A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage), to the point that he wrote a long reply, "Amendments of Mr. Collier's False and Imperfect Citations."
A member of the Whig Kit-Kat Club, Congreve's career shifted to the political sector, where he held various minor political positions despite his stance as a Whig among Tories."
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 29, 2012
Congreve gives us exactly what a French or English Restoration piece calls for: satire, wit, and an honest yet inconspicuous view of the human condition as perceived in 1695. I've have had the opportunity to read it and see the play performed, and Congreve's outlandish characters were brought to life as well as his words suggest. While many of the characters do not actually appear to be "good" people, their manipulative personalities and sometimes evil ways are simply a representation of what was going on in the theatre around this time. Restoration required BIG characters with even bigger character flaws. When done well this play is a hysterical comedy with a great view into the personal problems of the era.
June 23, 2010
[These notes were made in 1983:]. Read for exams. What a heartless piece of work this is. Even naming the young male lead "Valentine" (it goes with "Angelica") cannot hide the essential frivolousness and lack of sentiment. There is not a single character in this play who is not double-faced and manipulative, and altho' an elaborate identity-switch is performed at the end to match up the "right" couples (i.e. Mrs. Frail/Tattle and V/A), there is really nothing much to give us the conviction that they're "right" except the complementary names. The satire is quite biting, and probably very funny if well carried off on the stage. But please don't oblige me to try to like this -I will appreciate it critically if I must.
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February 21, 2025FAH-connection: Congreve was raised in Ireland and went to Trinity College. The snob could play Mr. Tattle or Mr. Foresight. And reading - with your eyes - is advised :)
read - and take your nourishment in at your eyes; shut up your mouth, and chew the cud of understanding(Epictetus quote)
Been wanting to read some Shakespeare badly for days, but have too many unread books. Congreve instead. So far, an odd quote from D.H. Lawrence in the "modern" preface of this 17th century play has distracted me from the text as such, but I guess few people knew these quotes (not yet verified by me, but "Hell" is often misquoted) are actually by Congreve. The first one especially has haunted me (in the century later Tennyson version) for decades:
“Say what you will, ’tis better to be left than never to have been loved.”
“Heav'n hath no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd,
Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd.”
“Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.”
The above quotes were not in this play, but a lot of others, and if sentences seem twisted, they always reveal themselves if you reread, unlike in many old plays. So it's true that Congreve mainly has a reputation for style.
The female role in this was originally actually played by a female, one whose intelligence never wavers throughout, while also getting to laugh and jeer (she has an independence ie. money). The only theme being who has sex with whom makes it understandable that (esp. later) the theatre was not for well bred girls - there is an interesting paragraph though that sums up why all operas are rape fantasies, operettas even make fun of it, and we're still taught such comedies in school:
you are a woman; you must never speak what you think; your words must contradict your thoughts; but your actions may contradict your words. So, when I ask you if you can love me, you must say no, but you must love me too. .. If I ask you to kiss me, you must be angry, but you must not refuse me. If I ask you for more, you must be more angry, but more complying; and as soon as ever I make you say you'll cry out, you must be sure to hold your tongue.
Some men get to call women bad names incl. punk, but I find it surprisingly not sexist.
The miracle today is that we find
A lover true: not that a woman's kind.
Georgette Heyer seems to have taken some exchanges from his dialogues, though changing the language.
PS: Another interesting quote from an older poet (Dryden) was the jelly of love which came from the sky and you know what.
read - and take your nourishment in at your eyes; shut up your mouth, and chew the cud of understanding(Epictetus quote)
Been wanting to read some Shakespeare badly for days, but have too many unread books. Congreve instead. So far, an odd quote from D.H. Lawrence in the "modern" preface of this 17th century play has distracted me from the text as such, but I guess few people knew these quotes (not yet verified by me, but "Hell" is often misquoted) are actually by Congreve. The first one especially has haunted me (in the century later Tennyson version) for decades:
“Say what you will, ’tis better to be left than never to have been loved.”
“Heav'n hath no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd,
Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd.”
“Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.”
The above quotes were not in this play, but a lot of others, and if sentences seem twisted, they always reveal themselves if you reread, unlike in many old plays. So it's true that Congreve mainly has a reputation for style.
The female role in this was originally actually played by a female, one whose intelligence never wavers throughout, while also getting to laugh and jeer (she has an independence ie. money). The only theme being who has sex with whom makes it understandable that (esp. later) the theatre was not for well bred girls - there is an interesting paragraph though that sums up why all operas are rape fantasies, operettas even make fun of it, and we're still taught such comedies in school:
you are a woman; you must never speak what you think; your words must contradict your thoughts; but your actions may contradict your words. So, when I ask you if you can love me, you must say no, but you must love me too. .. If I ask you to kiss me, you must be angry, but you must not refuse me. If I ask you for more, you must be more angry, but more complying; and as soon as ever I make you say you'll cry out, you must be sure to hold your tongue.
Some men get to call women bad names incl. punk, but I find it surprisingly not sexist.
The miracle today is that we find
A lover true: not that a woman's kind.
Georgette Heyer seems to have taken some exchanges from his dialogues, though changing the language.
PS: Another interesting quote from an older poet (Dryden) was the jelly of love which came from the sky and you know what.
December 14, 2021
I'd never read a play before. The narrative read like a telegram, stopping after every verse and returning to the next character. This made it difficult to follow the plot. So I turned to the audio version, which was also a first for me. It was like listening to an old-fashioned radio show. I was able to visualize everything that was happening without being told what was going on. I thought that was interesting.
About the book - this man is trying to avoid debt collectors, but continues to spend money to impress a woman he’s crushing on. She lies about loving him, but when the man is given the chance to pay of the debt if he signs his inheritance away, and he does, she sees that as an act of sacrifice, starts talking to the debt collector and convinces him that she will marry him, just to get a hold of the signed document and tear it up and confess her love to the man who signed his inheritance away. That feels fast paste, but so was the entire dialogue in the audio version.
As the play is spoken in old English, and the wordplay between characters is quick, I had a difficult time following conversations, but there were parts and one-liners that made me laugh; "To converse with Scandal is to play at Losing Loadum, you must lose a good name to him, before you can win it for yourself.", besides; also, (?) words being elongated such as, "yeeeeeeeeeees." and expressions being phrased differently than they are today, "shut up your mouth!". Am I easily amused? “Yeeeeeees”. I found the banter between Miss Prue and Tattle charming. She was in love with him and he married, let her down, but not without words of wisdom, "...you are a woman, you must never speak what you think: your words must contradict your thoughts; but your actions may contradict your words." Overall, 3 stars because even though it was challenging to read, it was entertaining in another medium.
About the book - this man is trying to avoid debt collectors, but continues to spend money to impress a woman he’s crushing on. She lies about loving him, but when the man is given the chance to pay of the debt if he signs his inheritance away, and he does, she sees that as an act of sacrifice, starts talking to the debt collector and convinces him that she will marry him, just to get a hold of the signed document and tear it up and confess her love to the man who signed his inheritance away. That feels fast paste, but so was the entire dialogue in the audio version.
As the play is spoken in old English, and the wordplay between characters is quick, I had a difficult time following conversations, but there were parts and one-liners that made me laugh; "To converse with Scandal is to play at Losing Loadum, you must lose a good name to him, before you can win it for yourself.", besides; also, (?) words being elongated such as, "yeeeeeeeeeees." and expressions being phrased differently than they are today, "shut up your mouth!". Am I easily amused? “Yeeeeeees”. I found the banter between Miss Prue and Tattle charming. She was in love with him and he married, let her down, but not without words of wisdom, "...you are a woman, you must never speak what you think: your words must contradict your thoughts; but your actions may contradict your words." Overall, 3 stars because even though it was challenging to read, it was entertaining in another medium.
February 22, 2023
i want to direct this one day! so so so funny
September 29, 2019
This restoration comedy of manners requires one to have knowledge of the time, or manners, or both. Not for me.
See my other reviews here!
See my other reviews here!
November 1, 2015
Saw this at the Swan at the National. Some very clever writing but, as with most plays of this era, over-long with some very dull scenes. The first half lasted 95 minutes and I nodded off a couple of times, with only the character of Tattle keeping the energy up. The second half, at 65 minutes, was much better as the farce and satire gathered pace. Some clever staging served to keep the interest up.
September 27, 2018
I usually enjoy a good Restoration Comedy - ever since I saw Man of Mode at a small theatre in Milton Keynes, UK.
The barely concealed lewd jokes appeal to my base humour, as does the word play. The occasional references to other plays of the period are explained in footnotes as were the various Latin phrases common at the time.
The barely concealed lewd jokes appeal to my base humour, as does the word play. The occasional references to other plays of the period are explained in footnotes as were the various Latin phrases common at the time.
September 9, 2014
It's a good first-read if you're looking to get into Restoration Drama. The play shares a lot of Renaissance tropes, but drops the blank verse. Pretty fun.
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August 26, 2015Možná by to bylo vtipnější, kdybych každé druhé slovo nemusela hledat ve slovníku.
October 18, 2017
قد لا يوجد أسمج ولا أبعث على الملل من هكذا مسرحية....
لا أدري ما الهدف من ترجمتها وإضاعة وقت الناس بقراءتها...
مجرد حوارات تافهة لا مغزى ولا معنى لها....
لا أدري ما الهدف من ترجمتها وإضاعة وقت الناس بقراءتها...
مجرد حوارات تافهة لا مغزى ولا معنى لها....
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews