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Three Restoration Comedies: The Man of Mode; The Country Wife; Love for love
Artificial, irreverent, and bawdy, the Restoration theatre came as a violent reaction to the strict ordinance of the Commonwealth.
365 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 11, 2018
Man of Mode: 4/5
The Country Wife: 3/5
Love for Love: 3/5
The Country Wife: 3/5
Love for Love: 3/5
January 1, 2022
Critiques:
The Country Wife
This play is the epitome of the spirit of the reign of Charles II. The plot is presented with Restoration boldness, depending as it does on the supposition of Horner's impotence and his amorous adventures with various wives who have been gulled into believing that he is incapable of feelings for the opposite sex. While the main device of the play is frankly indecent, the handling of the theme, particularly in dialogue, is brilliant. Clever dialogue and whimsicality of Mrs. Pinchwife's naivete save the drama from approaching pornography, however, and raise the play to the realm of art. Because of the deftness of the handling, the reader usually finds himself laughing, along with the characters, at the duplicity of the women and their lover.
The Man of Mode
Most critics give Sir George Etherege credit for trying to do for the manners of fashionable London what Moliere had done for the manners of fashionable Paris; that is, to portray the follies of the time in such a way as to give some hope of improving them. So true was the picture of the times in "The Man of Mode", Or, "Sir Fopling Flutter", that the London wits tried to attach the names of real people to the characterizations: Dorimant for Rochester and Sir Fopling Flutter for Mr. Hewitt. That such an attempt was made is assuredly a tribute to the author's capture of the very spirit of the age. Those who would carp at the play for immorality, particularity with respect to the love affairs of Dorimant, must keep in mind the fact that the author portrayed only what he saw in the world about him. One should search the play, not for virtue, but for realism and wit.
Love for Love
Love for Love, generally considered one of Congreve's finest plays, is marked by a relatively simple but not particularly original plot. For the most part, the Restoration writers of comedy seemed to be content to follow their Elizabethan and Jacobean predecessors. Whatever grossness and it is comparatively trifling is clever and amusing dialog and by several pairs of well-conceived and variously-contrasted characters. Surely Ben Jonson's theory of humors is quite alive in Sir Sampson Legend's penchant for tall tales of travel and in Foresight's obsession for prognostication.
The Country Wife
This play is the epitome of the spirit of the reign of Charles II. The plot is presented with Restoration boldness, depending as it does on the supposition of Horner's impotence and his amorous adventures with various wives who have been gulled into believing that he is incapable of feelings for the opposite sex. While the main device of the play is frankly indecent, the handling of the theme, particularly in dialogue, is brilliant. Clever dialogue and whimsicality of Mrs. Pinchwife's naivete save the drama from approaching pornography, however, and raise the play to the realm of art. Because of the deftness of the handling, the reader usually finds himself laughing, along with the characters, at the duplicity of the women and their lover.
The Man of Mode
Most critics give Sir George Etherege credit for trying to do for the manners of fashionable London what Moliere had done for the manners of fashionable Paris; that is, to portray the follies of the time in such a way as to give some hope of improving them. So true was the picture of the times in "The Man of Mode", Or, "Sir Fopling Flutter", that the London wits tried to attach the names of real people to the characterizations: Dorimant for Rochester and Sir Fopling Flutter for Mr. Hewitt. That such an attempt was made is assuredly a tribute to the author's capture of the very spirit of the age. Those who would carp at the play for immorality, particularity with respect to the love affairs of Dorimant, must keep in mind the fact that the author portrayed only what he saw in the world about him. One should search the play, not for virtue, but for realism and wit.
Love for Love
Love for Love, generally considered one of Congreve's finest plays, is marked by a relatively simple but not particularly original plot. For the most part, the Restoration writers of comedy seemed to be content to follow their Elizabethan and Jacobean predecessors. Whatever grossness and it is comparatively trifling is clever and amusing dialog and by several pairs of well-conceived and variously-contrasted characters. Surely Ben Jonson's theory of humors is quite alive in Sir Sampson Legend's penchant for tall tales of travel and in Foresight's obsession for prognostication.
July 15, 2021
[This review is for The Country Wife]
If you don't like to read really old books, you will hate this.
But if you love old old books, you might find this one funny.
Hundreds of years go by, and some things never change. ;)
If you don't like to read really old books, you will hate this.
But if you love old old books, you might find this one funny.
Hundreds of years go by, and some things never change. ;)
March 21, 2025
"she'll meet me two hours hence in black and white, and a long veil to cover the project, and we won't see one another's faces, till we have done something to be ashamed of; and then we'll blush once and for all"
July 20, 2017
the country wife gets 4 stars
March 28, 2023
I am just glad I finished this
March 15, 2024
I enjoyed it far more than I expected to, really fun, tongue in cheek and a great insight to that period of time
June 4, 2015
I read The Man of Mode, and it is a fantastic piece of Restoration theatre. It is unexpectedly hilarious and "out there" considering the age, and a lovely insight into the mischievous ways of older times.
Read
October 14, 2007Read The Country Wife
August 11, 2016
Loved the Country Wife (though possibly bias since I saw the Toby Stephens '07 production)
December 9, 2021
Read The Man Of Mode for class.
July 6, 2022
Interesting to see how little human personalities have changed and how they may still be represented.
February 11, 2013
The Man of Mode - 3.5 stars
The Country Wife - 3 stars
The Country Wife - 3 stars
Read
January 29, 2017Have read the first comedy, "The Man of Mode".
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews