Scott McMillin, ed., "Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Comedy" (Norton Critical Editions), 2nd Edition

The First Edition of this acclaimed classroom text presented five distinguished comedies from an especially exciting and innovative period in English theater and society: William Wycherley's The Country Wife, George Etherege's The Man of Mode, William Congreve's The Way of the World, Richard Steele's The Conscious Lovers, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The School for Scandal. This Second Edition builds on its predecessor's strengths by adding a sixth play, Aphra Behn's The Rover, a comedy that has clearly come into prominence in recent years. The plays are fully annotated for the modern reader and are accompanied by six illustrations.

The close relationship between theater and society during the period continues to be the focus of "Contexts." The editor offers contemporary discussions of the following topics: "On Wit, Humour, and Laughter: 1660–1775," "The Collier Controversy: 1698," "Steele and Dennis: On The Man of Mode and The Conscious Lovers," and "Stages, Actors, and Audiences."

"Criticism" has been revised to reflect recent approaches in scholarly interpretations. Two seminal essays from the First Edition have been retained—Charles Lamb's appreciation of the period's comedy and L. C . Knights's condemnation of it. New essays by Jocelyn Powell, Harriett Hawkins, Elin Diamond, Martin Price, and Laura Brown have been added.

The Selected Bibliography has been thoroughly updated.

Contents

Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
A Note on the Texts
List of Illustrations

The Texts of the Plays
 William Wycherley • The Country Wife (1675)
 George Etherege • The Man of Mode (1676)
 Aphra Behn • The Rover (1677)
 William Congreve • The Way of the World (1700)
 Richard Steele • The Conscious Lovers (1722)
 Richard Brinsley Sheridan • The School for Scandal (1777)

Contexts
 On Wit, Humour, and Laughter: 1650–1775
  Thomas Hobbes
   [On Laughter]
   [On Wit]
   [On Power]
  John Dryden • Preface to An Evening's Love: or, The Mock Astrologer
  William Congreve • Concerning Humour in Comedy
  Richard Steele
   Epilogue to The Lying Lover
   The Tatler, No. 219
  Joseph Addison
   The Spectator, No. 47
   The Spectator, No. 62
  Oliver Goldsmith • An Essay on the Theater
 The Collier Controversy: 1698
  Jeremy Collier • A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage
   Introduction
   Chapter I: The Immodesty of the Stage
   From Chapter IV. The Stage-Poets Make Their Principal Persons Vicious and Reward Them at the End of the Play
  John Dennis • The Usefulness of the Stage
   Part I, Chapter I. That the Stage Is Instrumental to the Happiness of Mankind
   Part I, Chapter III. The Objections from Reason Answered
   Part I, Chapter IV. The Objections from Authority Answered
  William Congreve • Amendments of Mr. Collier's False and Imperfect Citations
 Steele and Dennis: on The Man Of Mode and The Conscious Lovers
  Richard Steele
   The Spectator, No. 65
   The Theatre, No. 1
   The Theatre, No. 3
  John Dennis
   A Defense of Sir Fopling Flutter
   Remarks on The Conscious Lovers
 Stages, Actors, and Audiences
  Emmet L. Avery and Arthur H. Scouten • The Theatrical World, 1600–1700
  Elizabeth Howe • The Arrival of the Actress
  Emmet L. Avery and Arthur H. Scouten • The Audience
  Charles Beecher Hogan • [Scenery and Lighting]

Criticism
 Charles Lamb • On the Artificial Comedy of the Last Century
 L. C. Knights • Restoration Comedy: The Reality and the Myth
 Jocelyn Powell • [Visual Rhythm in The Country Wife]
 Harriet Hawkins • [The Man of Mode]
 Elin Diamond • Gestus and Signature in Aphra Behn's The Rover
  Virgin Commodities
  Painting(s), Person, Body
  "I… Hang out the sign of Angellica"
 Martin Price • [Form and Wit in The Way of the World]
 Laura Brown • [The Way of the World]
 Raymond Williams • [Sentimentalism and Social History]

Selected Bibliography

Tags: Drama, Literature, LiteraryCriticism, RestorationComedy, History

Jane Austen, "Emma" (Norton Critical Editions), 3rd Edition

Jane Austen, "Mansfield Park" (Norton Critical Editions)

Jane Austen, "Pride and P...ritical Editions), 3rd Edition

George Eliot, "Middlemarc...ritical Editions), 2nd Edition

Maria Tatar, "The Classic...Norton Critical Edition)"

Tom McArthur, "The Oxford...n to English Literature)"