Although Richard Steele was principally recognized in his own era as an editor, essayist, and pamphleteer, it was as a young practicing dramatist that he first caught the attention of literary London, with three plays produced in five years' time. Steele's tenuous hold on critical attention in this century, however, so far as the theater and drama are concerned, has to do with his last published play, The Conscious Lovers , produced in 1721 but almost certainly written much earlier: is it or is it not "sentimental," and, if it is, does it then signify a major change in the direction of stage comedy, is it the first or an early example of a new genre, sentimental comedy? The critical focus on this single play has diverted attention from some of Steele's substantial achievements in the world of theater and drama. Three of his plays (The Funeral, The Tender Husband...