SOURCE: Hirst, David L. “The Seventeenth Century.” In Comedy of Manners, pp. 6-35. London: Methuen & Co Ltd, 1979.

In the following essay, Hirst delineates the themes that distinguish the comedy of manners as a distinct genre and examines some of the works of the leading playwrights of the seventeenth century.

I will believe, there are now in the world Good-natured friends, who are not prostitutes, And handsome women worthy to be friends: Yet, for my sake, let no one e'er confide In tears, or oaths, in love, or friend untried. 

(William Wycherley: The Plain Dealer, 1676)

The terms Restoration comedy and comedy of manners have become virtually synonymous; but in the twentieth century both require careful reconsideration. The comedy of manners is a dramatic genre which has continued in England to the present day; Restoration comedy has always been a curious misnomer: Charles II came to the throne in 1660, and...