SOURCE: Hughes, Charlotte Bradford. “Introduction: Sources.” In John Crowne's Sir Courtly Nice: A Critical Edition, edited by Charlotte Bradford Hughes, pp. 28-54. The Hague: Mouton & Co., 1966.

In this excerpt from her introduction to Sir Courtly Nice, Hughes places the play into context by examining its relation to its Spanish source and to broader Spanish comedic conventions.

I

The long-continued popularity of Sir Courtly Nice with Restoration and eighteenth-century audiences constitutes only a portion of the play's interest for the student of literary history. In many ways this play is a representative comedy of the period. Although the level of its wit falls below the median for the plays of Etherege and Congreve, and the dialogue lacks the incisive vigor of Wycherley's best writing, within its structure may be found most of the details of plot and character that comprise the genre of Restoration comedy. In other respects it...