As a member of some of the most eminent literary circles in London, Congreve had the support of the era's leading literary figures by the time he wrote his first play, The Old Bachelor. John Dryden, the most important poet and critic of the Restoration, said of Congreve "in Him all Beauties of the Age we see . . . all this in blooming Youth you have achieved." Colley Cibber, an important actor and writer of the period, also praised Congreve in the 1690s. Love for Love also won great approval from Congreve's circle, but Congreve was increasingly unhappy about the public's reception of his work. A tepid enthusiasm greeted Love for Love, and Congreve's later masterpiece, The Way of the World (1700), was positively rejected by audiences, probably because of its sharp criticisms of society.

Ironically, while sophisticated audiences resented Congreve's criticisms of social shallowness and libertinism, more religious...