George Etherege Summary

George Etherege has usually been grouped with John Dryden, William Wycherley, and William Congreve as one of the significant writers of Restoration high comedy. The Man of Mode (1676), his best play, ... Read more

In the essay below, Brown explores the evolution of social satire in Etherege's plays, finding little criticism of social standards in his two early comedies and a more outspoken approach in Th... Read more

In the following essay, Fisher examines the text of The Man of Mode in an effort to reconstruct how the play might have been staged for Etherege's audience. For years plays have been subjected ... Read more

In the following essay, Huseboe analyzes the structure and major themes of The Comical Revenge, particularly noting Sir Frederick Frollick's significance as a unifying element in the play. ... Read more

In the following essay, Davies argues that a “true understanding” of the relationship between Dorimant and Harriet is essential for understanding The Man of Mode as a whole. In The First... Read more

In the essay below, Zimbardo analyzes the comic function of the female characters in The Man of Mode, noting that Etherege was one of the last playwrights of the Restoration period to utilize women to... Read more

In the following essay, Barnard investigates the relationship between the text of The Man of Mode and how Restoration cultural milieu likely influenced the way it was staged in Etherege's time.... Read more

In the following essay from a collection that was originally published in 1812, Coleridge discusses the immoral nature of Etherege's works, censuring the playwright for “lampoon[ing the ... Read more

In the following essay, Gosse considers Etherege a principal founder of modern English comedy, particularly focusing on Molière's influence on the dramatist. The critic also provides an ... Read more

In the following essay, Dobrée characterizes Etherege's comedies as lighthearted, unsophisticated works intended mainly to delight and amuse Carolinian audiences. The air rarefied and pu... Read more

In the essay below, Fujimura discusses how Etherege employs wit in his plays to reflect Restoration intellectual attitudes toward such topics as naturalism, skepticism, and libertinism. Sir George Eth... Read more

In the essay below, Birdsall explores the contrast of lifestyles between Sir Fopling Flutter's rule-bound world of social pretense and Dormant and Harriet's natural, honest, and self-det... Read more

In the journal entry below, Pepys recounts viewing She Would If She Could, noting that Etherege himself attended the production and afterwards was unhappy with how the actors portrayed the characters.... Read more

In the essay below, Berglund explores how Dorimant and his retinue use a “libertine language” of extended metaphors and analogies to subvert conventional morality in The Man of Mode. Whe... Read more

In the following excerpt, Phillips briefly identifies Etherege as a popular contemporary dramatist. George Etheridge [is] a Comical writer of the present Age; whose Two Comedies, Love in a Tub, and Sh... Read more

In the following essay originally published in The Spectator, Steele deems Etherege's wit immoral in The Man of Mode, concluding that the “whole celebrated piece is a perfect contradicti... Read more

In the essay below, Cibber appraises Etherege's life and works, maintaining that the poet “possessed a springly genius,” but that “his works are so extremely loose and lice... Read more

In the excerpt below, Davies praises Dorimant as one of the best creations of the “fine gentleman” on the English stage. The only dramatic writer, in all Charles's reign, who wrot... Read more