Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Select Bibliography

John Dryden

  • Marriage à la Mode
    BRIAN CORMAN, ED.

William Wycherley

  • The Country Wife
    PEGGY THOMPSON, ED.

George Etherege

  • The Man of Mode; or, Sir Fopling
    Flutter

    JOHN H. O’NEILL, ED.

Aphra Behn

  • The Rover; or, The Banished Cavaliers
    ANNE RUSSELL, ED.

William Congreve

  • The Way of the World
    RICHARD KROLL, ED.

Richard Steele

  • The Conscious Lovers
    LISA A. FREEMAN, ED.

John Gay

  • The Beggar’s Opera
    DIANNE DUGAW, ED.

Oliver Goldsmith

  • She Stoops to Conquer; or, The Mistakes of a Night
    RICHARD A. BARNEY, ED.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

  • The School for Scandal
    MITA CHOUNDHURY, ED.

Frances Burney

  • The Witlings: A Comedy by a Sister of the Order
    PETER SABOR AND GEOFFREY SILL, EDS.

Appendix: Critical Texts

DARRYL P. DOMINGO, ED.

  1. From John Dryden, An Essay of Dramatic Poesy (1668)
  2. Thomas Shadwell, Preface to The Sullen Lovers; or, The Curious Impertinent (1668)
  3. From John Dryden, Preface to An Evening’s Love; or, The Mock Astrologer (1671)
  4. Thomas Shadwell, Preface to The Humourists (1671)
  5. Aphra Behn, Preface to The Lucky Chance; or, An Alderman’s Bargain (1686)
  6. From Nahum Tate, Preface to A Duke and No Duke (1693)
  7. John Dennis, Letters to Congreve “On Humour” (1695)
  8. William Congreve, “Concerning Humour in Comedy” (1695)
  9. From Jeremy Collier, A Short View of the Immorality and Profanenes of the English Stage (1698)
  10. From William Congreve, Amendments of Mr. Collier’s False and Imperfect Citations (1698)
  11. From Richard Steele, The Spectator (1711-14)
  12. From John Dennis, “A Defense of Sir Fopling Flutter” (1722)
  13. Richard Steele, Preface to The Conscious Lovers (1723)
  14. From John Dennis, “Remarks on a Play Called The Conscious Lovers, A Comedy” (1723)
  15. From Samuel Richardson, The Apprentice’s Vade Mecum; or, Young Man’s Pocket Companion (1734)
  16. From Colley Cibber, An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber (1740)
  17. From John Hill, The Actor: A Treatise on the Art of Playing (1750)
  18. From Samuel Johnson, The Rambler (1750-52)
  19. From Oliver Goldsmith, “An Essay on the Theatre; or, A Comparison between Laughing and Sentimental Comedy” (1773)
  20. From Samuel Johnson, The Lives of the Poets (1779-81)

Glossary

Posted on October 29, 2015