A critical analysis of Restoration Comedy

The comedy of manner is a unique product of the Restoration era. It reflects the spirit of the age. The period between 1660 and 1700 is known as Restoration Period because monarchy was restored in England when Charles II returned back to England from exile and became the king. The period depicts the life and manner of the genteel class. The genteel society or the genteel class had their own code of conduct. It had fashionable parks, coffee house, glamorous clubs, and pub houses. They enjoyed and lived life to the maximum. The Restoration Period is marked by a discernible and significant change in literary taste and sensibility making it more appealing and popular. The salient features of that period lies in its dramas especially the comedy which was also known as the comedy of manners. The Restoration Comedy is influenced and inspired by the self seeking and hedonistic belief and ideals of the court of Charles II. French cultures and manners influenced the cavalier attitudes of the court of Charles II and the reflection of it can be found in the Restoration Comedy. Theme of the Restoration Comedy is predominantly lust pseudo labeled as love. This kind of love is devoid of any emotions and it is meant to satisfy the physical appetite of the lover and the beloved. One of the finest examples of this kind of comedy is Aphra Behn’s The Rover. As the royal court was corrupt and lacked morality so the Literature which was produced during this time is also the same. However, it is said by different critics and scholars that morality is not the subject of sexuality but still it plays the key role to deform the society. In the comedies of this period we can find courtiers fighting among each other only to win sexual favor of their beloved. The key dramatists of this period were Dryden, Shadwell, Etherege, Wycherley, Congreve and Vanbrugh. The most notable female writer of the period is Aphra Behn. Wit is the most important features of the Restoration Comedy. Such is the influence and importance of wit in the Restoration Comedy that it is also known as The Comedy of Wit.  One of the most striking features of The Restoration Comedy is that it entertains the genteel men with the follies of each other. There are fashionable names for pimps and whores. Pimps were called as a friend and whores were called as mistress. It has already been mentioned that The Restoration Comedy deals with the hedonistic life style of the privileged upper class people. Characters portrayed in the Comedy of Manners or The Restoration Comedies are aristocrats by birth, rich and idle, cynical but witty, amorous and gay. They spend most of their time in the pursuit of pleasure, refined conversation, social visiting and immoral intrigues. The fools are portrayed in a way that they copy the life and manners of the aristocrats but fail to do so but succeed in bringing the comic elements in the drama. Sir George Etherege was the first writer of the Comedy of Manners. He wrote three comedies namely “The Comical Revenge or Love in a Tub”, “She Would if She Could” and “The Man of Mode or Sir Fopling Flutter”. “She Would if She Could” was considered as the best comedy of the Restoration. Male characters have been portrayed as witty and sophisticated whereas the young ladies have been shown as prudent. The plot is not of very high order but the conversation between the characters is elegant and charming. “The Man of Mode” is certainly the best play written by Sir George Etherege. It has been considered by scholars and critics as indecent but it has mass appeal.  The characters are connected in a way that it generates interest among the readers. The sense of humor is always alive in The Restoration Comedies. Wycherley too has an important place in the Restoration drama. His first two novels are “Have in a Wood” and “The gentlemen Dancing-master”.  These plays have also been considered as vulgar and indecent but his two novels “The Country Wife” and “The Plain Dealer” are of great significance. In these two works he has very competently exposed the rampant corruption of the age. Thus, there is no two opinions about the fact that The Restoration Comedy presents the true picture of the Restoration age.