The Comedies of William Congreve Author:William Congreve, Eric S. Rump 'Congreve quitted the stage in disdain, and comedy left it with him' Thus a contemporary wrote of William Congreve (1670-1729), who established his reputation at the age of twenty-three with THE OLD BACHELOR, the first of the four plays, contained in this volume. Seven years later, he turned his back on the stage, having written THE DOUBLE DEALE... more »R, LOVE FOR LOVE, and THE WAY OF THE WORLD. A master of the comedy of manners, Congreve was the most elegant of the Restoration dramatists. With piercing accuracy he depicted the shallow, brittle world of 'society' where the right artifice in manners, fashion and conversation--and money--eased the passage to success. Through sparkling, witty dialogue and brilliant charaterization--Lady Plyant, Valentine, Lady Touchwood, Mirabell and Millamant--Congreve exposed the follies and vanities of that world, and suggested that behind the glinting mirror lay something more brutal. As Voltaire wrote, 'The language is everywhere that of Men of Honour, but their Actions are those of Knaves; a proof that he was perfectly well acquainted with human Nature, and frequented what we call polite company.'« less