- ^f^^ 
 
Columbta SEnibensitg 
 
 STUDIES IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 ON RESTORATION COMEDY 
 
This monograph has been recommended by the 
 Department of Comparative Literature as a contri- 
 bution to the literature of the subject worthy of 
 
 publication. 
 
 J. B. FLETCHER, 
 
 Professor of Comparative Literature. 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 ON 
 
 RESTOEATION COMEDY 
 
 BY 
 
 DUDLEY HOWE MILES, Ph.D. 
 
 THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 1910 
 
 All rights reserved 
 

 Copyright, 1910, 
 By the COLUMBIA UNIVEESITY PEES8. 
 
 Set up and electrotyped. Published July, 1910. 
 
 Kortonoli i^regg 
 
 J. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 
 
 Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
 ©CI.A275(;S8 
 
/ 
 
 TO 
 
 THE MEMORY OF 
 MY MOTHER 
 
PREFACE 
 
 This essay in comparative literature attempts 
 to determine the nature and extent of the influ- 
 ence exerted by Moliere on English comedy 
 from 1660 to 1700. Its purpose is not so much 
 to identify particular cases of indebtedness to 
 the French master as to study the general 
 features of his influence on the art and outlook 
 of the period. I shall be gratified if it con- 
 tributes in any way to a better understanding 
 of Restoration comedy, or to a more extended 
 appreciation of the greatest comic genius of 
 France. 
 
 The book in its present form is the outcome 
 of a series of studies of individual writers, 
 begun some years ago at the University of 
 Chicago and carried out in an effort to ap- 
 proach the scientific accuracy and thoroughness 
 for which Dr. J. M. Manly is so well known. 
 I have therefore examined nearly every Resto- 
 ration comedy that was accessible to me. The 
 results, indicated in the appendix, represent 
 vii 
 
viii PREFACE 
 
 my personal opinion after careful deliberation 
 over doubtful points. Those who have pre- 
 ceded me in the field have relied so largely 
 on second-hand information or have been so 
 much carried away by the desire of establishing 
 indebtedness that a searching personal investi- 
 gation was prerequisite to any safe generaliza- 
 tions. I do not pretend to have discovered 
 every trace of influence in the period, but I 
 think so few direct borrowings have escaped me 
 that my results are a basis for valid induction. 
 
 In mechanical details the volume conforms 
 to the series in which it appears. I have tried 
 to make quotations exact, but without repro- 
 ducing peculiarities in the use of italics, small 
 capitals, and similar matters. Full titles to all 
 references in the notes will be found in the 
 bibliography. 
 
 In the preparation of the work I have con- 
 tracted many obligations : to Professor Myra 
 Reynolds of the University of Chicago for 
 starting me on the subject ; to Dr. J. M. 
 Manly for generous advice and criticism; to 
 Mr. A. E. Hill of the English Library of the 
 University of Chicago, to Mrs. Margaret 
 McKennon, Librarian of Southwestern Univer- 
 sity, to the librarians and attendants of Har- 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 vard College Library, to the officials of the 
 Library of Columbia University, for securing 
 or providing the necessary material ; to Mr. H. 
 C. Chatfield-Taylor, who at one point in my 
 research cordially extended me the use of his 
 great Moliere collection. Miss Winifred Smith 
 has generously assisted me in several matters. 
 In the Columbia faculty I am indebted to 
 Professor Brander Matthews for many helpful 
 suggestions and for criticism on points of im- 
 portance, and to Professor J. E. Spingarn for 
 discussion of features of the treatment. It is a 
 pleasure to acknowledge also the very valuable 
 criticism of Professor Ashley H. Thorndike. 
 My chief obligation is to Professor Jefferson 
 B. Fletcher, through whose kindness it has 
 been possible for the volume to appear in its 
 present form, and for whose unfailing interest 
 I cannot here sufficiently express my gratitude. 
 
 Columbia University, June 1, 1910. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Moliere's Comedy 1 
 
 II. Restoration Comedy .... 31 
 
 III. The Beginning of the Influence . 61 
 
 IV. The Attitude toward Moliere . . 79 
 V. Plot 100 
 
 VI. Character 133 
 
 VII. Dialogue 161 
 
 VIII. The Close of the Period . . . 192 
 
 IX. Conclusion 218 
 
 Appendix. A List of Borrowings .... 223 
 
 Bibliography, I. Texts 243 
 
 Bibliography, II. General Works and Special 
 
 Studies 250 
 
 Index . . 269 
 
 zi 
 
THE INFLUENCE OP MOLIERE 
 ON RESTORATION COMEDY 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 moliere's comedy 
 
 If on the street we see a man of pompous 
 gravity slip upon a banana skin and sit down 
 in a very abrupt and fooKsh fashion, we turn 
 away to hide our amusement. If at the play 
 we see a miser talking and gesticulating ex- 
 citedly about his treasure to the secret lover 
 of his daughter, the frightened lover replying 
 each time with a reference to the daughter, 
 we cannot keep from laughing at their mutual 
 mistake. We know these incidents are comic, 
 just as we know after a single reading that 
 Shelley's To a Skylark is poetic. But when 
 we undertake to frame a definition of the 
 comic in general, we find success as difiicult 
 as our laughter has been irresistible. We 
 
2 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 may lose from sight whole groups of comic 
 incidents and evolve some fine-spun theory 
 that gives delight to a scholastic mind but 
 seems incomplete to one with a keen zest for 
 the comic in hfe and literature; or we may 
 in the end content ourselves with the simple 
 conclusion that the vast majority of comic 
 effects depend upon the sudden perception of 
 some incongruity or contrast not felt as seri- 
 ous or irreconcilable. 
 
 Advancing this statement of the case as a 
 convenient summary rather than a bullet- 
 proof definition, I may add that the comic is 
 not an unvarying quantity, that the comic 
 sense has on the contrary developed only in 
 society, since it involves some norm or standard 
 of comparison. I am stating a mere truism 
 to say that man has arrived at his notions of 
 the usual and the sensible only through con- 
 tact with his fellows, and that the comic 
 accordingly varies in different ages of the 
 world and in different communities of the same 
 age. Imagine a Hottentot or an inhabitant of 
 the South Sea Islands suddenly transported 
 to the streets of New York. He might laugh 
 at the tall silk hats or the finely tailored suits, 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 3 
 
 but those about him would be so far from 
 joining in his laughter that they would smile 
 at his bare head and scanty garments. Imag- 
 ine how dismal a reception even the best hits 
 in the most popular comedy, except those 
 depending on the mere shock of surprise, 
 would secure from a theater full of such men. 
 For it is obvious that every comic effect in a 
 play depends for success on the existence of 
 a common viewpoint among the members of 
 the audience, and that those events and per- 
 sons in clearest contradiction with the man- 
 ners and views of the audience will seem most 
 comic. It follows from these remarks that 
 the comic does not appeal to our sympathies. 
 We may view with generous indignation the 
 bent figure of Shylock leaving the court-room 
 or shake our sides at the rolhcking humor of 
 Falstaff, but in the second case as truly as in 
 the first the pleasure cannot properly be called 
 an effect of the comic. In other words, the 
 humorous differs from the comic, strictly so- 
 called, in being consonant with warm affection. 
 Comedy as a type in literature makes use of 
 both kinds of appeal, but the introduction of 
 humor is a development of modern times. 
 
4 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Related to this consideration of particular 
 comic moments in a play is a difference be- 
 tween tragedy and comedy as subdivisions of 
 the drama. Tragedy moves in an ideal world 
 where the crimes and grand passions of men 
 absorb our attention from the trivial and the 
 commonplace. It neglects the superficial cir- 
 cumstance of life to pierce to the essential 
 qualities of the soul in serious or irreconcilable 
 conflict with universal law. This character- 
 istic tendency is observable not only in 
 Sophocles and Racine and Shakspere, but in 
 such powerful moderns as Ibsen and Haupt- 
 mann and Echegaray. Comedy, on the other 
 hand, has usually moved near the world of 
 external fact, where the incongruities are 
 more tangible and where they do not affect 
 the issues of life too profoundly. It has ac- 
 cordingly depicted the common vices and 
 ridiculous follies of mankind by means of 
 types more or less easily recognized in the 
 different countries where it has originated. 
 Among the poets of the New Comedy in 
 Greece so closely did Menander copy the de- 
 tails of the rich and polished society in which 
 he lived that an Alexandrian grammarian 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 5 
 
 exclaimed, "O Menander and life! which of 
 you copied the other!" Whenever a poet 
 of medieval England wished to relieve the 
 somber tone of a miracle play with the brighter 
 colors of comedy, he took some picture from 
 shepherd life or went back through his ex- 
 perience to find a suitable shrew for Noah's 
 wife. In France a long succession of farces 
 copied matter from political and social circles 
 so strikingly that at length Henry IV had to re- 
 strict subjects to private life. The commedia 
 deir arte of Italy, among many a synonym 
 for conventionality in character-drawing, was 
 so realistic in its origin that several of the 
 types appearing later in an unending series 
 of masks are easily traced to separate locahties 
 in the peninsula.^ The Spanish comedy of 
 cloak and sword, which to foreigners seems 
 a tissue of the most artificial imbroglios, was 
 in the hands of Lope de Vega a not very much 
 distorted reflection of the manners of the 
 country. Indeed, it has generally been true 
 that, regarded as types of drama, tragedy 
 has tended to the ideal and the universal, 
 while comedy has tended toward the realistic 
 
 1 Cf. Moland, p. 12 ff.; Flamini, p. 313 &. 
 
6 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 and the local, because tragedy deals with 
 essential qualities and irreconcilable con- 
 flicts, while comedy deals with the incon- 
 gruities of life, and succeeds only where the 
 norms of judgment prevalent in a community 
 are readily applicable. 
 
 Such closeness to the facts of hfe is char- 
 acteristic of Moliere, whom most Frenchmen 
 regard as the Shakspere of their nation. He 
 never mixes with his satire the boundless 
 fancy of Aristophanes or the charmingly 
 delicate creations of A Midsummer Nighfs 
 Dream. His interest is in life and the char- 
 acters which everyday life presents. Such 
 interest, indeed, was pecuHarly fostered by 
 the circumstances of . his career. Born ^ in 
 the home of a prosperous furniture dealer 
 in a bourgeois section of Paris, he must have 
 seen more than one wealthy neighbor running 
 up long bills in a ridiculous effort to become 
 a ^^ gentleman" in spite of many remon- 
 strances from his sensible wife. He may 
 have found in his own father ^ an example of 
 the unscrupulous money-lender who exacts 
 
 ' Jan. 15, 1622. 
 
 2 Cf. Larroumet, p. 15. 
 
ON RESTORATION COIMEDY 7 
 
 twenty-five per cent for useless old furniture 
 and hangings. Certainly the bourgeois atti- 
 tude, with its common sense and spirit of 
 ridicule, was familiar to his childhood and 
 helped to mold the ideals of his boyhood 
 while he was a day student at the College de 
 Clermont. Later, when he had organized 
 a company of players and began his twelve 
 years of strolling through the provinces, he 
 enlarged his view of man to include every 
 variety of local type with its peculiarities of 
 costume and speech — simple peasant girls 
 and rascally servants ; pretentious country 
 aristocrats, unfortunate husbands, and thick- 
 witted suitors ; the bailiffs and collectors of 
 petty taxes, with all the self-important village 
 society aping the fashions of the metropoHs. 
 On his return to Paris in his thirty-seventh 
 year and the establishment of his company 
 at the court of Louis XIV, he not only re- 
 newed acquaintance with the shopkeepers 
 of his father's quarter, but found new fields 
 for the penetrating observation of character 
 — listened to empty-headed courtiers and 
 prudish women of fashion, dined among the 
 devotees of a literary fad and the foppish 
 
8 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 leaders of different court circles. His own 
 troupe, too, and his family, gave him the most 
 intimate understanding of the various turns 
 that love and jealousy and other primary 
 instincts of humanity take in men and women 
 of different temperaments. Hardly could 
 one imagine a career better suited to develop 
 a full understanding of the essential unity 
 of human nature and a keen sense of its mani- 
 fold irregularities. 
 
 No one certainly has made more of his 
 opportunities than Moliere. He did not 
 merely observe narrowly the superficial side of 
 hfe, note the style of a coat or the color 
 of a ribbon ; he pierced below to the nature 
 of the man. His friend Boileau summed up 
 his character accurately in the word " Con- 
 templator." The tradition which pictures him 
 sitting in a provincial barber-shop, intent upon 
 the frequenters conversing about business or 
 gossip, is true in spirit if not in fact. The 
 other picture which one of his enemies has 
 preserved is as illuminating as it is vivid. In 
 one scene of the comedy Zelinde a character 
 describes what he saw Moliere doing in the 
 shop below : ^^Elomire didn't utter a word 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 9 
 
 all the time I was down there. I found him 
 leaning on a counter like a man who was 
 dreaming. He kept his eyes glued on three 
 or four ladies of quality who were haggling 
 over some lace. He seemed to listen intently 
 to what they were saying, and from the 
 movement of his eyes you would have said 
 he was piercing to the bottom of their souls 
 to discover what they were secretly thinking. 
 I even beheve he had a note-book and that 
 under his cloak he took down unperceived 
 the best things they said. He's a dangerous 
 man. There are some people who take their 
 hands everywhere they go. You might say 
 of him that everywhere he goes he _ takes his 
 eyes and ears." ^ 
 
 This absorbing interest in character as it 
 manifests itself in everyday life is a distin- 
 guishing feature of those comedies which he 
 produced in rapid succession during the 
 fifteen years that intervened between his 
 return to Paris and his death.^ For this 
 reason the classification of his work is difH- 
 
 1 A translation of Zelinde, sc. 5, quoted in Moliere, 
 (Euvres, x. 279. 
 
 2 Feb. 17, 1673. 
 
10 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 cult ; serious objections can be brought to 
 almost any grouping of his plays. The first 
 two, VEtourdi and Le Depit Amoureux, 
 written and first performed in the provinces, 
 very clearly belong to the comedy of intrigue 
 type, where the plot consists of a succession 
 of improbable incidents and confusing com- 
 phcations, the characters little more than 
 marionettes pulled hither and yon at the need 
 of the artificial situations, the interest centered 
 in the ceaseless movement and the constant 
 surprise furnished by the turning and wind- 
 ing of the plot. Yet in VEtourdi Eraste is 
 no more of a mask figure than the hero of Le 
 Menteur, sl piece formerly acclaimed as the 
 beginning of comedy of character ; and in Le 
 Depit Amoureux the love quarrel is presented 
 with so much naturalness that it could be 
 acted to day as a scene in any modern comedy. 
 Les Fourheries de Scapin, brought out at the 
 height of Moliere's career, is also a brilliant 
 specimen of the genre. But in others, such 
 as Monsieur de Pourceaugnac and Le Medecin 
 malgre lui, the satiric treatment of manners 
 takes up so much of the play and exercises 
 so controlling an influence on the structure 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 11 
 
 that one hesitates to put them in this class. 
 Such uncertainty, however, does not obscure 
 the fact that one group of Moliere's plays, 
 larger or smaller according to the precon- 
 ceptions of the classifier, may be called comedy 
 of intrigue. 
 
 Another group may be styled romantic or 
 heroic-pastoral : Don Garde, Melicerte, Les 
 Amants Magnifiques, Le Princesse d'Elide, 
 Psyche, Le Sicilien. Except the first, which 
 was an effort of Moliere to win fame as a 
 serious poet, they were produced to furnish 
 entertainment at the royal fetes of Louis XIV, 
 and were interspersed with ballets, in which 
 the king and his courtiers delighted to appear. 
 Though many passages display a poetic grace 
 in the treatment of ideal persons and places 
 not usually attributed to this champion of 
 common sense, these plays, with the exception 
 of the pleasing trifle, Le Sicilien, contain little 
 evidence of Moliere' s comic powers or his 
 genius for observation. The group may 
 therefore be neglected in a study of his in- 
 fluence on Restoration comedy. 
 
 The type of comedy which belongs dis- 
 tinctively to Moliere and upon which his 
 
12 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 greatness as a dramatist is based falls entirely 
 under the head, comedy of manners and 
 character. The beginning was made in Les 
 Precieuses Ridicules, the action of which is in 
 the tone of farce. But the action is not what 
 holds our attention ; it is only a frame for 
 the picture of an affectation in the actual life 
 of the day. Moliere virtually took typical 
 figures from the parterre, set them on the 
 stage, and thus allowed the audience to watch 
 itself. In Sganarelle the incidents are like- 
 wise chosen to render ridiculous the typically 
 absurd jealous husband, but the interest of the 
 audience is centered on the irresistibly laugh- 
 able series of qui-pro-quo situations, so that the 
 piece is comedy of intrigue instead of comedy 
 of manners. But with UEcole des Maris and 
 UEcole des Femmes Moliere became clearly 
 conscious of his aims. He forsook conven- 
 tional types and artificial imbroglios, so far as 
 his public would allow, in order to express his 
 own convictions about the society around him 
 which he knew so well. Sometimes he was 
 obliged to modify his design to conform his 
 play to the whims of the Grand Monarque 
 who was his patron, as one sees clearly in the 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 13 
 
 last acts of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme; some- 
 times he developed his idea into no more than 
 a sketch, an excuse for the ballets which were 
 all the go at court, as in La Comtesse d'Escar- 
 hagnas ; sometimes he mingled an element 
 of farce with the satire of mankind, as in 
 L^Avare ; but everywhere he displayed his 
 absorbing interest in actual life and living 
 characters. In two of his plays he dealt with 
 subjects of such profound and universal sig- 
 nificance that by some they have been termed 
 comedies of character par excellence, and by 
 others high comedy, as a kind of comedy 
 rivaling tragedy in the importance of the 
 interests involved. Certainly these two, Le 
 Tartuffe and Le Misanthrope, with a third, 
 Les Femmes Savantes, reveal the essential 
 qualities of Moliere in the chief comic master- 
 pieces of French drama. 
 
 Indeed, one may go further and say that 
 the beginning of French comedy of manners 
 is to be found in this third class of Mohere's 
 work. The great mass of comedy produced 
 in the period before Moliere's advent was 
 totally different in spirit. The old French 
 farce and its realistic satire of political, social, 
 
14 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 and private life had disappeared from the 
 theater before the universal popularity of 
 the commedia delV arte, with its conventional 
 types of character and artificial plots. In 
 higher kinds of comedy the same spirit pre- 
 vailed. Larivey in the last quarter of the 
 sixteenth century had done much to estabUsh 
 the ItaUan tradition, to center interest on 
 intrigue instead of on manners, to deal with 
 equivoke and disguise, the turns of chance and 
 deceit, instead of imitating nature. This 
 intrigue ij^e was revived in the second 
 quarter of the seventeenth century by Rotrou, 
 who delved in the inexhaustible mine of 
 Spanish comedy for a vast variety of unreal 
 situations. He was followed by Scarron, 
 who took almost every one of his plays from 
 Spain, burlesquing his sources by an enormous 
 buffoonery and an exaggerated satire that 
 made the theater echo with laughter. This 
 same cleverness in devising variations and 
 combinations of incident in a world subject 
 to few of the conditions of actual life was 
 continued by Thomas Corneille even after 
 the close of Moliere's career. 
 
 These general statements concerning the 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 15 
 
 predecessors of Moliere are, like all general 
 statements, subject to exceptions. In La 
 Belle Plaideuse of Boisrobert we look into a 
 shop in the jewelers' section of Paris and see 
 the mingled crowd of high society and bour- 
 geoisie. The picture is superficial, but it is 
 copied from life. In Les Visionnaires of 
 Desmarets a succession of almost unconnected 
 scenes presents a succession of ^^ humors" in 
 something of Ben Jonson's manner, with the 
 purpose of interesting the audience in the 
 faithfulness of the delineation. The great 
 Corneille also made some advance toward 
 a comedy of manners. In La Galerie du 
 Palais we overhear the talk of linen-drapers 
 and woolen merchants, booksellers and book- 
 buyers, quite different from the artificial 
 language of contemporary plays. We see 
 also an actual servant instead of the tradi- 
 tional nurse. Le Menteur is likewise a begin- 
 ning for true comedy, improbable as the hero 
 is ; for some scenes, such as that between 
 Dorante and his indignant father, are the 
 necessary result of character. But all these 
 plays are interesting chiefly as prophecies. 
 The incidents are still ingenious inventions, 
 
16 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 not natural occurrences ; the customs are 
 still touched with artificiality ; the characters 
 are still mere sketches ; the dialogue is not 
 yet the conversation of men and women from 
 the street, the shop, and the home, expressing 
 their own ideas and feelings. In short, even 
 these few forerunners of the coming change 
 did not hold to the conception of allowing 
 the audience to watch itself in typical char- 
 acters moving about on the stage. This 
 revolution in taste from the strange to the 
 natural is what Moliere's comedy of manners 
 accomplished. 
 
 The reason why the innovation succeeded 
 is that Moliere is a typically French author. 
 He has all the clearness and logic of the race. 
 He indulges in no irresponsible imaginings. 
 He gives way to no allurements of the fancy 
 delighting in its own capriciousness. He 
 presents instead some eminently reasonable 
 Ariste or Cleante, who explains, often at a 
 length that wearies English ears, what might 
 otherwise seem nonsensical or wrongheaded. 
 Chance does not determine the succession of 
 events in his plays as it does frequently in the 
 romantic comedy of Shakspere and Fletcher. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 17 
 
 Even when his plot is brought to a close by 
 the discovery of long-lost parents or the inter- 
 vention of a powerful king, the denouement 
 does not impress one as illogical. Certainly 
 one of his distinguishing traits is lucidity. 
 
 He also has the lightness of satire that 
 belongs to the indefinable esprit gaulois, 
 a hatred of the wearisome and the pedantic, 
 an instinctive dehght in ridicule and raillery ^r" 
 without bitterness or rage, a laughter full of 
 vivacity but arising from the keenest logic. 
 The definition I gave a moment ago of the 
 comic, 'Hhe perception of incongruity," is 
 especially applicable to the French. They 
 take little pleasure in the free play of the 
 imagination for itself. Their laughter is 
 always reasonable. 
 
 He was typically French, too, in putting 
 meaning into his work. The plays which de- 
 light English readers, A Midsummer NigMs 
 Dream or The Tempest, are ill-understood by 
 most Frenchmen. They seek to comprehend 
 what ought to be enjoyed by the imagination. 
 They feel insecure in the cloudlands of fancy. 
 Their abiding sense of reality is troubled by 
 these unsubstantial pageants that fade and 
 
18 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 pass away into nothingness. But in UEcole 
 des Femmes and Les Femmes Savantes they 
 find the famihar circumstances of hfe arranged 
 so as to present a penetrating view of marriage 
 and woman with the utmost gaiety and clear- 
 ness. Beneath the hghtness of the French 
 is this insistent seriousness of taste, which 
 takes deep pleasure in what seems didactic 
 and prosaic to Englishmen because its gaiety 
 is not careless and unreflecting. 
 
 Another reason why Moliere succeeded in 
 effecting the change in taste from the extraor- 
 dinary to the natural is that he wrote in 
 the opening years of the reign of Louis XIV, 
 when the French nation was most French.^ 
 It will be recalled that the successive ap- 
 proaches toward estabhshing the absolute 
 power of the crown made by Louis XI and 
 Henry IV were all but completed by Richelieu 
 before his death in 1642. He robbed the 
 magistrates of their powers, supplanted the 
 princes and nobles by ministers of his own 
 creation, and reduced the people to payers of 
 taxes. During the ministry of his successor, 
 the Italian Mazarin, the different elements, 
 * For this period, cf. Lavisse. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 19 
 
 heartened by the Puritan successes in the 
 Civil War in England, rose for the last time 
 against this centralization of authority. This 
 series of disturbances, known as the Fronde, 
 was characterized by a spirit of faction. The 
 kingdom was distraught by shifting purposes 
 and enmities, — magistrates siding now with 
 the people and later timidly resigning them- 
 selves to the royal power ; a prince this day 
 leading the armies of France, the next fighting 
 against them with the revolutionists, later 
 entering the service of Spain ; the people 
 themselves barricading the streets of Paris 
 against the royal troops, driving the royal 
 family out of the palace, covering the streets 
 with satires on Mazarin and his foreign 
 associates, and later filling the bourgeoisie 
 with uncertainty and dread. Distrust and 
 fear were rife. Society was in a state of dis- 
 integration. 
 
 Moreover, the nation was not, and for some 
 time had not been, wholly French. Foreign 
 manners in dress and behavior were made to 
 prevail in higher circles under the influence 
 of Anne of Austria and the Hotel de Ram- 
 bouillet, but had not yet been assimilated to 
 
20 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 the national character. The theater was so 
 thoroughly foreign that it is safe to say half 
 the successful plays were taken from Spain. 
 Even the lowest classes, no longer clamoring 
 for the old farce, stood wide-eyed before the 
 antics and improvisations of the Italian com- 
 panies in the commedia delV arte. 
 
 With the subsidence of the Fronde in the 
 middle fifties the nation came into its own. 
 The late disturbances had aroused among the 
 middle classes a keen desire for order and tran- 
 quilhty, which the succession of Louis XIV in 
 1661 soon turned into patriotic exultation in a 
 king of their own race who governed with jus- 
 tice, revived languishing industries and com- 
 merce, and later made French arms victorious 
 wherever they appeared. The bourgeois of 
 Paris who ten years before had been afraid of 
 having his doors beaten in by gangs barricad- 
 ing the streets, now settled into a comforta- 
 ble, prosperous condition, self-satisfied and 
 self-regarding. Even in the late fifties the 
 banker, the lawyer, the merchant, instead of 
 scanning his neighbor suspiciously, began to 
 observe with lively interest the vices and fol- 
 lies developed by peaceful life. His standards 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 21 
 
 of conduct became more definite and univer- 
 sal under the growing culture of the age. The 
 enthusiasm of the bourgeois was aroused by 
 the splendor of the court to which Louis drew 
 every noble of the realm by making all de- 
 pendent on his exchequer. The mingling 
 of noble and bourgeois encouraged by Louis's 
 disregard of birth and artificial advantage 
 in the distribution of responsibilities and 
 rewards tended to supplant the peculiar pre- 
 possessions of the bourgeoisie with saner stan- 
 dards of judgment. More influential was the 
 Hotel de Rambouillet, with its introduction 
 of the refining influence of woman on society 
 and conversation, which had for many years 
 helped to spread broadcast norms of conduct 
 through the formation of many circles of 
 imitators.^ Men had become keen and quick- 
 witted, impressionable to finer shades of 
 distinction, and at the same time less indi- 
 vidual and prejudiced in judging conduct 
 and character. Thus pohtical and social 
 conditions combined to transform the rude 
 audience of Richelieu's day into -a pohshed 
 worldly society with greater community of 
 
 1 Cf. Livet. 
 
22 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 feeling and taste than had ever existed before 
 in France. 
 
 For it will be remembered that even 
 by 1636 ^ the common people had ceased 
 to attend theatrical performances. They 
 thronged the mountebank's show by Pont 
 Neuf or the fairs at Saint Germain, but 
 the theater was filled with the higher classes, 
 who, as has been shown, were becoming more 
 and more refined and gradually developing 
 a strong spirit of society, which is always 
 hostile to individual variation from accepted 
 usage. It was to this society, which had at 
 length assimilated the elements of foreign 
 culture and developed its own native traits, 
 that Moliere appealed.^ He, a child of old 
 Paris, reared, as I have related, in its tradi- 
 tions and familiar with its prejudices, voiced 
 the spirit of its merchants and bankers when 
 he laughed at the extravagances of the pre- 
 cieuses ridicules, the inflated ambition of 
 Monsieur Jourdain, the foolish aspirations of 
 Leonard de Pourceaugnac, the ridiculous pre- 
 tensions of Comtesse d'Escarbagnas. But 
 
 1 Cf . Reynier in Petit de Julleville, iv. 358 f. 
 
 2 For a study of these audiences, cf . Despois, livres 
 v., vi. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 23 
 
 there is something more than the prepos- 
 sessions of his class even in these plays, and 
 in Le Misanthrope he produced a drama it 
 would have been impossible to produce in 
 1660, a drama which is as perfect an expression 
 as the spirit of society has ever attained. 
 
 The uniqueness of Moliere's comedy is not 
 explained by the circumstances of his life, 
 nor by his French characteristics — his clear- 
 ness and logic, his instinctive satire and 
 seriousness of purpose — nor even by the 
 strong social tone that pervades his work. 
 All these features show how he could accom- 
 plish what was virtually a revolution in public 
 taste, but the peculiar quality of his work is 
 to be found after all only in his genius. It 
 is very difficult to give an adequate idea of 
 his vis comica, of the inexhaustible gaiety 
 which sets so many scenes ringing with silvery 
 laughter. Difficult as this comic spirit is to 
 define, he would be dull indeed who could resist 
 the dialogue of Sosie with his lantern in Amphi- 
 tryon, or the lesson in philosophy given to Mon- 
 sieur Jourdain, or the consultation of self-suffi- 
 cient Sganarelle with suspicious Geronte in Le 
 Medecin malgre lui. Literature contains few 
 
24 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 figures so inextinguishably comic as the im- 
 pertinent Dorine of Le Tartuffe or the archly 
 malign Toinette of Le Malade Imaginaire. 
 Even in his most serious situations his verve 
 appears in hardly diminished vigor. When 
 the headstrong miser is about to strike his 
 obstinate son, the servant breaks in to relieve 
 the strain with the unconscious buffoonery 
 of his reconciliation. When the audience is 
 oppressed by the impending doom of Orgon, 
 the incredulous stepmother opens the door 
 to brighten the whole scene with delightful 
 comedy. When the jealousy of Alceste has 
 become almost painfully intense, the breath- 
 less valet appears to draw forth volleys of 
 laughter while he searches every pocket for 
 the note he has forgotten to bring from his 
 master's table. The gaiety which enlivened 
 many a medieval fabliau and farce has 
 nowhere found a more hearty or vivacious 
 expression than in the comedy of Moliere. 
 
 Let me repeat, however, that this vis 
 comica is different in origin from that familiar 
 to English readers in the work of Shakspere 
 and Jonson. Mohere has none of Shakspere's 
 fantastic and ideal creations ; no mischievous 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 25 
 
 Puck or light-footed Ariel glides through his 
 scenes. Nor is he much closer to the Shak- 
 spere who leaves the stage to those irrepressi- 
 bly witty fools and clowns who engage in 
 the lively give and take of conceits or enter- 
 tain the spectator with a nice derangement 
 of epitaphs. To the pit in Elizabethan days 
 Feste and Launcelot Gobbo were humorous 
 rather than purely comic figures ; that is, the 
 audience laughed with them rather than at 
 them. Both carman and courtier might have 
 said with a ring of hearty good-nature, ^'How 
 witty the fool is!" or ''What irrepressible 
 humor the clown has!" Moliere presented 
 figures decidedly different. He delineated 
 a Monsieur Jourdain to point the folly of 
 colossal conceit, or a servant Martine to show 
 up the ridiculousness of affectation and 
 pedantry. Ben Jonson is somewhat nearer 
 to Moliere's comic spirit. Yet even The 
 Alchemist, generally considered Jonson's best 
 performance, is not very much in the style 
 of Les Femmes Savantes. In the handling of 
 Dapper and Drugger and Sir Epicure Mam- 
 mon we see all too clearly the Plautine con- 
 ception of comedy, in which no emphasis is 
 
26 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 laid on the unsocial or insincere elements of 
 character. The comic effect does not come 
 so much from the absurd expectations of 
 those characters as from the supremely witty 
 way in which the expectations are defeated 
 of fulfilment. The play is a contest of the 
 clever with the dull or unsuspecting, and we 
 laugh with those who get the better. The 
 Plautine conception appears in Moliere also, 
 but it is modified by a conviction, more pro- 
 found than appears anywhere in Jonson, even 
 in Bartholomew Fair, that conduct should con- 
 form to the demands of society. In his 
 comedy of manners he laughs at the attempt 
 of folly and vice to supplant nature and 
 reason. His gaiety arises from the feeling 
 that the irregularities of ordinary life are in 
 themselves irresistibly amusing. 
 
 But one who thinks only of the comic 
 verve of Moliere is far from understanding 
 his attitude toward life. The universality 
 of his appeal does not rest on the widespread 
 desire of men to be diverted. Had that been 
 the case, he would have been superseded in 
 his own country by Regnard, Beaumarchais, 
 and Scribe, and would have found small 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 27 
 
 audience outside of France. He was not only 
 an unrivaled comedian, but a thinker upon 
 some of the profound problems of life. Yet 
 he v/as not a philosopher with an ordered 
 system. All his comedies rest upon very few 
 convictions. He believed most thoroughly 
 that our guide in life should be our own in- 
 stincts. Whoever tries to suppress or distort 
 the natural impulses becomes ridiculous. 
 If Arnolphe rears a child in ignorance and 
 restrains her from all the normal pleasures 
 of youth, even his sufferings shall be made 
 ridiculous. If Cathos and Madelon renounce 
 the common language and customs of every- 
 day life for the artificial jargon and manners 
 of a romantic world, they shall be most hu- 
 miliatingly deceived. In other words, Moliere 
 is one with the pagan spirits of the Italian 
 Renaissance in their full reliance on the good- 
 ness of human nature and their disregard for 
 the restraints of a religion which had under- 
 taken to control every variety of human 
 conduct. He too believes in the goodness of 
 human nature, and goes on repeating in play 
 after play: ^^ Be natural. Follow your normal 
 impulses. That is the rule of life.'^ 
 
28 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 This injunction carries with it the corollary, 
 '^Be sincere." It is only the man who dis- 
 trusts or falsifies or despises nature who be- 
 comes hypocritical. Consequently Moliere 
 attacks every form of insincerity with relent- 
 less vigor. Physicians who pretend to assist 
 the human body, which needs no assistance, 
 who repeat empty terms handed down from 
 the ancients without the slightest knowledge 
 of the organism for which they prescribe, 
 who profess to administer wonder-working 
 remedies when their only purpose is to line 
 their pockets with gold — all these hypocrisies 
 of medicine he ridicules with never diminish- 
 ing zest. But hypocrisy is sometimes too 
 much even for the inextinguishable gaiety 
 of Moliere. Tartuffe, who forbids the inno- 
 cent diversions of the young wife, who dries 
 up the husband's sincere affection with the 
 consuming breath of bigotry, who wishes to 
 crush the tender love of the daughter 
 and defeat the rightful expectations of the 
 son, who would even seduce the wife of his 
 benefactor, — this sinister figure is depicted, 
 not in gay, but in somber colors, because he is 
 the very antithesis of Moliere's injunction: 
 '' Follow nature. Be sincere." 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 29 
 
 Sincerity, however, may be carried too far. 
 Alceste is passionately sincere, but he is 
 ridiculous. One naturally asks why the man 
 who embodies so many of MoHere's own 
 characteristics, his hatred of affectation and 
 pretense and conceit, his hatred of double- 
 dealing and hypocrisy, whose devotion to 
 sincerity reflects one of the very strongest 
 devotions of Moliere's soul — why this man 
 is nevertheless ridiculous. The answer is 
 simple : because he forgets he is living in 
 society, because he is unsocial. This Moliere 
 never forgets. The man who follows instinct 
 must do so with the abiding consciousness 
 that he is living among men, that his conduct 
 must be subject to the rule of conmion sense 
 and sound judgment. Thus Moliere is after 
 all vastly different from the pagan spirits 
 of the Italian Renaissance. He believes in 
 none of the immoderate enthusiasms of indi- 
 viduahsm, in none of the strange eccentrici- 
 ties of originality. Life must be subjected 
 to order and reason. We must not demand 
 of it the impossible, unless we wish to taste 
 a bitterness like that of Alceste, almost as 
 deep as the suffering of that Arnolphe who 
 
30 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 tried to defeat nature for his own personal 
 ends. 
 
 Thus it comes about that MoHere is some- 
 thing more than a comedian presenting 
 reaUstically the superficial and the local 
 incongruities of life so as to make their 
 contradiction with the norms of judgment 
 prevalent in his community readily apparent. 
 This typical Frenchman, with all the logical 
 clearness, spirit of ridicule, and underlying 
 seriousness of his race, this poet of the age 
 of Louis XIV, when the society for which 
 he wrote attained a greater unity than had 
 ever before existed, not only becomes the 
 greatest master of comedy in French drama 
 by the inextinguishable gaiety of his genius, 
 but also, by his profound insight into life 
 and the sweet reasonableness of his attitude 
 toward it, stands forth as one of the sig- 
 nificant figures in the history of European 
 literature. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 RESTORATION COMEDY 
 
 While Moliere and his compeers, La 
 Fontaine and Boileau and Racine, were help- 
 ing to produce that hterature which shines 
 forth as the pecuHar pride of Frenchmen, there 
 arose in England with the return of Charles 
 II a literature of similar classical tendencies 
 which Englishmen have consigned to a limbo 
 of the half forgotten. Yet the period merits 
 consideration, not only for the satire of Dry- 
 den, which every one knows something about, 
 but for the dimly remembered drama which 
 filled the theaters for the four decades fol- 
 lowing Charles II's return. It is of course 
 true that nearly all the tragedy bears traces 
 of Corneille and Racine from France and of 
 Shakspere from among the Elizabethans, but 
 a few of those tragedies have seldom or never 
 been surpassed in all the succeeding two hun- 
 dred years. The heroic play, moreover, sneer 
 31 
 
32 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 as much as we may at its extravagant lan- 
 guage and impossible characters, challenges 
 our attention because it awoke the enthusi- 
 asm of thousands of playgoers and absorbed 
 much of the energy of the leading poet of the 
 age. But the achievement of the Restora- 
 tion was its comedy, an achievement which 
 some critics have regarded as the most brilhant 
 in English dramatic , literature. To study 
 this comedy will be the purpose of this and 
 the following chapters. 
 
 Restoration comedy was not perfectly 
 homogeneous. Though the different varieties 
 will be seen later to have a great deal in 
 common, lines of distinction can be drawn. 
 There is first the old comedy of humors which 
 had been developed by Ben Jonson, its plot 
 consisting of a series of appropriate retribu- 
 tions for the variations from a norm which 
 were represented by the different characters. 
 It awoke to a faint life in the early work of 
 Dryden and was galvanized into strange con- 
 tortions by Ben's faithful disciple, Thomas 
 Shadwell. Then the Spanish comedy of 
 intrigue, with its constant appeal to the at- 
 tention by a brisk succession of incidents, a 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 33 
 
 form which had in English been foreshadowed 
 by the proUfic inventiveness of Fletcher, 
 sprang for a time into promising popularity 
 under the influence of King Charles, who was 
 so fond of it that he suggested Spanish plots 
 for some of the dramatists to imitate. Its 
 vogue as a distinct species did not develop, 
 but the intrigue plot, imported either directly 
 from Spain or indirectly through the medium 
 of Thomas Corneille or other French imitators 
 of Calderon and the Spanish school, continued 
 to form a large element in the comedy of the 
 age. These types, however, are not what 
 give to Restoration comedy its peculiar dis- 
 tinction. The type which was then developed 
 to its greatest brilliancy belongs to the species 
 that Moliere cultivated — a comedy of man- 
 ners which holds the mirror up to the follies 
 and foibles of society without assuming the 
 frown of a judge or uttering the jeer of a 
 satirist. So conspicuously is this form the 
 achievement of the period that Restoration 
 comedy and comedy of manners have often 
 been used as convertible terms. 
 
 There had indeed been in English drama 
 an approach to comedy of manners before 
 
34 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 this date. Truly notable is the famous 
 comedy of humors already mentioned. It 
 is rightly considered the invention of Ben 
 Jonson, not only because Chapman's Hu- 
 morous Day^s Mirth is hardly entitled to con- 
 sideration in spite of the fact that in plot and 
 treatment of character it is virtually an antici- 
 pation of Every Man in his Humour, but also 
 because the immense development of the 
 type and its long vogue were due to Jonson 
 entirely. It presented the follies and affecta- 
 tions of contemporary life with a veracity that 
 not even Wycherley excelled. Every play- 
 goer was convinced of the reality of boastful 
 Boabdil and of Sir Epicure Mammon. Even 
 to-day we walk once more in old Saint Paul's 
 with Fastidious Brisk, and laugh as heartily 
 at the absurd mistakes of Zeal-of-the-Land 
 Busy as if we ourselves were strolling through 
 the side-shows of Bartholomew Fair. After 
 Jonson left the stage, such plays as Cartwright's 
 The Ordinary (1634), Marmion's The Anti- 
 quary (1636), and Jasper Mayne's The 
 City Match (1639) maintained the type down 
 to the closing of the theaters. It is hardly 
 necessary to point out that the whole school 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 35 
 
 was not so much interested in picturing con- 
 temporary manners as in drawing individ- 
 ual eccentricities of character. The writers 
 touched upon the f oUies of everyday or fashion- 
 able life, but they satirized, not the social 
 failing as such, but the personal deviation from 
 a norm. They thus diverged from a true 
 comedy of manners by centering their inter- 
 est elsewhere than in the imitation of society. 
 Nearer to the type under discussion are those 
 plays which reveal a genuine interest in scenes 
 of everyday life for themselves. Not to go 
 back to Hick Scorner or Gammer Gurton's 
 Needle, every one remembers The Two Angry 
 Women of Abington and Lamb's hearty 
 praise of it.^ The Merry Devil of Edmonton 
 and The Merry JVives of Windsor also contain 
 scenes from the village or rural circles of the 
 time. A whole play of the type, its pictures 
 of daily London life, tinged to be sure with 
 a charming color of romance, is seen in 
 Dekker's Shoemaker^s Holiday. A breath of 
 satire inspires Eastward Hoe, and a gross real- 
 ism approaching the moral indifference of 
 the Restoration weighs down two companion 
 
 1 Cf. Lamb, Works, iv. 426. 
 
36 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 pieces, Northward Hoe and Westward Hoe. 
 In Middleton we find a dramatist devoting 
 a good part of his time for a long period of 
 years to the faithful reproduction of scenes 
 from the actual London of his day, in a manner 
 which was perhaps slightly influenced by the 
 satiric intent of Jonson's humors and the 
 romantic tendencies in plot of contemporary 
 drama, but which in spirit approached very 
 closely to the worldiness of Etheredge and 
 Dry den. ^ Among the followers of Middleton, 
 Field produced two comedies ^ which by the 
 impudence of their amorous intrigue might 
 have gained them a few representations at the 
 court of Charles 11,^ but which show very 
 clearly the influence of Jonson's gulls and 
 roarers. The influence of Jonson is even 
 larger in Brome's plays, in some of which 
 the presentation of London life drops below 
 Middleton or Field in the prosaic coarseness 
 of the realism. 
 
 Besides this type of comedy of manners, 
 
 ^ For a study of Middleton as a writer of comedy, 
 cf. Fischer. 
 
 2 A Woman is a Weathercock and Amends for Ladies. 
 
 3 A Woman is a Weathercock was, in fact, revived at 
 Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1667. Cf. Genest, i. 79. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 37 
 
 which was written mainly for the butcher 
 and the baker, there was another which had 
 in view more or less the courtier and the inns- 
 of-court man. This form was developed by 
 John Fletcher, who infused into the realistic 
 study of contemporary life a lightly ad- 
 venturous tone that made all men soldiers 
 of fortune, and who added to the charm of 
 such study by the spiciness of his characters 
 and the romantic daring of his plots.^ Even 
 when the scene was London (as in Wit without 
 Mo7iey or The Night Walker) this romantic 
 element was prominent, and it generally be- 
 came so controlling that the study of manners 
 was disguised under a foreign garb and the 
 English characters masqueraded as little 
 French lawyers or Spanish curates. Massin- 
 ger's Guardian bears witness to the popularity 
 of this courtly type. Nearly the whole body 
 of Shirley's comedy likewise depicted the 
 higher grades of social life under one mask or 
 another, and with a cleverness of plotting 
 that was apparently also suggested by 
 Fletcher. In this class of plays the basic ele- 
 ment in a comedy of manners, the imitation of 
 
 ^ Cf. Hatcher, John Fletcher, p. 35. 
 
38 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 life in a fashionable circle more or less apart, 
 is more prominent than in the preceding class, 
 but in all the productions of the school the 
 interest in reality is largely replaced by interest 
 in incident and plot. With these qualifica- 
 tions, however, it is true that even before 
 the closing of the theaters comedies of man- 
 ners directed either to the mass of citizens or 
 to the throng of courtiers had already formed 
 a large body of dramatic hterature. 
 
 It should nevertheless not be forgotten 
 that this body of literature differs in several 
 respects from the Restoration comedy of 
 which the following chapters are a study. 
 Not much stress need be laid on the general 
 use of verse by the Jacobean writers and the 
 almost universal use of prose by Restoration 
 playwrights.^ Comedy of manners in the 
 earlier period tended to prose dialogue, many 
 plays of Middleton and Brome having very 
 few speeches in meter. But the dialogue of 
 Middleton, in spite of the flashes of wit and 
 satire, does not approach the brilliant repartee 
 of Congreve, that realistic but poUshed imi- 
 
 1 Crowne's Married Beau is the only exception out- 
 side of tragi-comedy I know of. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 39 
 
 tation of what the society of Charles II 's 
 time regarded as the chief ornament of 
 conversation. 
 
 Not much need be said concerning the 
 handhng of plot in the two periods. The 
 school of Etheredge and Wycherley, in virtue 
 of a closer approximation to the manners of 
 its circle, is on the whole less extravagant 
 in the violation of probabiHty than the fol- 
 lowers of Middleton and Fletcher. Nor is 
 the combining of two or more stories in a 
 single piece a distinguishing feature of the 
 school. English popular pla3rv^rights had 
 from the beginning sought to hold the atten- 
 tion of the audience by an abundance of 
 action, even to the extent of joining plots that 
 had no real connection. If many Restora- 
 tion plays are a mere jumble of such unre- 
 lated plots, they are simply a few degrees worse 
 than some productions even by the masters 
 of pre-Restoration comedy. In the attitude 
 toward unities other than that of action a 
 striking difference may be noted. The fre- 
 quent change of scene and the long lapses of 
 time among the Jacobeans are a notable 
 feature of the stage and plot-management. 
 
40 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Only two of Fletcher's comedies/ for instance, 
 come within a limit of twenty-four horn's, 
 and many of them extend over a period of 
 months or even a year. The constant change 
 of place becomes at times almost kaleidoscopic, 
 hurrying us hither and thither so as to give 
 an impression of bustle and rush which any 
 amount of action by itself would hardly 
 produce. But the tendency through all Res- 
 toration comedy is to keep the scene in the 
 same locality and to compress the time as 
 much as possible to the limits of a day and 
 night. This was in part due to the introduc- 
 tion of painted scenery.^ But we shall see 
 later that French discussion of the unities, 
 and especially the models followed by the 
 dramatists, were a much stronger influence 
 in lessening the number of scenes and short- 
 ening the time of dramatic action. 
 
 A more fundamental difference between 
 the two periods is the selection and treatment 
 of subject-matter. The Restoration was given 
 over almost entirely to picturing the manners 
 of fashionable life ; even when influenced by 
 
 1 The Mad Lover and The Chances. 
 
 2 On this introduction, cf. Downes, pp. xx. f., xxiv. f., 
 20 f.; Wright, p. 412; Pepys, iii. 157 (June 13, 1663). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 41 
 
 the comedy of intrigue it found its material 
 largely in an imitation of the social customs 
 of the times. The Jacobean comedy of man- 
 ners in its different kinds down to the closing 
 of the theaters was fundamentally either 
 comedy of intrigue or comedy of humors, 
 the transcript from contemporary life being 
 introduced as of secondary importance and 
 interest. Even such a realistic play as A 
 Trick to Catch the Old One is essentially an 
 intrigue-comedy, and A Mad World clearly 
 employs Ben Jonson's plot-method. The 
 truth is, the men who wrote comedies of 
 London life had not yet reached the concep- 
 tion which the leading Restoration play- 
 wrights soon gained, that of centering the 
 interest in a picture of contemporary man- 
 ners. The poets like Middleton, who had 
 a genuine interest in studying life realistically 
 and satirizing various features of it, always 
 felt it their first duty to keep up a busy action 
 or to reveal new eccentricities of character. 
 As a consequence of focusing its interest on 
 social life. Restoration comedy placed much 
 more of its action in interiors, within coffee- 
 houses or boudoirs or reception halls, than in 
 
42 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 fields or streets or perhaps the undesignated 
 rooms of a house. The development of 
 painted scenery merely added vividness to 
 this employment of local color. A second 
 consequence was that an amorous intrigue 
 formed the basis of nearly every Restoration 
 plot, since such intrigues were held to be the 
 chief recreation of the fashionable circles of 
 the day. Jacobean comedy, on the contrary, 
 in spite of its partial loss of the wholesome 
 atmosphere of the Ehzabethan period, still 
 moved in ways relatively more modest and 
 wholesome. I am not unaware of the sev- 
 eral pre-Restoration plays of London life 
 that dealt with adultery and kindred vices. 
 Any one who examines these latter will 
 find in them an important difference from 
 the attitude of Restoration writers. Leav- 
 ing out of account a few anomalous pro- 
 ductions like The Parson's Wedding, we find 
 that such writers as Field and Brome and 
 Shirley finally cleared those suspected of in- 
 fidelity. Whoever speaks of their plays as 
 rivaling the comedies of Charles II's court 
 forgets this very material consideration. The 
 Restoration audience delighted to see the 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 43 
 
 young gallant succeed ; some pre-Restora- 
 tion audiences apparently enjoyed risky situa- 
 tions, but they at the same time demanded 
 that virtue triumph in the end. 
 
 The difference between the two ages in 
 this matter is typical. The audiences of 
 Jonson and the tribe of Ben had a healthy 
 interest in frank realism ; the audiences of 
 Wycherley and Dryden were characterized 
 by a cynical indifference to moral considera- 
 tions. Nor can it be urged that Jonson is 
 also indifferent to moral considerations. To 
 be sure, The Alchemist and Bartholomew Fair 
 cannot be called strictly moral, — the knaves 
 generally get the better of the pious. Yet 
 the knavery is of no base or disgusting nature, 
 so that we for the moment agree that the 
 victims are too dull to deserve a better end. 
 The Restoration not only laughed at witty 
 rogues but applauded the crimes of youth and 
 pleasure. Every restraint was felt as an im- 
 pertinence, and they who most ingeniously 
 and successfully evaded those restraints be- 
 came the most delightful figures in the theater. 
 The explanation of this state of affairs is not 
 far to seek. Imagination was dead. Men 
 
44 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 were entirely absorbed in the hard or frivolous 
 facts of life. Chivalric ideals no longer 
 shaped their conduct, and they felt small 
 desire to escape from fact into any poetic 
 fairyland of the imagination. Self-sacrificing 
 love and knightly honor might exist in some 
 world of dreams, but for such men as Roches- 
 ter and Buckingham dream-worlds had no 
 existence even in the sounding couplets of 
 an heroic play except as a subject for ridicule 
 and immoderate laughter. He who would 
 not be known for a fool had to look at the 
 world of material existence with the clear 
 eyes of common sense. Since virtue and 
 chivalry no longer molded men's thoughts 
 or influenced their actions, what could play- 
 wrights do but fashion the scenes about them 
 into a long succession of Relapses and Plain 
 Dealers? The age for Rosalinds or even 
 Sad Shepherdesses had given place to one of 
 Royal Academies and the tenacious recogni- 
 tion of fact. 
 
 This formula fits the whole school remark- 
 ably well. The different members, of course, 
 had individuality. After reading them care- 
 fully one comes to feel very marked personal 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 45 
 
 characteristics. But the class traits are more 
 numerous and striking than in the Jacobean 
 period. No one would think of confusing 
 Middleton with Fletcher or Massinger with 
 Shirley. Equally obvious would be the simi- 
 larities between even Wycherley and Congreve. 
 In the days of the first Charles, to be sure, 
 there were many hack writers whose manners 
 are scarcely distinguishable, but the prevail- 
 ing effort to invent novel situations shows 
 that originality was yet prized. Men strove 
 not to be like each other and recognized no 
 conomon standards toward which all should 
 tend who sought perfection. In the Restora- 
 tion originahty found little place. It was 
 an age of adaptors and imitators. Men 
 no longer felt an impeUing individual in- 
 spiration. The greatest writers borrowed in- 
 cidents and characters for the most success- 
 ful of their productions, and were following 
 models in the most brilhant of their creations. 
 They prided themselves on being members 
 of a fashionable class, living their life apart 
 from the body of the people. They recognized 
 the integrity of a clique, and were guided con- 
 stantly by the taste of their own small circle. 
 
46 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 The rivals of Jonson and Fletcher had to 
 take into account a more various audience. 
 Here, indeed, lies the secret of nearly all the 
 differences we have noted between the two 
 periods. 
 
 The audience of the early Jacobean period 
 is graphically described by Dekker in those 
 satirical directions which he gave, in the 
 chapter, "How a Gallant should behave him- 
 self in a Playhouse," to those boorish fellows 
 of the day who wished to pose as gentlemen 
 of fashion : — 
 
 Sithence then the place is so free in entertainment, 
 allowing a stool as well to the farmer's son as to your 
 templar ; that your stinkard has the self-same liberty 
 to be there in his tobacco-fumes, which your sweet 
 courtier hath ; and that your carman and tinker claim 
 as strong a voice in their suffrage, and sit to give judge- 
 ment on the play's life and death, as well as the proudest 
 Momus among the tribe of critic : it is . fit that he, 
 whom the most tailors' bills do make room for, when he 
 comes, should not be basely, like a viol, cased up in 
 a corner.^ 
 
 It is clear enough, then, that in 1609 the play- 
 house attracted well-nigh every element of 
 the population, that the audience was truly 
 1 Dekker, p. 49 f. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 47 
 
 representative of the national life. This con- 
 dition accounts for the undeniably English 
 tone even of those plays where the scene was 
 laid in foreign lands or the characters were 
 taken from a restricted part of the population. 
 He who wrote of kings and dukes made as 
 broad an appeal as he who presented only 
 shoemakers and apprentices. The taste of 
 the city and the taste of the court, though 
 not identical, were by no means antagonistic 
 or mutually exclusive. 
 
 Before the reign was out James had con- 
 trived by his theories concerning divine right 
 and ecclesiastical authority to stir up more 
 than ever the opposition of the Puritan party. ^ 
 Its time-honored hatred of the theater was 
 fed also by the magnificent spectacles which 
 Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones were creating 
 under royal favor. The gradual drawing 
 away of the mass of the people from the 
 playhouse found ample expression in the next 
 reign in the Histrio-niasHx of WilUam Prynne. 
 This ^valiant author declared with some 
 bitterness: ^Hhat many, that any gracious, 
 godly, growen, faithfull Christians, who are 
 1 For this whole subject, cf. Thompson. 
 
48 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 thorowly instructed in the wayes of godli- 
 nesse, or in the noxious qualities of Playes, 
 doe constantly, doe frequently resort to Play- 
 houses, to Stage-playes, (especially out of 
 a loue or liking unto Playes themselves) I 
 utterly denj^" ^ He further asseverated 
 'Hhat they who resort to Playes and Play- 
 houses, have not so much as the least Symp- 
 tomes of any Christianity in them ; that they 
 are worse then men, then beasts, then Devils." ^ 
 The over-zealous barrister had to admit, how- 
 ever, ''that perchance some few exorbitant, 
 scandalous histrionicall, (but farre from good) 
 Divines" and ''some puny new-converted 
 Christian Novices " " may sometimes visit 
 Theaters." ^ The proportion of good people 
 who did so was much larger than he was will- 
 ing to concede. KiUigrew, says Pepys, "tells 
 me plainly that the City audience was [then] 
 as good as the Court." - This evidently 
 means that the respectable part of the city, 
 not merely the idle and frivolous or the low 
 and brutal, formed as large a part of the au- 
 dience as the hangers-on at court. He did 
 
 1 Prynne, p. 151. ^ jud., p. 427. ^ lUd., p. 150. 
 
 2 Pepys, vi. 163 (Feb. 12, 1666-7). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 49 
 
 not have in mind the Fortune and the Red 
 Bull, which were ^^ mostly frequented by 
 citizens and the meaner sort of people/' ^ 
 but the ^'private houses/' the Blackfriars, 
 Cockpit, and Salisbury Court, which ^'had 
 pits for the gentry." ^ For Wright, speaking 
 evidently of the reign of Charles I, declares 
 that very good people then thought "a play 
 an innocent diversion for an idle hour or 
 two." ^ We must therefore conclude that 
 down to the close of the elder drama the writers 
 took into account various elements of the 
 population, that the city itself continued to 
 furnish whole audiences, and that the taste 
 of the court was tempered by that of the 
 middle classes. The success of a play still 
 depended upon the breadth of its appeal. 
 
 There can of course be no doubt that in the 
 England of the fourth decade the audiences 
 were less representative of the whole nation 
 than those described by Dekker at the close 
 of the first decade. The Memoirs of Colonel 
 Hutchinson for the later period reveal how 
 wide had become the separation between the 
 court and the serious, self-respecting element 
 
 1 Wright, p. 407. ^ /^^-^^.^ p. 408. 3 /^^^^^^ p, 497. 
 
 E 
 
50 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 of the population.^ The drama itself fur- 
 nishes abundant evidence. The later plays 
 of London life, unlike those produced in the 
 early years of the century, which were leveled 
 more or less at the taste of shoemakers and 
 apprentices without losing the strong interest 
 of all grades of society from prince to pauper, 
 were in several cases apparently written for 
 the frequenters of the tavern and the gaming 
 table. Such, I imagine, were a great many of 
 the comedies presented at the Fortune or the 
 Red Bull.^ Scarcely more representative of 
 the body of the people was the great mass of 
 drama, beginning with Fletcher, which sought 
 primarily to interest the languid courtiers 
 who had developed a somewhat fastidious 
 taste through the performance of masks and 
 pageants. The taste even of the average 
 playgoer from among the gentr}^ was headed 
 in Charles I's time toward the taste of the 
 Restoration ; he delighted in the gulling of 
 a would-be gallant from the country or the 
 humiliation of a puritanic citizen. But it 
 is important to remember in this connection 
 
 1 Cf. Hutchinson, i. passim, especially p. 114 f. 
 
 2 Cf. Fleay, pp. 358 fP., 363. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 51 
 
 that he was still far from demanding what 
 the playgoer of Charles II's time demanded. 
 Fletcher had continued to draw common 
 characters sympathetically/ and his plays 
 were still popular. Shirley, to be sure, was 
 more distinctly a court poet, in one piece 
 entering into collaboration with the King. 
 His plays were of course presented at the 
 private houses. He, however, is an extreme 
 illustration of the tendency. Massinger 
 surely wrote for men as sturdily English as 
 any who applauded Middleton or Dekker, 
 yet his pieces were presented at those same 
 Drury Lane or Blackfriars audiences. Be- 
 sides, the traditions of the great period were 
 ever before the poets of the later decades, as 
 one can see in the most courtly of them 
 all, Shirley himself. The atmosphere of the 
 clique, the consciousness of appealing to a 
 narrow circle only, was thus prevented from 
 becoming oppressive. The theater was no 
 longer a truly national pastime, it is true, 
 but the drama as a whole retained in various 
 degrees an unmistakably English tone and 
 a corresponding breadth of appeal. 
 1 E.g., Gillian in The Chances, Syphaxin The Mad Lover. 
 
52 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 The Restoration audiences were more ho- 
 mogeneous. The manager KilHgrew told 
 Pepys the City had almost ceased to appear 
 at the theater.^ Wright at a later date (1699) 
 corroborates him with the statement that 
 ^Hhe playhouses are so extremely pestered 
 with vizard-masks and their trade (occasion- 
 ing continual quarrels and abuses), that many 
 of the more civilized part of the town are un- 
 easy in the company, and shun the theatre 
 as they would a house of scandal." ^ A 
 single glance from the stage will show how 
 great the change was from pre-Restoration 
 times. ^ We see the upper gallery chiefly 
 occupied by the footmen ^ of the lords and 
 ladies who sit in the pit (or parquet) and the 
 boxes below. Women of loose character 
 throng into the middle gallery ^ and crowd 
 even into the prominent places in the pit 
 among the ladies of quality. The latter 
 appear also in the circle of boxes which runs 
 
 1 Cf. Pepys, vi. 163 (Feb. 12, 1666-7). 
 
 2 Op. cit., p. 407. 
 
 3 Cf. Lowe, Thomas Betterton, chap. iii. 
 
 4 Cf. Dryden, Works, x. 399 f. 
 
 ^ Ibid., p. 399; Congreve, epilogue to The Double 
 Dealer. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 53 
 
 around the pit under the galleries. The chief 
 resort of the wits and all the leaders of the 
 day is the pit itself. Thither they repair, 
 often as early as shortly after noon, the house 
 sometimes being filled by one o' clock. ^ The 
 elegant idlers pass the time pleasantly enough 
 chaffing the orange girls ^ or conversing with 
 the vizard-masks, not stopping when the play 
 begins if the damsel prove witty enough, even 
 though, as in Pepys's case, other spectators 
 by that means lose the pleasure of the play 
 wholly. ^ Yet it was the opinion of such 
 beaux in feather and flaxen periwig that de- 
 termined the success or failure of the comedy. 
 They remained after the performance to dis- 
 cuss its merits and ''decree the poor play^s 
 fate,^^ ^ for, their judgment once known, ''all 
 the town pronounces it their thought." ^ 
 Hence the fops and wits were the determin- 
 ing element in these Restoration audiences ; 
 it was for them the playwrights wrote, and 
 it was by them the humbler members of the 
 
 ' Cf. Pepys, viii. 223 (Feb. 25, 1668-9). 
 ^ Cf. Vincent, Young Gallant's Academy (in Dekker, 
 p. 105). 
 
 3Cf. Pepys, vi. 176 (Feb. 18, 1666-7). 
 
 ^ Dryden, Works, iii. 97. ^ Ihid. 
 
54 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 audience were convinced. For the ''citizens, 
 'prentices, and others" who at one perform- 
 ance seemed to Pepys "a mighty company '^ 
 in the pit and a sign of ''the vanity and 
 prodigaHty of the age," ^ were certainly the 
 admirers and would-be imitators of the rakes 
 of the court whose escapades had given the 
 tone to society. 
 
 Nothing can be more striking than the unity 
 of these audiences, than the absorbing interest 
 manifested in the sayings and doings of the 
 leaders. The office clerks whom Pepys men- 
 tions, ^ we must believe, took as vivid an in- 
 terest in the King's mistress and were as 
 much pleased to fill their eyes with her as the 
 worthy Clerk of the Acts himself,^ and they 
 were possibly as much troubled at a later per- 
 formance to see Lady Castlemain look de- 
 jectedly and slighted by people already.^ 
 Nor can their dehght at the coarse repartee 
 of those notorious actresses, Nell Gwyn and 
 Beck Marshall, have been less than his.^ 
 
 1 Pepys, vii. 244 f. (Jan. 1, 1667-8). 
 
 2 Cf. Ibid., i. 307 (Jan. 19, 1660-1). 
 
 3 Cf. Ibid., ii. 64 (July 23, 1661). 
 
 4 Cf. Ibid., p. 225 (May 21, 1662). 
 s Cf. Ibid., vii. 161 (Oct. 26, 1667). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 55 
 
 It is possible that some of the citizens who 
 frequented the playhouse had their hair pulled 
 by a vizard-mask less distinguished than Mrs. 
 Knipp,^ and thus began in imitation of 
 Rochester or Buckingham an affair which oc- 
 casioned more than one quarrel with their 
 wives.2 
 
 For it should be remembered that the leaders 
 of these audiences led outside the theater 
 impudently dissolute lives. It would be a 
 grievous error to repeat the frequent assump- 
 tion that the whole body of society was 
 permeated by the moral rottenness of the 
 court. The more idle and frivolous or weak- 
 kneed and self-indulgent gave way to the 
 license of the times, but the great mass of 
 the sturdy, self-respecting middle class that 
 had supported the Puritan movement of the 
 preceding decades did not suddenly forsake 
 their bourgeois virtues and strong moral 
 prepossessions. They simply held themselves 
 in retirement and kept away from the theater 
 altogether. Moreover, even the many vacillat- 
 ing spirits who fell in with the playgoers and 
 
 1 Cf. Pepys, p. 62 (Aug. 12, 1667). 
 
 2 Cf. Ibid., viii. 233 (May 4, 1668). 
 
56 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 were caught in the tidal wave of reaction from 
 the Puritan regime boasted of a defiance they 
 were far from putting into practice. After 
 these reservations are made, the picture of 
 society is one of the darkest in the modern 
 history of England, especially in the first 
 decade, when the reaction was most violent, 
 but also, in a diminishing degree, down to the 
 pubUcation of Colher's Short View, when the 
 middle-class ideals once more gained control. 
 We know from various sources that the 
 gallants who directed courtly taste in theatri- 
 cal matters spent a good part of their time in 
 seeking diversions, in running from theater 
 to theater or sauntering through Hyde Park 
 till they found some interesting damsel or till 
 all the fine ladies had taken their leave ; they 
 visited the crowded shops of the New Ex- 
 change, took journeys to Epsom Wells, or 
 conducted themselves with such shameless 
 impudence toward women that it troubled 
 Pepys ^'to see the confidence and vice of the 
 age." ^ The theater itself was one of the chief 
 centers of such immorality ; the career of Nell 
 Gwyn was typical of the stage life of the 
 1 Pepys, viii. 67 (July 27, 1668). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 57 
 
 period/ So general was this looseness of life at 
 the beginning of the period that King Charles, 
 when he wished to convene ParUament on 
 short notice, sent to the theaters and houses of 
 ill-fame to summon the members to meeting. ^ 
 How could it be otherwise when Charles him- 
 self set the example,^ ^'squandering on his 
 mistresses the £70,000 voted by the House 
 for a monument to his father"?^ 
 
 With such audiences dominated by such 
 leaders the playwrights could not do otherwise 
 than produce a drama far different from the 
 unmistakably Enghsh drama of pre-Restora- 
 tion times. Instead of appealing to men 
 from virtually every class in the nation, they 
 depended for success on the suffrage of a 
 narrow court circle led by the most dissolute 
 rakes of the day. The tendency of comedy 
 to develop new characteristics in this new 
 social milieu was strengthened by the pre- 
 vailing French taste of the court circle.^ 
 
 ^ Cf. Cunningham, Story of Nell Gwyn; Pepys, vii. 
 19 (July 13, 1667). 
 
 2 Cf. Pepys, vi. 88 (Dee. 8, 1666). 
 
 3Cf. Ihid., vii. 259 f. (Jan. 11, 1667-8). 
 
 ^ Cunningham, p. 104. 
 
 ^ For this whole subject, cf. Charlanne. 
 
58 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 The royalists who had followed Queen Hen- 
 riette to Saint Germain or who later fled to 
 the Continent before Cromwell, enjoyed for 
 many years the balls, concerts, promenades, 
 and various fetes provided for their enter- 
 tainment at Fontainebleau or in the vicinity 
 of the Louvre. Although these cavaliers 
 were very glad to return to England for the 
 favors which they felt Charles II would 
 shower upon them, they returned with a 
 genuine liking for the French manner of hving 
 and thinking. They were still haunted by 
 the charms of the superior civihzation of 
 France. Fashions in dress during the whole 
 Restoration period were adapted more or 
 less from French styles, — hats and peri- 
 wigs, gloves, mirrors, perfumes, ribbons, and 
 rings were brought from Paris with lace, 
 embroidery, and fans. Even carpets, coaches, 
 and clocks had to be imported with the wines 
 from Bordeaux and the cheese from Calais. 
 In short, French taste was the mark of good 
 society. He who could not converse in 
 French lacked one of the essentials of good 
 breeding. Nothing could be more natural 
 than this revolt among men who held in de- 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 59 
 
 testation the severe simplicity of the Puritan 
 regime and wished to get as far away as possible 
 from the ascetic ideal of dress and conduct. 
 
 This spirit of reaction, furthered by a 
 genuine liking for French taste, was in the 
 drama tempered by the force of no strong 
 national literary tradition. The cavahers 
 themselves knew almost nothing of the glories 
 of the elder drama, and the few writers like 
 KilUgrew and Davenant who survived from 
 pre-Restoration times were totally incapable 
 of repeating the Jacobean achievements or 
 even of continuing the work of Massinger 
 or Shirley. During the first ten years, to be 
 sure, the revivals of plays by the school of 
 Fletcher and Jonson were constant, but the 
 courtiers felt like Pepys that these things 
 were hardly to their taste. The King him- 
 self, who was especially interested in the 
 theater, at one time commanding Lacy to act 
 in the place of Clun ^ and frequently ending 
 disputes in the theatrical companies by his 
 command or decision, ^ at once took upon him- 
 self the substitution of new models. To Tuke 
 
 . 1 Cf. Pepys, iii. 108 (May 8, 1663). 
 2 Cf . Cibber, i. 89. 
 
60 TPIE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 he suggested a Spanish plot for The Adventures 
 of Five Hours. The author, who remarks 
 that his majesty's ''judgment is no more to 
 be doubted than his commands to be dis- 
 obeyed," ^ declares that the Spanish are the 
 happiest nation in the world '4n the force and 
 delicacy of their inventions." ^ The King's 
 interest in the Spanish drama did not wane, 
 for not long before his death he pointed out 
 to Crowne No Pued Esser for the intrigue of 
 Sir Courtly Nice,^ But it was not the models 
 from Spain which were to determine the trend 
 of Restoration comedy. That trend was to 
 be determined by two young writers who had 
 spent their youth and formed their taste in 
 France. They were to develop a new species 
 of English comedy by introducing Moliere 
 to English audiences. 
 
 1 Dodsley, xv. 194. 
 
 2 Ihid. 
 
 3 Cf . Crowne, Works, iii. 254, 245 ff. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE INFLUENCE 
 
 The two men who introduced the influence 
 of Mohere into Restoration comedy were Sir 
 George Etheredge and WiUiam Wycherley. 
 Etheredge was one of the most elegant wits 
 of his time. Not very much is positively 
 known of his life, but it is certain that he was 
 one of the gay band of cavaHers who drank 
 in the delights of Saint Germain with Prince 
 Charles. How deep a draught he took may 
 be inferred from his plays, which show that 
 he knew all the fashionable shops and was 
 familiar with the peculiar customs and usual 
 topics of conversation in the beau monde} 
 The Parisian experience must have been en- 
 joyed by this indolent pleasure-lover, who 
 nevertheless took a keen interest in observing 
 the amusements of others. On his return to 
 
 1 E.g., cf. Love in a Tub, iii. 4 (p. 51 ff.); *5z> Fopling 
 Flutter, iii. 2 (p. 296 ff.); Ibid., iv. 2 (p. 338 f.). 
 61 
 
62 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 London some three years after the Restora- 
 tion/ he joined the circle of men about town, 
 spent this afternoon in the coffee-house, 
 sauntered that evening about the paths of 
 Mulberry Garden, sat the next day in the pit 
 at Drury Lane to hear Mohun in The Humor- 
 ous Lieutenant or at Lincoln's Inn Fields to 
 witness Dryden's The Wild Gallant. But 
 these plays must have seemed to him lacking 
 in vitahty — they were not close enough to 
 his ordinary life to arouse much enthusiasm. 
 "I can do better than that myself,'' he must 
 have thought to himself, remembering the 
 triumph Moliere had achieved in Les Pre- 
 cieuses Ridicules by transcribing a Parisian 
 fad. He accordingly set to work and in 1664 
 produced Love in a Tuh.^ 
 
 Such I conjecture to have been the origin 
 of Etheredge's first comedy. He certainly 
 had been profoundly impressed by Les Pre- 
 cieuses Ridicules, as we shall find in Sir Fop- 
 ling Flutter. But at the moment he saw 
 nothing in London corresponding to the French 
 
 ^ Cf. Meindl, p. 9 f. ; Gosse, Seventeenth Century 
 Studies, p. 235. 
 
 2 On the date of production, cf. Pepys, iv. 304 (Jan. 
 4, 1664-5). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 63 
 
 farce, so that he presented a picture of the 
 roystering circle in which he moved and filled 
 out the play with a serious action in heroic 
 couplet. One thread of the comic plot, the 
 attempts of Palmer and Wheedle to swindle 
 Cully, is an intrigue of Jonsonian comedy 
 placed in a Restoration setting. But the 
 central feature of the plot, the courting of 
 the widow by Sir Frederick and of her maid 
 by his valet Dufoy, harks back to MoHere. 
 The suggestion for the action was found in 
 the fortunes of Eraste and his servant Gros- 
 Rene in Le Depit Amoureux, but no more 
 than the suggestion. The idea of introducing 
 a subplot dealing with maid and servant he 
 borrowed, but the characters and incidents 
 were all taken directly from his own experi- 
 ence of London life. Dufoy is one of the 
 French valets whom the cavaliers had brought 
 across the Channel on their return to England. 
 Sir Frederick is a young blood whose amuse- 
 ments are waging a bloody war with the con- 
 stable, ^^ committing a general massacre on 
 the glass- windows," and knocking at a lady's 
 lodgings at two o'clock in the morning as if he 
 were upon a matter of Hfe and death. It was 
 
64 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 this reproduction of the world of gallants and 
 dandies which made the play more success- 
 ful than any Davenant's company had pro- 
 duced, bringing to the actors a thousand 
 pounds in the course of a month.^ 
 
 In this appeal to recognition, not in the 
 suggestion for a part of the plot, lies the real 
 influence of Moliere in the play. How im- 
 portant the influence was for the period may 
 be surmised from the statement that Love in 
 a Tub was the first Restoration comedy to 
 center the interest in the recognition of one's 
 acquaintances and pastimes in the figures 
 and scenes on the stage. The Wild Gallant 
 had indeed contained a dim reflection of the 
 yet unformed society of the realm, but the 
 persons were worked up as humors supposed 
 to be interesting for their eccentricities, and 
 the customs were described in a purely in- 
 cidental fashion. Etheredge did the new 
 thing of presenting typical figures which 
 were interesting because they were tj^^ical. 
 His attitude toward the life he copied was 
 thus like Moliere's detachment, but he went 
 beyond Moliere to a position of almost com- 
 1 Cf. Dowries, p. 25. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 65 
 
 plete indifference. He not only refused to 
 take sides with or against his characters, but 
 he did not hold them up to any standard of 
 sound sense or social welfare. 
 
 The immense success of his first production 
 made Etheredge a favorite with the wits of 
 the courtly circle. This is probably one of 
 the reasons why he worked out his second 
 play more carefully. She Would if She 
 Could (1668) at any rate marks an advance 
 in dramatic construction, for the plot is un- 
 mixed with tragedy and the threads are 
 skilfully interwoven. It also marks an ex- 
 clusiveness in the point of view which may 
 be traced in part to Etheredge's greater inti- 
 macy with the leaders of fashion. The main 
 plot, in all likehhood suggested by a fre- 
 quent incident of London life, is the pursuit of 
 a town gallant by a country lady aping town 
 manners. The idea implies not only a change 
 in the dramatist, but a development of unity 
 in the worldly society, a consciousness of its 
 own ideals and of its separateness, which can- 
 not be paralleled in earlier Restoration plays. 
 Lady Cockwood was ridiculous because she 
 was in a vague sense an interloper, one who 
 
66 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 pestered the dandies of the heau monde. The 
 two country knights were also laughed at, 
 but with less of amused superiority, because 
 they were in a way kindred spirits with the 
 courtly men-about-town. The two girls, 
 Ariana and Gatty, were welcomed with de- 
 light, for they possessed the wit which the 
 fashionable circle most prized. Class con- 
 sciousness, with the inevitable interest in its 
 own manners and amusements, was clearly 
 a formative influence in the play. But this 
 spirit was everywhere tempered by the in- 
 difference which belonged to Etheredge's 
 native attitude toward life and which he had 
 been shown how to apply to the comic treat- 
 ment of mankind by the early success of 
 Mohere. 
 
 Without going on to consider here Ether- 
 edge's further development in Sir FopUng 
 Flutter (1676), we may note how different 
 Etheredge is from the Frenchman whose 
 general attitude he followed. I do not refer 
 to the unconcern for moral and social con- 
 siderations which was mentioned above, nor 
 to the lightness of touch with which he handles 
 comic scenes. In the last respect he is much 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 67 
 
 like Moliere. The scenes of She Would if She 
 Could in which Ariana and Gatty appear are 
 sprightly and graceful, and the childish con- 
 ceit and affected fine manners of Sir Fopling 
 in his last play are presented with a gaiety 
 that makes the figure one of the most enter- 
 taining in Restoration drama. But with 
 all this ease and liveliness, Etheredge's most 
 animated scenes take a turn that is decidedly 
 unlike Moliere' s. The Englishman delights 
 in repartee and wit ; he is not so much amused 
 by the incongruities of life as by the sudden 
 juxtaposition of contradictory ideas. More- 
 over, he looks at life with a strange insensi- 
 bility. Moliere laughed at the ridiculous, 
 but his laughter was not devoid of sympathy. 
 Etheredge, on the contrary, asks us to laugh 
 at the pranks of a roysterer who at midnight 
 arouses with bells and fiddles and boisterous 
 songs the woman he is courting, or at an 
 elegant gallant who, in order to fall into the 
 arms of an heiress, discards the mistress he 
 has at length won with exceeding trouble. 
 It is indeed a heartless world he presents, and 
 he laughs with an entire acquiescence in its 
 point of view. He is thus far from sharing 
 
68 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Moliere's attitude that the comic consists 
 in whatever is incongruous with the reason- 
 able demands of society. It should never- 
 theless be remembered that he approached 
 Moliere in lightness of touch and gaiety of 
 spirit, and also that he owed to Moliere the 
 conception that manners are interesting on 
 the stage in themselves without being re- 
 modeled into humors or obscured by the 
 incidents of a busy plot. 
 
 The influence of Moliere on Etheredge 
 resulted from the Englishman's witnessing a 
 few of the French pieces on the stage. His 
 influence on Wycherleyi. was due to a close 
 study of the printed works of the Frenchman. 
 It will be recalled that Wycherley spent the 
 most impressionable years of his youth, from 
 fifteen to twenty, in western France in the 
 circle of Madame de Montausier, more famous 
 under her maiden name of Julie de Ram- 
 bouillet.^ It was the cult of preciosity with 
 which this circle was associated that Moliere 
 attacked in Les Precieuses Ridicules in 1659, 
 the last year of Wycherley's stay in France. 
 
 1 Cf . Dennis, Some Remarkable Passages, p. 114 f.; 
 Spence, p. 13. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 69 
 
 The tremendous sensation which the satire 
 produced on the banks of the Seine must 
 have been reechoed on the banks of the 
 Charente, so that the young EngHshman 
 could hardly forget this new kind of comedy. 
 It is indeed certain that he followed Moliere's 
 career eagerly after his return to England and 
 made use of the French comedies in all his own 
 work. This study of the printed plays is evi- 
 dent from the numerous borrowings in his first 
 comedy, Love in a Wood (1671).^ More im- 
 portant, however, is the adoption of Moliere's 
 method that appears in the close transcript 
 from contemporary social life. Wycherley's 
 stay in France had enabled him to appre- 
 ciate how faithfully Moliere had copied the 
 widespread affectation of preciosity and how 
 essentially new such method of copying was 
 in French drama. The satiric bent of his 
 own nature took keen pleasure in the ridicule 
 Moliere poured out on the fad, but the ve- 
 hemence of his feelings kept him from ever 
 being able to assume the same attitude 
 
 1 On the date of production of all Wycherley's plays, 
 of. Klette, p. 30 £f.; Quaas, p. 50 ff.; the notices in 
 the Mermaid edition ; and Aitken's article in the 
 Dictionary of National Biography. 
 
70 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 of detachment toward the affectations he 
 might himself satirize. The consequence was 
 that in scenes from a tavern or St. James's 
 Park or the rooms of a procuress, all done to 
 the life, were placed an alderman made 
 highly ridiculous for the delectation of the 
 aristocratic courtiers and a pretender to wit 
 so silly as to excite unbounded merriment 
 among the worshipers of brilliant conceits. 
 Moreover, the dialogue was filled with witty 
 observations in which the author expressed 
 his individual scorn of some features of the 
 London life he was copying. This was not 
 only unlike Etheredge's careless indifference, 
 but entirely foreign to Moliere's philosophic 
 aloofness. 
 
 It would be interesting to determine whether 
 Wycherley began his imitation of Moliere 
 independently or as a result of Etheredge's 
 innovation. According to Wycherley's own 
 account, he composed Love in a Wood even 
 before the Restoration. It is impossible to 
 accept the declaration, not only because the 
 borrowings from Moliere are from plays pro- 
 duced after the Restoration, but because the 
 society reflected in the comedy is already 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 71 
 
 pretty well developed. In the prologue the 
 author declares he 
 
 is come to suffer here to-day 
 For counterfeiting (as you judge) a play.* 
 
 This has generally been considered a reference 
 to Sedley's Mulberry Garden, a tragi-comedy 
 produced in 1668. The comic plot is of the 
 intrigue variety, but the influence of Love in a 
 Tub, and possibly of She Would if She Could, 
 appears in several passages where the life 
 of the time is pretty fully transcribed. Still, 
 Wycherley's play is in no sense a counterfeit 
 of Sedley's or of either of Etheredge's, and he 
 certainly could not be referring to ttie French 
 plays from which he borrowed. Sedley had 
 centered the interest in the windings of the 
 plot, but Wycherley interested his audience 
 in figures that were easily recognized as typical 
 in spite of their farcical coloring and in scenes 
 that were obviously copied from the London 
 of the day. He was thus doing the same 
 thing as Etheredge. All the antecedent prob- 
 abilities therefore favor the supposition that 
 he was stimulated to imitate Moliere by 
 1 Wycherley, p. 9. 
 
72 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Etheredge's example, but the original manner 
 of his imitation renders it impossible to de- 
 clare with certainty that he was not inde- 
 pendent of that example. 
 
 Possibly the most familiar incident ^ in 
 Wycherley's life arose from the success of his 
 first play. The Duchess of Cleveland, who 
 as Lady Castlemain and the King's mistress 
 had excited the interest of Pepys, leaned half- 
 way out of her coach one day to accost the 
 dramatist as he was passing. He was enough 
 of a gallant to walk immediately into her favor 
 and into the high esteem of her circle, so much 
 so that the King himself manifested a re- 
 markable interest in Wycherley's welfare. 
 There may be a trace of royal influence in 
 his basing his second play, The Gentleman 
 Dancing Master (1671), on a Spanish original. 
 The comedy shows that the beaux and wits 
 had developed the spirit of a clique, definite 
 and self-conscious, and at the same time were 
 liberating themselves from foreign influence, 
 so that the witless Paris was laughed at for 
 his adoption of extravagant French costume 
 
 1 Cf . Dennis, Some Remarkable Passages, p. 115 ff.; 
 Spenee, p. 13. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 73 
 
 as much as the austerely grave Don Diego 
 for his assumption of Spanish manners. The 
 ideals of the set were even more clearly de- 
 fined in The Country Wife (1673), where the 
 effort of an old rake to keep a country girl 
 all to himself after marriage was found highly 
 ridiculous, the reiterated pretensions of fine 
 ladies to strict virtue were discovered to be 
 nothing but a cloak for the more secure en- 
 joyment of forbidden fruit, and the fatuous 
 conceit of a would-be wit was humiliated to 
 bless the true wit of the play with the only 
 good woman among the dramatis personce. 
 Without considering The Plain Dealer^ 
 which was produced the next year, we can 
 see clearly that the explanation of Wycherley's 
 popularity is to be found in the faithfulness 
 with which he reflected the attitude of the 
 worldly society which controlled the taste 
 of the play-going public. He had learned 
 well the lesson of Les Precieuses Ridicules. 
 He had learned how to employ his keen 
 native sense of the comic so as to appeal 
 most directl}^ to the spirit of the clique which 
 already characterized the Restoration. How 
 genuine his feeling for comedy was may be 
 
74 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 seen in The Gentleman Dancing Master, where 
 the determination of Don Diego never to 
 admit that he has been fooled and the in- 
 sistence of Mrs. Caution on her superior pene- 
 tration furnish as laughable scenes as the 
 period has to show. But it is likewise to be 
 noted that Wycherley added a special appeal 
 to his audience by giving to the man a 
 ridiculous affectation of Spanish gravity and 
 to the woman a suspicion of Puritan prin- 
 ciples. He had learned his lesson well, as I 
 have said, but no one who knows anything 
 of psychology will expect that he reproduced 
 Moliere's method and attitude unaltered. 
 He was an Englishman, and a very inde- 
 pendent Englishman at that. The fine sense 
 of proportion which is at the bottom of 
 Moliere's comedy could never be assimilated 
 by a man of such a vigorous nature as Wych- 
 erley's. The violence of The Plain Dealer 
 was merely a development from the exagger- 
 ation to w^hich he resorted in Love in a Wood 
 to render his farcical figures ridiculous. He 
 had, moreover, a love of satire essentially 
 different from the sympathy which tinges 
 MoHere's aloofness. He dehghted to fill 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 75 
 
 whole pages with keen and flashing wit di- 
 rected at the various customs and hypocrisies 
 of the day. But in this, too, he was reflect- 
 ing his time. He was in reahty as much a 
 man of his age as Mohere was of the age of 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 These few plays produced between 1664 
 and 1674 brought into the Restoration theater 
 the new comedy of manners. Love in a Tub 
 was frequently revived.^ At the first per- 
 formance of She Would if She Could sl thou- 
 sand people were turned away, though its 
 promise of popularity was largely defeated 
 by poor acting.^ Love in a Wood was a great 
 success.^ The Gentleman Dancing Master did 
 not take,'^ but it was followed by The Country 
 Wife, one of the most influential comedies 
 of the whole period, and by The Plain Dealer, 
 which elicited high praise from the Laureate 
 himself.'^ The nature of the impression made 
 by these plays coming out in rapid succession 
 
 1 Cf. Downes, p. 32 ; Etheredge, p. x, note 2. 
 2Cf. Pepys, vii. 287 (Feb. 6, 1667-8); Shadwell, 
 Works, i. 118 f. 
 
 3 Cf . dedication, and Dennis, Some Remarkable 
 Passages, p. 115. 
 
 4 Cf. Downes, p. 32. 
 
 ^ Cf. Dryden, Works, v. 115. 
 
76 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 is plainly seen in contemporary comedy. 
 Shadwell's Sullen Lovers (1668) had been a 
 close imitation of Jonson's comedy of humors, 
 but The Miser (1671) reflected the new 
 development with unmistakable clearness. 
 Crowne's Country Wit (1675) carried on the 
 type. The playwrights had learned to attain 
 success by appealing to the sense of recogni- 
 tion, either in its purity, or with only the 
 shghtest tinge of satire, or with the admixture 
 of satire made acrid with the strongest gall. 
 Even more noteworthy was the influence 
 on Dryden. He was not dowered with a true 
 sense of comedy, more than once expressing 
 his contempt for it,^ but he had an unerring 
 sense for changes in pubhc taste. During 
 the first ten years, when Fletcher and Jonson 
 were constantly revived and when the King's 
 fondness for Spanish drama was well known, 
 he produced humors and comedies of intrigue. 
 The success of Etheredge and Wycherley 
 opened his eyes to a new side of the Mohere 
 from whom he had been borrowing. His 
 lack of familiarity with French conditions 
 had prevented him from noting the essential 
 
 1 Cf. e.g., Dryden, Works, iii. 240. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 77 
 
 realism of Moliere's satiric pictures. Nat- 
 urally, Sir Martin Mar-All (1667), founded 
 on UEtourdi, was a comedy of intrigue. But 
 it was not so natural to introduce into An 
 Evening^ s Love (1668), also a comedy of in- 
 trigue, the role of Aurelia, a Jonsonian humor 
 suggested by Moliere's several paintings of 
 preciosity. Marriage a la Mode (1672) is a 
 different kind of piece with different figures. 
 Recognizing the validity of the ridicule of 
 heroic plays in The Rehearsal (1671), Dry den 
 apparently considered it advisable to compress 
 a plot originally intended to fill five acts with 
 heroic incident and rant. The half thus left 
 vacant he filled with a satiric picture of Res- 
 toration life, in which the influence of Moliere, 
 She Would if She Could and Love in a Wood, 
 is unmistakable. For the first time in Dryden 
 the interest is centered in the social criticism, 
 even though the scenes contain as many signs 
 of literary reminiscence as of personal ob- 
 servation. Besides, Melantha is not a humor 
 of the kind he had been presenting, interest- 
 ing chiefly as an oddity, a curiosity. She 
 is the reproduction, in much of Moliere's 
 spirit, of female foppery and an extravagance 
 
78 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 in the emploj^ment of French phrases which 
 was common at the time, and she is interesting 
 precisely because she is such a copy or re- 
 production. Of course, Dryden's dramatic 
 method had been formed in the ten years 
 preceding the date of this piece, and he never 
 gained a genuine interest in the realistic 
 satire of society. By assiduous flattery he 
 had entered the circle of wits and beaux, but 
 his inspiration came, not from their society, 
 but from literary sources. He therefore did 
 not fully understand the secret of Moliere's 
 success, but in all his later use of bor- 
 rowed material he did keep the French 
 master before his eyes. 
 
 Thus at the end of the first decade of the 
 Restoration the comedy of manners developed 
 in France by Moliere was transplanted to 
 England, where it grew as best it could in 
 the thin soil and murky atmosphere of King 
 Charles's court. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE ATTITUDE TOWARD MOLIERE 
 
 The influence of Moliere, unmistakably 
 present in Love in a Tub in 1664, really ef- 
 fected a change in Restoration drama with 
 the series of plays beginning in 1668, when the 
 society necessary for any comedy of manners 
 had developed class-consciousness and unity 
 of feeling. But Etheredge was not the first 
 man to adapt material from Moliere. It was 
 Davenant who made the first borrowing, in 
 The Playhouse to he Let (1663),^ which is in 
 reality a series of extended dramatic sketches. 
 In the first act the audience learns that some 
 players must let their theater for the vacation 
 and that four companies are to present sketches 
 in competition for the privilege of renting the 
 house. These four separate pieces fill the 
 remaining four acts of the play. The second 
 company to appear, which is supposed to 
 
 1 On the date of production, cf. Davenant, iv. 3. 
 79 
 
80 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 have lately come over from France, very 
 naturally presents Sganarelle ou le Cocu 
 Imaginaire, translated into broken English 
 to render the supposition more convincing. 
 Davenant follows the original closely, retain- 
 ing a good deal of the animation. The only 
 changes in the action, due to the omission of 
 three scenes and parts of the long speeches, are 
 that the servant of the young lover does not 
 appear, that the man who imagines his wife has 
 become unfaithful does not consult her relatives, 
 and that the wife and young lover remain on 
 the porch instead of entering the house. The 
 original being comedy of intrigue, this trans- 
 lation does not belong to Restoration comedy 
 of manners, but it is interesting to note how 
 early Mohere was laid under contribution to 
 provide gaiety for London audiences. 
 
 It is significant that the first borrowing 
 was this piece rather than Les Precieuses 
 Ridicules. In this selection Davenant was 
 representative of the minor playwrights of 
 the whole period, who regarded Moliere merely 
 as a public storehouse of plots, incidents, and 
 characters. Caryll pretty certainly had in 
 mind the recent borrowing from MoUere as 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 81 
 
 well as from other sources when he wrote a 
 caustic passage in the epilogue to his own 
 adaptation of UEcole des Femmes (1669-70) : — 
 
 Faith, be good natur'd to this hungry Crew, 
 Who, what they filch abroad, bring home to you. 
 
 But still exclude those Men from all Relief, 
 Who steal themselves, yet boldly cry, Stop Thief : 
 Like taking Judges, these without Remorse 
 Condemn all petty Thefts, and practice worse ; 
 As if they Robb'd by Patent, and alone 
 Had right to call each Foreign Play their own. 
 
 What we have brought before you, was not meant 
 For a new Play, but a new President ; 
 For we with Modesty our Theft avow, 
 (There is some Conscience us'd in stealing too) 
 And openly declare, that if our Cheer 
 Does hit your Pallats, you must thank Molliere.^ 
 
 A decade later MoHere's dramas had been so 
 frequently resorted to that Thomas Durfey 
 asked in a song appearing in Sir Barnaby 
 Whig (1681), 
 
 Moliere is quite rifled, then how shall I write ? ^ 
 An equally suggestive piece of evidence occurs 
 at the very end of the period. Corey's Meta- 
 morphosis was published in 1704 as '^Written 
 Originally by the Famous MoHere/' when in 
 
 ^ Cf . epilogue to Sir Salomon. 
 2 Cf. Kerby, p. iii. 
 
82 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 reality it owed absolutely nothing to him. 
 It was merely a reworking, with very close 
 paraphrase in many places, of Tomkis's 
 Alhumazar, an academic play popular in 
 Jacobean times/ Other evidence that Mohere 
 was still plundered is afforded by Brown's 
 Stage-Beaux tossed in a Blanket, published 
 in the same year and intended as a reply 
 to Collier's Short View of the Immorality and 
 Profaneness of the English Stage. Though 
 Brown had been writing satire most of his 
 life, he apparently felt unequal to inventing 
 a plot sufficiently biting or sarcastic for an 
 attack on Collier, since in the first and third 
 acts of this farce he adapted part of La Cri- 
 tique de VEcole des Femmes and a scene from 
 Le Tartuffe. Brown recognized the satiric 
 element in Moliere much more distinctly 
 than most of the minor dramatists of the 
 age, but his play was entirely typical in one 
 respect : it indicates how persistent was the 
 
 1 It is easy to explain the few similarities that exist 
 between Metamorphosis and UAvare. Alhumazar was 
 based on Porta's U Astrologo (ef. Smith, p. 566, and the 
 reference there given), which in turn must owe a good 
 deal to Aulularia. The play of Plautus was the source 
 of several features of UAvare. The similarities are thus 
 due to a common ultimate source. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 83 
 
 belief that Moliere afforded the most con- 
 venient source for almost any kind of mate- 
 rial the dramatist might need. 
 
 The attitude of these men being that of 
 the practical playwright, who makes no effort 
 to reproduce the spirit of the original, but 
 spends all his time in adapting the material 
 to his audience, their borrowing naturally 
 assumed a variety of forms. Often whole 
 scenes were lifted from their French context 
 and inserted in some Enghsh play with only 
 the necessary changes. It was in this 
 fashion that Congreve among the leaders 
 made use of a famous scene in Don Juan 
 for the opening of Love for Love. Among 
 ephemeral plays, the opening of Sedley's 
 Mulberry Garden was similarly taken from 
 UEcole des Maris. Singularly enough, no 
 further . assistance was derived from the 
 French piece except in so far as the two 
 brothers thus introduced continued through- 
 out the action. Such use of adapted or sug- 
 gested characters was a second form which 
 borrowing assumed. The subject, too large 
 for discussion here, will be treated at length 
 in a later chapter, but it may not be out of 
 
84 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 place to note that in this matter, as in others, 
 the minor dramatists were not studying the 
 French genius as a master, but were delving 
 into his works just as Scarron and Rotrou 
 delved into the inexhaustible mine of Span- 
 ish comedy. They consequently took from 
 Moliere whatever incidents, situations, types, 
 and characters struck their fancy. For they 
 would have found incomprehensible the pres- 
 ent estimate of Moliere as one of the greatest 
 comic geniuses, so that they were never in- 
 fluenced by the respect for their source as 
 a work of art which would guide an English 
 adaptor in handling Die Versunkene Glocke 
 or El Gran Galeoto. It is therefore only fair 
 to judge them by their success in making 
 the borrowed material suit their purposes. 
 For they were obliged to observe the prin- 
 ciple enunciated in my first chapter, that the 
 comic sense is by no means a fixed quantity, 
 and while a Restoration wit did not differ 
 in taste from a wealthy bourgeois under 
 Louis XIV as much as a Hottentot would 
 from a New Yorker, the difference was great 
 enough to render imperative a considerable 
 alteration in nearly any French play that 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 85 
 
 was to succeed at Drury Lane or Lincoln's 
 Inn Fields. They had the further justifi- 
 cation, that they generally selected parts of 
 Moliere's hghter plays and comedies of in- 
 trigue in preference to his masterpieces. 
 
 Among the larger forms of borrowing trans- 
 lation as close as Davenant's was extremely 
 rare. Indeed, the only similar productions 
 were Dryden's Amphitryon, Otway's Cheats 
 of Scapiriy Vanbrugh's Mistake, and Med- 
 bourne's Tartuffe. Medbourne was wilhng 
 to be credited with great admiration for Le 
 Tartuffe, but he would very likely have been 
 puzzled to explain the grounds of his esti- 
 mate in the dedication : — 
 
 My Lord, I Here Present your Honour with the 
 Master-Piece of Moliere's Productions, or rather of all 
 French Comedy. What considerable Additional I 
 have made thereto, in order to its more plausible Ap- 
 pearance on the English Theatre, I leave to be observ'd 
 by those who shall give themselves the trouble of com- 
 paring the several Editions of this Comedy. 
 
 The plausibility he refers to concerns the de- 
 nouement In Moliere the outcome is in 
 suspense until the end, when the power of 
 the King intervenes to avert the ruin hanging 
 
86 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 over Orgon. Medbourne develops an in- 
 trigue between Laurence (corresponding to 
 Tartuffe's servant, Laurent, who does not 
 appear on the stage in the original), and the 
 maid Dorina, whereby the estate conveyed 
 to Tartuffe is returned to the giver and the 
 other persons are warned in time to secure 
 the assistance of King and council in worsting 
 the hypocrite. This intrigue is of course 
 closed by the marriage of the participants. 
 Medbourne gives full measure in marriages 
 by having the lover Valere promise his sister, 
 unheard of in the French, to the boyish and 
 impetuous Damis. These changes, however, 
 are insignificant compared with the addition 
 at the close, where the characters join in a 
 dance ! A partial explanation of why Med- 
 bourne missed the spirit of the original so 
 far is suggested by a specimen or two of his 
 translation. Not only is the idiom "avoir 
 raison" rendered by "have right," but ex- 
 pressions such as "ces galants de cour dont 
 les femmes sont folles"^ appear in English 
 as "Courtly Gallants whose fooUsh prating 
 
 1 Which may be rendered colloquially: " Those court 
 gallants the wonien are so crazy about." 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 87 
 
 wives." A more wretched misconception of 
 meaning results in giving ^^ ravel me back to 
 my first nothing" for "vos bontes . . . 
 jusqu'a mon neant daignent se ravaler." ^ 
 All this striving for faithfulness is embodied 
 in the worst blank verse ever spoken in an 
 English theater. When Moliere's most power- 
 ful and poetic speeches are rendered in this 
 style, it is a matter of no significance that the 
 translator betrays respect for the ^^Master- 
 Piece ... of all French Comedy" by omitting 
 only some half-dozen scenes. Dry den's Am- 
 phitryon is of course much more worthy of 
 the original, but not so representative of the 
 period. Medbourne's peculiarity is not that 
 he lowered the tone of Moliere's comedy, but 
 that he made any effort to retain the integ- 
 rity and spirit of the original. 
 
 Translation, however, was far less frequent 
 than adaptation. The commonest form was 
 the combining of two or more plots in order 
 to satisfy the English demand for action, but 
 there were various methods of effecting this 
 combination. Ravenscroft would sit down s 
 
 1 Freely translated: "Your kindness condescends to 
 my worthless state." 
 
88 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 with a long pair of shears, a large pot of 
 paste, and two or three of Moliere's comedies, 
 and after much cutting out and ingenious 
 pasting together would produce a most be- 
 wildering scrap-book farce. Dryden would 
 read over carefully several plays, one of them 
 preferably Spanish, revolve the various in- 
 cidents in his capacious memory, and after 
 long musing evolve a new course of action in 
 which the best situations would reappear 
 with a modified set of dramatis personce. 
 A more minute examination of a representa- 
 tive play will indicate the spirit in which the 
 adaptations were made. 
 
 The Dumb Lady (1669) of John Lacy, the 
 actor, will serve the purpose as well as any. 
 The play consists of more episodes than can 
 well be taken into account, but the main 
 plot may be summarized thus : Drench, a 
 farrier, beats his wife in a quarrel, and she 
 in revenge persuades two men who are hunt- 
 ing for a physician that he is the greatest in 
 the world, though it takes a beating to make 
 him admit it. They accordingly beat him 
 into an admission and take him to old Ger- 
 nette, whose daughter Olinda has recently 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 89 
 
 been struck dumb at a very inopportune time, 
 since it prevents her marriage with Squire 
 Softhead, a foohsh countryman whom her 
 father has selected because the squire's estate 
 surrounds his. After at length prescribing 
 treatment for Olinda, Drench meets Leander, 
 Olinda's lover, whom he is prevailed upon to 
 introduce into Gernette's house as his apoth- 
 ecary. 
 
 Up to this point Lacy followed Le Medecin 
 malgre lui closely, but it was obviously in- 
 advisable to follow it further, since to do so 
 would close his play with the third act. A 
 very simple method of expanding it to five 
 acts presented itself — to adapt U Amour 
 Medecin for the remainder of the play. This 
 he accomplished in the following manner: — 
 
 Drench effects a cure of Ohnda's dumbness, 
 which of course has been all pretense, but he 
 has her feign madness in order that there 
 may be some ground for asking her removal 
 to his apothecary's house. The suspicious 
 father will hear nothing of the plan, and even 
 ejects the two rogues from the house as im- 
 postors. They secure reinstatement by hand- 
 ing over an alleged letter of Leander, and at 
 
90 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 once join in a consultation of physicians that 
 Gernette has called to consider his daughter's 
 case. Then it is necessary that Drench play 
 the part of the doctor, instead of the lover's 
 playing it, as in U Amour Medecin. The 
 consultation is also altered by the fact that 
 Drench must sustain his pretensions before 
 actual physicians. This is one reason for 
 the introduction of Othentic, a brother of 
 Leander who is in orders and who is of great 
 assistance to Drench in hoodwinking the 
 doctors. Having come out victorious over 
 the genuine physicians, Drench declares that 
 the only way to cure Olinda's insanity is to 
 humor her prepossessions by pretending to 
 marry her to his apothecary. Here we find 
 a further reason for introducing Othentic, 
 that he may take the part of the notaire in 
 the original and unite the two in marriage. 
 Clearly, then, Le Medecin malgre lui is the 
 basis of the play and furnishes the incidents 
 of the first three acts, in the first two of which 
 the original is followed closely. U Amour 
 Medecin furnishes the incidents for the last 
 two acts, but the alterations are considerable 
 owing to the adjustment with the plot of the 
 preceding divisions. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 91 
 
 Even the combining of the two plots did 
 not give as much briskness to his play as 
 Lacy thought necessary. He accordingly pre- 
 sented a number of minor actions or episodes. 
 The first and most important of these was 
 already partly developed in Le Medecin 
 malgre lui in the scenes between the mock- 
 doctor Sganarelle and the nurse Jacqueline. 
 Those scenes were far too tame for Lacy ; 
 he not only made the dialogue licentious, 
 but he easily converted the action into an 
 intrigue of the lowest kind, the nurse with 
 very little reluctance proving false to her 
 husband. The husband, Jarvis, in a measure 
 gets even with her by entering into similar 
 relations with Drench's wife, who has followed 
 the quack, but whom that now famous doctor 
 has refused to own, even having her locked 
 up in a cage to get rid of her importunities. 
 She and Jarvis together attempt to expose 
 Drench, but he retaliates by securing her con- 
 finement in a madhouse. The humor of the 
 scene is undeniable, but it owes nothing to 
 Moliere. Another source of comic effect 
 employed from time to time is the illicit 
 relations existing between the nurse and 
 
92 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Gernette. One might suppose the intrigue 
 now confused enough to suit even the most 
 fastidious Restoration audience, but such a 
 supposition would prove the reader unac- 
 quainted with this kind of play. Another 
 episode that fills several scenes is developed 
 from Le Medecin malgre lui. The rival of 
 Leandre does not appear in Moliere, but Lacy 
 exhibits him at full length in Softhead, a 
 conventional figure in the plays of the period. 
 There has been an attempt at a duel between 
 Leander and Softhead, in which the latter 
 has distinguished himself by his arrant cow- 
 ardice. He accidentally meets Leander after 
 that redoubtable antagonist and resource- 
 ful young lover has assumed the disguise 
 of an apothecary. When Leander sees he is 
 not recognized, he frightens the cully into 
 paying two hundred pounds by reporting that 
 Leander is nearing death from the wounds 
 received. The humor is increased by the 
 fact that Softhead not only has to pay, but 
 has afterward to confess that he ran away 
 from the encounter. 
 
 The episode indicates how quick an eye 
 Lacy had for a situation and thus explains 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 93 
 
 his recognition of Moliere as a rich source of 
 comic incidents. For MoHere as the pen- 
 etrating student of manners and character 
 he found no use, and even for MoHere as a 
 master of farce he held none too exalted an 
 opinion. He made no effort to reproduce 
 the comic spirit of the plays he was adapting. 
 Drench, for example, was made a farrier in- 
 stead of a wood-cutter in order to render the 
 action more plausible. MoUere was attack- 
 ing the medical profession and of a purpose 
 made the mock-doctor Sganarelle the most 
 good-for-nothing person imaginable. Lacy, 
 having no such satiric aim, retained only 
 so much of the ridicule as would seem funny 
 on general grounds, and rendered the action 
 more likely by raising the doctor in the social 
 scale. There is, moreover, a persistent effort 
 to lower the tone of the original to the level 
 which Lacy's experience as an actor had taught 
 him would best suit a Restoration audience. 
 In the first place, most of the important 
 changes in character should be ascribed to 
 the adaptor's search for indecency. The 
 quarrel between Drench and his wife near 
 the beginning arises over her unfaithfulness; 
 
94 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 she proudly declares that but one of her four 
 children is the farrier's. Even the sup- 
 posedly pure characters are made to furnish 
 the same kind of amusement. Olinda, while 
 not impure, is not exactly a model of dehcacy; 
 she is disappointed when Leander says they 
 are to have only eight children, and in her 
 pretended madness she addresses her father 
 with a coarseness totally unthinkable in the 
 Lucinde of the original. In the second 
 place. Lacy inserts a great many dialogues 
 which have no value for characterization and 
 do not advance the action, but which are so 
 thoroughly seasoned with the spice of ribaldry 
 that they must have tickled the palates of 
 the Restoration theater-goers in exactly the 
 way to give them zest for the whole play. 
 
 Very clearly, then. Lacy had definitely de- 
 cided that there were two sure roads to 
 popularity. They were, not to reproduce the 
 atmosphere and spirit of Moliere's comedy, 
 but to introduce as much intrigue as possible, 
 in order to hold the attention by briskness 
 of movement, and to infuse into the play a 
 great deal of wanton incident and licentious 
 dialogue. He produced not only a complete 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 95 
 
 adaptation, but a typical illustration of the 
 attitude toward Moliere prevailing among 
 the second-rate dramatists. 
 
 Among men of greater distinction there 
 was a third class of borrowings, which con- 
 sisted in little more than the use of suggestions. 
 The plot of The English Friar, for example, is 
 developed from the main points in Le Tartuffe, 
 but to call Crowne's play an adaptation is to 
 use the term in a loose sense. Sometimes 
 only a single scene is thus developed. In Love 
 Triumphant a nurse brings in two children 
 just when the light o' love Dalinda is about 
 to secure a husband. In Monsieur de Pour- 
 ceaugnac the title character, who has come 
 all the way from Limoges to Paris to marry 
 the daughter of Oronte, is confronted in 
 Oronte's presence by two women who pre- 
 tend to have married him in the provinces and 
 who bring in children to support their asser- 
 tions. The common elements are obvious 
 enough, but the surrounding circumstances 
 are so different that, if borrowings from 
 Moliere were not numerous in Dryden, one 
 would hesitate to affirm that the French situa- 
 tion is the suggestion for the EngUsh scene. 
 
96 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 The inference to be drawn from these 
 various translations, adaptations, and in- 
 stances of suggestion is clear : the second- 
 rate dramatist of the period did not consider 
 the Frenchman as any more a master of play- 
 writing than himself, and found him in con- 
 stant need of improvement for English 
 audiences. But we are not dependent on in- 
 ference alone in estimating the rank accorded 
 to MoHere during the Restoration. Direct 
 statements abound. A few dramatists, like 
 Medbourne,^ place Moliere very high. Caryll 
 in 1670 speaks of him as 
 
 the Famous Shakspear of this Age, 
 Both when he Writes, and when he treads the Stage.^ 
 
 Wright in 1693 refers to him as 'Hhe great 
 Original of French Comedy." ^ Both of 
 these estimates, however, come from men of 
 taste who had a literary, not a practical, inter- 
 est in Moliere. They wrote plays once in a 
 while for diversion, not as fast as they could 
 for bread and butter. The minor playwrights, 
 who knew Restoration audiences and who 
 
 1 Cf. dedication to Tartuffe. 
 
 2 Cf . epilogue to Sir Salomon. 
 
 3 Cf . dedication to The Female Virtuosoes. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 97 
 
 were eager to please them, assumed a very 
 complacent, patronizing air toward the author 
 of Le Misanthrope. Shad well in the preface 
 to his Miser (1671) has this to say of his in- 
 debtedness : — 
 
 The Foundation of this Play I took from one of 
 Moliere's, call'd UAvare; but that having too few Per- 
 sons, and too Httle Action for an Enghsh Theatre, I 
 added to both so much, that I may call more than half 
 of this Play my own ; and I think I may say without 
 Vanity, that Moliere's Part of it has not suffer'd in 
 my Hands ; nor did I ever know a French Comedy made 
 use of by the worst of our Poets, that was not better'd 
 by 'em. 'Tis not Barrenness of Wit or Invention, that 
 makes us borrow from the French, but Laziness ; and 
 this was the Occasion of my making Use of UAvare} 
 
 At the close of the period Mrs. Centlivre sums 
 up the feeling with equal definiteness : — 
 
 Some Scenes I confess are partly taken from Moliere, 
 and I dare be bold to say it has not suffered in the Trans- 
 lation : I thought 'em pretty in the French, and cou'd 
 not help believing they might divert in an English Dress. 
 The French have that light Airiness in their Temper, 
 that the least Glimpse of Wit sets them a laughing, when 
 'twou'd not make us so much as smile ; so that when I 
 found the stile too poor, I endeavoured to give it a Turn ; 
 for whoever borrows from them, must take care to 
 1 Shadwell, Works, iii. 7. 
 
98 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 touch the Colours with an English Pencil, and form the 
 Piece according to our Manners.^ 
 
 Even the leading dramatists, the men who 
 were most profoundly influenced by the 
 genius across the Channel, were not at all 
 disposed to acknowledge their indebtedness. 
 Congreve nowhere avowed his study of Mo- 
 liere, and Dryden carefully refrained from giv- 
 ing intimation of how thoroughly he had read 
 the Frenchman's comedies. In the Essay of 
 Dramatic Poesy Moliere is mentioned, but 
 only for his alleged imitation of the Enghsh or 
 his boldness in using prose. ^ 
 
 The conclusion is obvious. The minor 
 playwrights of the Restoration, who borrowed 
 from Moliere oftener and in more wholesale 
 fashion than any other author, except per- 
 haps Lope de Vega, has ever been borrowed 
 from, seldom recognized the greatness of the 
 Frenchman's genius. In general they re- 
 garded him, not as a master of the comic 
 to be studied for his view of life or his dram- 
 aturgic skill, but as a storehouse of plots, 
 scenes, and characters to be adapted to the 
 
 1 Cf . preface to Love's Contrivance. 
 
 2 Cf . Dryden, Works, xv. 330, 354. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 99 
 
 well-known taste of the Restoration audi- 
 ences. The modern estimate of Moliere as 
 not only the greatest comic dramatist of 
 France but as one of the few comic geniuses 
 of the world, would have seemed to them the 
 veriest nonsense. He was merely a popular 
 comedian whose plays were mighty good 
 sources for material, provided always the ma- 
 terial was improved for the more exacting 
 English taste. This attitude explains the in- 
 fluence of Moliere on the mass of ephemeral 
 comedy of the age. The leading dramatists 
 caught something of the spirit of Moliere' s 
 comedy of manners, but the minor play- 
 wrights saw in him only the clever manipu- 
 lator of a comedy of intrigue. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 PLOT 
 
 It will be remembered that of the three 
 classes into which I divided Mohere's plays, 
 the comedy of intrigue was merely a continua- 
 tion of the type up to that time dominant 
 in France. Indeed, the type was ancient and 
 widespread. Passing over the New Comedy 
 of Greece, of which too little is known even 
 since the most recent discoveries, one will 
 recall that the work of Plautus and Terence 
 was largely of this variety. A common plot 
 was the schemes of a resourceful and un- 
 scrupulous slave to secure to the young hero 
 a mistress from the hands of some rapacious 
 and hard-hearted procurer. This intriguing 
 servant was inherited by the Italian comedy 
 of masks, and often the plots of Latin plays, 
 as well as stories from novelle, and at a later 
 period imbroglios from the Spanish comedia, 
 were adapted for the scenarios tacked up in 
 100 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 101 
 
 the theater behind the scenes for the guidance 
 of the improvising actors.^ But the intrigue 
 of Plautus was hardly sufficient for a pubHc 
 which had Uttle interest in anything but move- 
 ment, so that suggestions for minor intrigues 
 were frequently developed in somewhat the 
 same way that Lacy developed such sugges- 
 tion in Le Medecin malgre lui.^ The action 
 thereby became a loose and confusing com- 
 bination of stratagems. While the commedia 
 delV arte was reaching the height of its popu- 
 larity in Italy and France, Lope de Vega 
 and his followers were developing the famous 
 comedy of cloak and sword in Spain. In it, 
 too, the playwright's effort was to construct 
 a maze of incident which should keep the 
 audience perpetually guessing what was to 
 come next, but the unrivaled ingeniousness 
 of the Spaniard produced plots which were 
 at once intricate and compact. The story 
 unrolled itself with many turns and counter- 
 turns, so that the playgoer was kept wonder- 
 ing till the very close exactly how the author 
 
 * Cf. Bartoli, introduzione. 
 
 2 Cf . ante, p. 88 ff . For the way in which the Pseudo- 
 lus of Plautus was thus adapted, cf. Scherillo, p. 121 ff. 
 
102 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 was going to bring the loving pairs into each 
 other's arms. Equally skilful was the inter- 
 weaving of different lines of action. The spec- 
 tator seldom became conscious of the separate- 
 ness of the parts, for episodic figures, such 
 as Don Mendo and Nuiio in El Alcalde de 
 Zalamea,^ were extremely rare in the Spanish 
 comedia. It will be recalled that the comedia 
 was transplanted to France during the youth 
 of Moliere, but the form which influenced 
 him most was the commedia delV arte, with 
 which he became familiar in his provincial 
 journeyings. His first play, VEtourdi, may be 
 taken as a brilliant development of that type. 
 The minor dramatists of the Restoration 
 had exactly the same end in view as the Ital- 
 ians and Spaniards — to hold the attention of 
 the audience by abundant movement. This 
 effort was no new thing in England. Kyd 
 in his Spanish Tragedy made large use of the 
 same kind of appeal, and Fletcher employed 
 it constantly. The Restoration playwrights 
 were gifted neither with the inventiveness 
 requisite for devising incidents in a compli- 
 
 1 Of course this play does not belong to the cloak-and- 
 sword type. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 103 
 
 cated stratagem nor with power to construct 
 a coherent plot out of material already at 
 hand. Some of them frankly recognized their 
 weakness by translating foreign plays. Tuke's 
 Adventures of Five Hours was taken from 
 Calderon with apparently no changes in plot. 
 Otway, who in comedy must be placed with 
 the ephemeral writers, likewise translated Les 
 Fourheries de Scapin with very few altera- 
 tions. Other men, however, found even the 
 most vivacious pieces of Moliere too slow for 
 the more exacting taste of EngUshmen, and 
 accordingly "improved" his efforts. Of this 
 class was Edward Ravenscroft, so inveterate 
 a plagiarist that when he no longer found any- 
 thing good in Moliere or other Frenchmen, 
 he plagiarized from his own earlier plagiarisms. 
 His first play, Mamamouchi (1671), is typi- 
 cal of his method. The main action is made 
 up of several parts. Mr. Jorden, a citizen 
 whose wealth has turned his head to the ex- 
 tent that he now sets up for a gentleman 
 and takes lessons in music, dancing, and 
 fencing, is determined that his daughter Lucia 
 shall marry into the aristocracy, and accord- 
 ingly has chosen a foolish country knight. 
 
104 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Sir Simon Softhead, for his son-in-law. 
 Lucia's lover, Cleverwit, plans and executes 
 a number of projects to win her : (1) with the 
 help of some ^'men of intrigue" he succeeds 
 in disgusting Sir Simon with London and Lucia; 
 (2) at the same time he disgusts Mr. Jorden 
 with the knight ; (3) he then wins Lucia 
 by disguising himself as the Grand Turk, in 
 which character he is acceptable to Mr. 
 Jorden. This action is drawn from several 
 sources. The depiction of Mr. Jorden's folly 
 is taken from the first three acts of Le Bour- 
 geois Gentilhomme. The first two of Clever- 
 wit's intrigues are a reproduction of Monsieur 
 de Pourceaugnac. The third is a copy of the 
 Turkish masquerade scenes in Le Bourgeois 
 Gentilhomme. This procedure surely betrays 
 no effort to reproduce Moliere's dramatic 
 structure. 
 
 There is a second action almost as important 
 as the first. Mr. Jorden's son is in love with 
 Marina, a girl whom his father intends to 
 marry. He accordingly schemes to win her 
 from his father by having a sempstress mas- 
 querade as a German princess, whom Mr. 
 Jorden of course prefers on account of her 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 105 
 
 rank. He also wishes to secure money from 
 his father. Cureall, a man of intrigue, does 
 this for a time by pretending to be a doctor 
 intimate at court. Later the son gets his 
 father's whole estate by making use of Clever- 
 wit's disguise as the Grand Turk ; the father 
 is so much pleased at being made a mama- 
 mouchi that by the advice of another rogue 
 he settles his entire fortune on his son in order 
 to live with the Sultan. This action, too, has 
 several sources. The device of making the 
 father and son rivals is taken from UAvare, 
 Cureall' s disguise is an adaptation of the role 
 of Dorante in Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, and 
 the Turkish scenes are of course from the same 
 play. Betty Trickmore's disguise as a Ger- 
 man princess is a reminiscence of Frosine's 
 plan in UAvare or of Les Precieuses Ridicules. 
 The plot as a whole, then, is a combina- 
 tion of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme and Mon- 
 sieur de Pourceaugnac, with an important 
 addition from UAvare and a hint from Les 
 Precieuses Ridicules. The two actions are 
 bound together by the rogues, Cureall and 
 Trickmore, who appear in both, and also by 
 having Sir Simon, the country knight of the 
 
106 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 first part, marry Betty Trickmore, the re- 
 puted German princess of the second part. 
 The EngHshman displayed considerable in- 
 genuity in thus piecing together the shreds 
 and patches taken from the work of the great 
 Frenchman. 
 
 But the full ingeniousness of Ravenscroft's 
 method doth not yet appear. He did not 
 borrow only the incidents from his sources. 
 He borrowed most of the dialogue, too. When 
 he did not translate he paraphrased, making 
 only such changes as his complicated plot 
 and the English scene demanded. He simply 
 altered the dialect of a Flemish merchant to 
 that of a man from Norwich, and instead of 
 a count who was an accomplished scoundrel 
 he introduced a rogue who used the same 
 speeches in the disguise of a court physician. 
 By such means he saved himself the trouble 
 of writing nine-tenths of the dialogue, and in 
 the remaining tenth he followed more or less 
 closely some scene in Moliere as a model. 
 
 The whole extent of the ^improvement" 
 becomes clear on considering the dramatis 
 personce in this salmagundi of situations. 
 Ravenscroft^s Mr. Jorden is of course M. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 107 
 
 Jourdain through most of the play, but in 
 many scenes he has to act the part of Oronte 
 in Monsieur de Pourceaugnac. Clearly, this 
 concocter of a pure comedy of intrigue felt 
 no disagreement between Moliere's masterly 
 delineation of the folly of middle-class am- 
 bition and his sketch of a typical self-centered 
 father. He even thought it proper to have 
 M. Jourdain play the part of Harpagon by 
 preparing to marry a young woman with 
 no pretensions to aristocracy ! He thus with 
 a very small expenditure of energy was able 
 to produce a very busy course of action. If 
 commercial success be a criterion, he was 
 perfectly justified.^ 
 
 Further illustrations are unnecessary to 
 show that the hack writers of the period were 
 not following Moliere or the Spanish in plot- 
 structure. The Englishmen, to be sure, were 
 resorting to the same means of holding an 
 audience. That is one reason why they 
 adapted so frequently the disguise employed 
 in Les Precieuses Ridicules ^ and why they 
 
 1 Cf . Downes, p. 32. 
 
 2 Besides the play by Ravenscroft considered above, 
 cf . Behn's False Count, Shadwell's Bury Fair, Betterton's 
 Amorous Widow, Congreve's Way of the World. 
 
108 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 borrowed from time to time a good many 
 devices and situations from the Spanish. 
 But they were far from displaying the skill 
 of Moliere or Lope de Vega in interlacing the 
 different actions. Such skill would have been 
 impossible to them in any event, but as a 
 matter of fact they did not strive for that kind 
 of structure. They sought not only to pro- 
 duce much action, but to introduce many per- 
 sons. Their method was more like that of 
 Fletcher and the Jacobeans, whose plays were 
 constantly revived during the early Restora- 
 tion. Fletcher was indeed a man of great 
 ingenuity, but the intrigues in his plays were 
 often quite distinct and always easily sepa- 
 rable, and the scene was thronged with actors. 
 The Restoration writers, no matter what the 
 source of their incidents, put plots together 
 in the same way, only with less cleverness. 
 Mrs. Behn in Sir Patient Fancy produced just 
 as confusing a set of stratagems and dramatis 
 personce in her use of Le Malade Imaginaire 
 as Thomas Durfey did in Madam Fickle in 
 taking suggestions from Marston, Mayne, 
 and other pre-Restoration playwrights. But 
 the illustrations I have given from Lacy and 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 109 
 
 Ravenscroft are sufficient to indicate the 
 characteristics of a typical Restoration plot. 
 
 Among the leading dramatists, also, this 
 type of plot prevailed. They, too, sought to 
 fill the scene with as much movement as pos- 
 sible and to provide an interesting variety 
 of persons. Wycherley adapted Le Misan- 
 thrope by adding several new lines of action. 
 Dryden in Limherham, while professing to 
 write social satire in imitation of Le Tartuffe, 
 spun as tangled a skein of incidents as the 
 period has to offer. Congreve in his first 
 play spent a deal of time in making his plot 
 complex, and he succeeded in making it so 
 confusing that no one can remember it. The 
 truth is, the Restoration audiences, though 
 interested in manners, were interested only 
 in the superficial aspect of manners, and con- 
 sequently had to be entertained with the con- 
 stant coming and going of actors and the 
 frequent alternation of suspense and surprise. 
 
 In a previous chapter I made a distinction 
 between MoUere's comedy of intrigue and 
 the comedy which is distinctively his — the 
 comedy of manners and character. In this 
 class he employed a different kind of structure. 
 
110 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 He did not endeavor to give many turns and 
 counter-turns to the story, to arouse suspense 
 anew when the play seemed about to end, 
 to render everything again doubtful when all 
 mistakes and misunderstandings were ap- 
 parently to be cleared up, to bring the intrigue 
 to a sudden close when the confusion was 
 at its height. He now invented or adapted 
 an action which should reveal the character 
 or develop the social question he wished to 
 present. The plot evolved itself from the 
 interplay of character, and moved forward 
 in a single Hne, with clear motivation, to a 
 logical outcome. The interest was centered, 
 not in movement and bustle, but in the con- 
 troUing idea and the dominating character. 
 It was consonant with this interest that the 
 conditions in which Moliere set his action 
 were adjusted with the greatest nicety to the 
 theme with which each play dealt. The circle 
 of learned ladies where Philaminte defies all 
 her husband's notions concerning the sphere 
 of woman, the bourgeois home where Tartuffe 
 commands as director of conscience, the salon 
 of the accomplished woman of the world 
 where Alceste fumes at the insincerities of 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 111 
 
 life — all these settings show how fine and 
 profound an artist Moliere was. 
 
 Wliat I have said about the Restoration 
 comedy of intrigue makes it unnecessary to 
 remark that such simplicity of structure was 
 not to be found in England, even among the 
 leading dramatists of the period. Dryden, 
 I have already observed, formed his dramatic 
 method under Spanish influences. His char- 
 acters in many cases were, under the in- 
 fluence of Moliere, made typical of some j 
 ridiculous pretension of the times, but his 
 plots were never constructed so that the action 
 should present a retributive judgment that 
 would by itself express the author's criticism 
 of society. It was this method of enforcing 
 a thesis, handled with the impartiality of a 
 true artist, that the author of Le Misanthrope 
 constantly employed in his comedy of char- 
 acter. In VEcole des Maris, Ariste, the in- 
 dulgent guardian, is made happy in the end 
 with the hand of his ward, while his brother, 
 the severe Sganarelle, is humiliatingly repaid 
 for his severity by losing his ward to the young' 
 rival he has treated through most of the play 
 with self-satisfied commiseration. Likewise 
 
112 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Arnolphe of UEcole des Femmes, who has 
 gone to absurd extremes to insure fidelity 
 in his wife-to-be, wins nothing but anxiety 
 from all his precautions, and is at the close 
 forced to give this intended wife to a young 
 wooer. Dryden paid no attention to this 
 feature of the Frenchman's art, but Wycher- 
 ley, where he was copying Moliere, did in- 
 troduce a kind of poetic justice to teach some 
 social lesson. In The Country Wife, for ex- 
 ample, Pinchwife, a worn-out rake, who, in 
 imitation of Arnolphe, is made to marry a 
 country girl in order to be sure he will have 
 one woman all to himself, is in the end doomed 
 to share her with Horner. Wycherley did 
 this not merely because events in the original 
 were arranged similarly, but because he wished 
 to enforce a view of woman, for he presented 
 a contrasting action to emphasize the point. 
 But he did not use the method consistently. 
 Lady Fidget, against whom he repeatedly 
 directed his satire, is in the last scene placed 
 where she can carry on her practices indefi- 
 nitely. In The Plain Dealer, again. Freeman, 
 though put down in the dramatis personoe as 
 a compiler with the age and delineated as the 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 113 
 
 antithesis of Wycherley's ideal presented in 
 Manly, is allowed to accomplish his plans 
 exactly as he wishes. In short, it is clear 
 that Wycherley did not entirely adopt, along 
 with Mohere's satiric attitude toward con- 
 temporary manners, the Frenchman's method 
 of constructing a plot. 
 
 A similar statement may be made of Con- 
 greve. Lady Wishfort, for example, in The 
 Way of the World, is humiliated in the same 
 manner as Cathos and Madelon in Les Pre- 
 cieuses Ridicules, and the contrasting char- 
 acter Millamant is rewarded with the good 
 fortune due to youth and beauty, but other 
 Hnes of action in the play, though helping to 
 fill out an unrivaled picture of high society, 
 cannot be said to enforce any thesis. The 
 truth is. Restoration dramatists had no pro- 
 found convictions to enforce, and they knew 
 their audiences had no interest whatever 
 in theses. After taking account of a few 
 class prejudices and preferences, the play- 
 wright had no care but to keep his scene 
 filled with moving figures. It was there- 
 fore impossible that he should employ 
 Mohere's method of constructing a plot on 
 
114 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 a controlling idea around a dominating char- 
 acter. 
 
 In connection with plot-structure we should 
 consider the everlasting question of the unities. 
 It is a famiUar story that the rules which in 
 the sixteenth century had been developed in 
 Italy from the revival and misunderstanding 
 of Aristotle, were in the seventeenth century 
 in France enacted into criminal statutes. 
 
 . Moliere, writing in the third quarter of the 
 century, when the reign of classicism was most 
 nearly absolute, observed the unities, not 
 
 rfrom fear of rigorous judges, but as a matter 
 
 , of convention. In Don Juan he threw them 
 to the winds, and in the beginning of his 
 career he used the Italian setting, so that a 
 good many intimate conversations are held 
 in the open street, — which seems to us a 
 ridiculous place for such intimacies, but which 
 seemed natural enough to his audience, — 
 but in his comedies of character he observed 
 
 ' the rules with as much ease as Racine. These 
 rules were at the Restoration introduced into 
 England along with French fans, coaches, 
 and cheese. Indeed, the wits of the period 
 looked back with a very complacent air of 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 115 
 
 superiority on the unpolished and even bar- 
 barous EUzabethans. The critical writings 
 of Dryden in particular exemplify this wor- 
 ship of regularity, though his sturdy English 
 nature caused some wavering in his ad- 
 herence to French leadership. In his own 
 practice and that of the period the influence 
 of the classical attitude was pervasive. No 
 matter how many hues of action a playwright 
 introduced, he placed all of them in the same 
 vicinity and concluded them • in as short a 
 time as he conveniently could. The observ- 
 ance of unity of place was of course immensely 
 assisted by the introduction of painted scenery, 
 but that of unity of time must be ascribed 
 to the force of classicism alone. 
 
 Moliere's part in this change in English 
 comedy was that of furnishing a model. 
 It is much easier to follow a rule when you 
 see how some one else has followed it. Shad- 
 well gives clear testimony on this point in the 
 preface to his first production. He says : — 
 
 I have in this Play, as near as I could, observ'd the 
 
 ^ three Unities, of Time, Place, and Action ; The Time 
 
 of the Drama does not exceed six Hours, the Place is 
 
 in a very narrow Compass, and the main Action of the 
 
116 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Play, upon which all the rest depend, is the sullen Love 
 betwixt Stanford and Emilia, which kind of Love is 
 only proper to their Characters : I have here, as often 
 as I could naturally, kept the Scenes unbroken, which 
 (though it be not so much practis'd, or so well under- 
 stood, by the English) yet among the French Poets is 
 accounted a great Beauty/ 
 
 The particular French play he has in mind is 
 of course Le Misanthrope, from which is taken 
 a good part of the design, but he falls short of 
 the success Moliere attained in that drama. 
 He brings in two minor intrigues which de- 
 stroy the unity of action ; - he changes the 
 scene twice within the act ; ^ and even in the 
 unity of time he commits himself to the ab- 
 surdity that two such characters as Stanford 
 and Emilia would fall in love with each other 
 and decide to marry within six hours after 
 the first meeting. Still, it is clear that Shad- 
 well does his best to satisfy these unities, and 
 that he does this in imitation of Moliere. 
 This first play is representative of his efforts 
 to the close of his dramatic career ; what he 
 tried to accomplish in The Sullen Lovers 
 
 1 Shadwell, Works, i. 8. 
 
 2 The Level-Carolina and the Positive- Vaine in- 
 trigues. 
 
 3 In acts iii and v. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 117 
 
 under the stimulus of Le Misanthrope he 
 continued to strive for in Epsom Wells, The 
 Virtuoso, and all his other original plays down 
 to The Volunteers. 
 
 The influence of Moliere on Etheredge in 
 this matter is equally clear. In his first play 
 he produced a tragi-comedy in which the 
 comic plot was made up of three actions 
 loosely connected. He also changed the 
 scene twenty-six times, and thereby kept 
 the mind of the spectator jumping about in 
 anything but a restful fashion. The manage- 
 ment was consequently as "rude and un- 
 polished'' as that of any Elizabethan drama. 
 In the four years intervening before his second 
 play, discussion of the French unities had be- 
 come rife among the court wits, and Ether- 
 edge considered more carefully the method of 
 Moliere, the only French dramatist he appears 
 to have known well. She Would if She Could 
 accordingly had only three lines of action, 
 all dexterously interwoven, and the scene was 
 shifted only ten times. Sir Fopling Flutter, 
 with only eleven shifts of scene, indicates 
 the same attempt to observe the rules so 
 far as the English demand for multiplicity 
 
118 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 of persons and liveliness of action would 
 permit. 
 
 Of the period as a whole it may be said that, 
 with all this classicism, the English did not 
 study Moliere as a master of construction, 
 as so many modern dramatists have studied 
 Ibsen for dramaturgic hints. These writers 
 of comedy rather found in Moliere the most 
 familiar exemplification of the classical re- 
 quirements they had already come to feel 
 more or less constrained to observe. 
 
 Bound up with Mohere's treatment of plot 
 as a whole is his treatment of what is techni- 
 cally known as the exposition of the play. 
 His openings are frequently masterpieces. 
 The monologue of Argan in Le Malade Im- 
 aginaire gives us at once a complete under- 
 standing of the theme of the piece. In Le 
 Tartuffe the quarrel of Madame Pernelle 
 with her daughter-in-law not only reveals 
 the situations upon which the whole plot 
 depends, but is as genuinely comic as any 
 scene in his theater. Such means of arousing 
 interest and putting the audience in posses- 
 sion of the facts necessary to an understand- 
 ing of the play were not very well adapted to 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 119 
 
 plots where the attention was centered on 
 incident rather than character, and as a mat- 
 ter of fact very few Enghsh dramatists spent 
 much thought on Mohere's devices. Con- 
 greve, a close student of all sides of Moliere's 
 art, opened The Double Dealer and The Way 
 of the World with a conversation between 
 the hero and his confidant in imitation of 
 Le Misanthrope. In Love for Love the hero 
 and his servant open the play, as in Le 
 Depit Amoureux and several of the lighter 
 pieces of Moliere. In The Old Bachelor and 
 The Way of the World Congreve kept the 
 spectators in suspense by deferring the en- 
 trance of the women till the second act, as 
 French audiences had been kept waiting for 
 the appearance of Celimene. Long before 
 this Etheredge had focused attention on a 
 central character by following the device 
 employed in Le Tartuffe, that of not bringing 
 the central character on the stage till the 
 beginning of the third act. Crowne imitated 
 Etheredge in this and other details in Sir 
 Courtly Nice. But all such instances of imita- 
 tion are isolated. There was no general tend- 
 ency to study MoUere's methods of exposition. 
 
120 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Le Tartuffe suggests a feature of Moliere's 
 expositions which resulted from his absorbing 
 interest in character. In all his great comedies 
 the introduction takes up the better part of 
 two acts. The great care taken to prepare 
 for the appearance of the arch-hypocrite 
 Tartuffe is typical. In UEcole des Femmes, 
 for instance, we have reached the end of the 
 second act before we are put in possession 
 of the events that have taken place before 
 the opening of the play. In Le Misanthrope, 
 again, we must wait until near the end of the 
 second act to become acquainted with all 
 the characters and the relations existing 
 among them. A glance at The Country Wife 
 or The Plain Dealer will show that the same 
 is largely true of Wycherley — a good part 
 of the second act is with him given over to 
 exposition. One reason is that he was borrow- 
 ing another man's plots, so that it was not 
 convenient to avoid this feature of Moliere's 
 development of the stratagem. Another rea- 
 son is that there was an indirect influence. 
 Wycherley, who had caught the idea from 
 MoUere's plays, was centering his attention 
 on social criticism, so that his exposition 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 121 
 
 naturally extended to a greater length than 
 in the contemporary English comedy, whose 
 plot-structure he was in the main following. 
 The case of Congreve was somewhat different. 
 He had in mind models for his different plays, 
 but he followed them at a great distance. 
 It is nevertheless true that the first two acts 
 of all his plays but The Old Bachelor were 
 largely given over to exposition, and conse- 
 quently had the same lack of movement to 
 be found in Moliere. In Restoration comedy 
 as a whole such length of exposition was rare, 
 for it was perilous in the hands of any but a 
 master. The Restoration playgoer would begin 
 a conversation with his neighbor if there was not 
 something interesting going on on the stage. 
 
 Another result of Moliere's absorbing in- 
 terest in character was the constant intro- 
 duction of scenes which neither hinder nor 
 hasten the denouement. In one respect Les 
 Fdcheux is typical of his whole method — 
 the intrigue serves no purpose but to bring 
 on the scene a musician, a pedant, a gamester, 
 or a hunter ; that is, to display character. 
 Plot was for him the frame for the portrait 
 of a group against a background of manners. 
 
122 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 One need dip into very few plays to justify 
 the statement. In UAvare the scene where 
 the miser begins preparations for the dinner 
 does not arouse any suspense concerning the 
 outcome of the plot, but it is an intensely 
 comic revelation of Harpagon's skinflint 
 disposition. In Les Femmes Savantes the 
 meeting of the learned ladies where Trissotin 
 and Vadius revel in their pedantry is not in- 
 troduced to disillusion Philaminte, as Scribe 
 would have used it, but to give a brightly 
 colored picture of the affectation Mohere 
 was attacking. In Le Misanthrope the scene 
 where Alceste at length gives his opinion of 
 the sonnet, and the other where Celimene 
 expresses her estimate of the different per- 
 sons of her acquaintance, are developed far 
 beyond the requirements of the intrigue, 
 but those conversations give a masterly de- 
 lineation of the misanthrope and the coquette, 
 and, moreover, carry out the satirical pur- 
 pose for which the play was written. Through- 
 out his comedy of manners Moliere con- 
 stantly followed this method, — sought the 
 comic in the relation of the scene to life rather 
 than in its relation to plot. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 123 
 
 This feature of Moliere's art the leading 
 Restoration dramatists seized on with avidity. 
 Etheredge in his first play gave several such 
 pictures from the life of a gallant, but the 
 following passage is handled with a Hghter 
 touch. Note that his delight in transcribing 
 life caused him to linger over the scene much 
 longer than was justified by its part in the 
 plot. 
 
 The New Exchange. Mrs. Trinket sitting in a shop: 
 People passing by as in the Exchange. 
 
 Trink. What d'ye buy ? what d'ye lack, gentlemen ? 
 gloves, ribbons, and essences ; ribbons, gloves, and 
 essences ? 
 
 Enter Mr. Courtal. 
 
 Mr. Courtal ! I thought you had a quarrel to the 
 Change, and were resolved we should never see you here 
 again. 
 
 Court. Your unkindness indeed, Mrs. Trinket, had 
 been enough to make a man banish himself forever. 
 
 Enter Mrs. Gazette. 
 
 Trink. Look you, yonder comes fine Mrs. Gazette ; 
 thither you intend your visit, I am sure. 
 Gaz. Mr. Courtal ! Your servant. 
 Court. Your servant. Mistress Gazette. 
 Gaz. This happiness was only meant to Mistress 
 
124 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Trinket ; had it not been my good fortune to pass by 
 by chance, I should have lost my share on't. 
 
 Court. This is too cruel, Mistress Gazette, when all 
 the unkindness is on your side, to rally your servant thus. 
 
 Gaz. I vow this tedious absence of yours made me 
 believe you intended to try an experiment on my poor 
 heart, to discover that hidden secret, how long a despair- 
 ing lover may languish without the sight of the party. 
 
 Court. You are always very pleasant on this subject, 
 Mistress Gazette. 
 ' Gaz. And have not you reason to be so? 
 
 Court. Not that I know of. 
 
 Gaz. Yes, you hear the good news. 
 
 Court. What good news? 
 
 Gaz. How well this dissembling becomes you ! 
 But now I think better on't, it cannot concern you ; 
 you are more a gentleman than to have an amour last 
 longer than an Easter term with a country lady ; and 
 yet there are some, I see, as well in the country as in 
 the city, that have a pretty way of huswifing a lover, 
 and can spin an intrigue out a great deal farther than 
 others are willing to do. . . . [She shows she knows 
 Courtal's relations to Lady Cockwood.] I have fur- 
 nished her and the young ladies with a few fashionable 
 toys since they came to town, to keep 'em in countenance 
 at a play or in the Park. 
 
 Court. I would have thee go immediately to the young 
 ladies, and by some device or other entice 'em hither. 
 
 Gaz. I came just now from taking measure of 'em 
 for a couple of handkerchiefs. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 125 
 
 Court. How unlucky's this ! 
 
 Gaz. They are calhng for their hoods and scarves, 
 and are coming hither to lay out a Httle money in rib- 
 bons and essences. I have recommended them to Mis- 
 tress Trinket's shop here. . . . 
 
 Court, [to Freeman]. Leave all things to me, and 
 hope the best. Begone, for I expect their coming im- 
 mediately ; walli a turn or two above, or fool awhile 
 with pretty Mistress Anvil, and scent your eyebrows 
 and periwig with a little essence of oranges or jessamine ; 
 and when you see us all together at Mistress Gazette's 
 shop, put in as it were by chance.^ 
 
 Wycherley had the same interest in life, 
 but he drew with heavier hnes and painted 
 with deeper colors. His first play illustrates 
 the satirical bent of his nature. 
 
 Mrs. Crossbite's Dining-room. Enter Dapperwit 
 and Ranger. 
 
 Ran. But she will not hear you ; she's as deaf as if 
 you were a dun or a constable. 
 
 Dap. Pish ! give her but leave to gape, rub her eyes, 
 and put on her day pinner ; the long patch under the 
 left eye ; awaken the roses on her cheeks with some 
 Spanish wool, and warrant her breath with some lemon- 
 peel ; the doors fly off the hinges, and she into my arms. 
 She knows there is as much artifice to keep a victory 
 1 She Would if She Could, iii. 1 (p. 157 ff.). 
 
126 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 as to gain it ; and 'tis a sign she values the conquest of 
 my heart. 
 
 Ran. I thought her beauty had not stood in need of 
 art. 
 
 Dap. Beauty's a coward still without the help of 
 art, and may have the fortune of a conquest but can- 
 not keep it. Beauty and art can no more be asunder 
 than love and honour. 
 
 Ran. Or, to speak more like yourself, wit and judg- 
 ment. 
 
 Dap. Don't you hear the door wag yet? 
 
 Ran. Not a whit. 
 
 Dap. Miss ! miss ! 'tis your slave that calls. Come, 
 all this tricking for him ! — Lend me your comb, Mr. 
 Ranger. 
 
 Ran. No, I am to be preferred to-day, you are to set 
 me off. You are in possession, I will not lend you arms 
 to keep me out. 
 
 Dap. A pox ! don't let me be ungrateful ; if she has 
 smugged herself up for me, let me prune and flounce 
 my peruke a little for her. There's ne'er a young 
 fellow in the town but will do as much for a mere stranger 
 in the playhouse. 
 
 Ran. A wit's wig has the privilege of being uncombed 
 in the very playhouse, or in the presence. 
 
 Dap. But not in the presence of his mistress ; 'tis 
 a greater neglect of her than himself. Pray lend me 
 your comb. 
 
 Ran. I would not have men of wit and courage make 
 use of every fop's mean arts to keep or gain a mistress. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 127 
 
 Day. But don't you see every day, though a man 
 have never so much wit and courage, his mistress will 
 revolt to those fops that wear and comb perukes well. 
 I'll break off the bargain, and will not receive you my 
 partner. 
 
 Ran. Therefore you see 1 am setting up for myself. 
 [Combs his peruke. y 
 
 But Wycherley frequently took very little 
 pains to relate his cutting observations on 
 the manners and customs of his time to the 
 character uttering them. In adapting Le 
 Misanthrope, for example, he went far beyond 
 the original satire. In the second act of The 
 Plain Dealer he reproduced the scandal scene 
 of the French play with entirely superfluous 
 additions that expanded it to more than twice 
 its original length. In much the same man- 
 ner the third act of the English comedy was 
 devoted to satirical remarks on law and the 
 practices of lawyers. Indeed, a distinguish- 
 ing characteristic of Wycherley's comedy as 
 a whole was the attention paid to witty 
 realism, no matter how little it might con- 
 tribute to the story or the delineation of 
 character, 
 
 1 Love in a Wood, iii. 2 (p. 61 f.). 
 
128 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Etheredge and Wycherley, it will be re- 
 membered, got their first notion of Moliere's 
 comedy of manners from Les Precieuses Rid- 
 icules, where most of the piece is filled with 
 conversation that serves only to ridicule the 
 cult of preciosity. That was what the play 
 existed for. There was only so much plot 
 as was necessary to effect that purpose. 
 Congreve was not only a greater artist than 
 his predecessors in England, but he had the 
 advantage of studying Moliere's masterpieces 
 from the start, so that his satirical passages 
 were handled more skilfully than those of 
 Wycherley and Etheredge. His love of word- 
 play, to be sure, led him to endow his minor 
 characters, the servants in particular, with 
 too much brilliant wit, but in general his satire, 
 frequently as it might suspend the action, had 
 some more or less obvious relation to character 
 and purpose. Indeed, his copy of the scene 
 from Le Misanthrope just referred to was 
 managed better even than in the original, for 
 while in Moliere the other persons merely 
 furnished suggestions for the sharpness of 
 Celimene's wit, in Congreve there was a give 
 and take in the dialogue that was more dra- 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 129 
 
 matic. A better illustration of the thorough- 
 ness with which Congreve learned his lesson 
 may be found in Love for Love, where Valentine 
 is trying to secure his inheritance from his 
 father. This should be compared with the 
 scene in UAvare where Maitre Simon, who has 
 been acting as agent for the father, Harpagon, 
 in putting money out to usury, and for the son, 
 Cleante, in trying to effect a loan, brings the 
 two together without knowing their relation- 
 ship. A single reading shows that the con- 
 versation in the two passages is managed in 
 the same way.^ Each scene lights up the 
 character of father and son, advances the 
 action a little, and is at the same time a keen 
 satire on miserliness. 
 
 The method of Etheredge and Wycherley, 
 however, was the one followed by the vast 
 majority of Restoration plajrwrights. In this 
 matter the influence of Moliere was far more 
 pervasive than in the features of his structure 
 previously considered. There was hardly a 
 man who would not pause in the busiest in- 
 trigue to limn a sketch from Co vent Garden 
 
 1 Cf, Love jor Love, ii. 1 (p. 228 ff.), and UAvare, 
 ii. 2. 
 
130 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 or some popular tavern. For it was no secret 
 that a playgoer's attention could frequently be 
 caught sooner by a scene which he recognized 
 or thought he recognized than by the greatest 
 briskness of movement. 
 
 A third and last result of Moliere's center- 
 ing his interest on character more than on 
 plot was the kind of solutions he found for 
 his intrigues. In Les Femmes Savantes the 
 impossible suitor is frightened away by a pre- 
 tended loss of wealth. Le Tartuffe is ended 
 by the intervention of the King. In UAvare 
 a long-lost father returns to lead the loving 
 pairs into each other's arms. MoUere was 
 almost obliged to bring about the conclusion 
 by such extraneous means, because his char- 
 acters were always fixed types, men who were 
 subject to no gradual development or great 
 moral revolution. There is nothing more 
 characteristic of Harpagon than his conduct 
 in the last scene of UAvare. There is no 
 possible ending to the schemes of Tartuffe 
 so satisfying to our emotions or so appropriate 
 to the characters as the one Mohere has 
 devised. The fault with his denouements is 
 not that they are inconsistent with the play, 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 131 
 
 but that they are not always carefully evolved 
 from its inner structure. 
 
 English dramatists noticed this feature of 
 MoHere's plots, but they naturally regarded 
 it as a fault. I have already shown how 
 Medbourne in his translation prepared for 
 the overthrow of Tartuffe by the introduction 
 of a legal document. Crowne, who adapted 
 the main features of the French play, deferred 
 the unmasking scene to the last act and utilized 
 it to bring about the conclusion. But the 
 denouement of most plays of the period is of 
 the intrigue type, where the misunderstand- 
 ings and cases of mistaken identity are all 
 explained, for such endings were necessary 
 to clear up the confusions of the plot. 
 
 This survey makes it clear that Mohere 
 had a very slight influence on the plot-structure 
 of Restoration comedy. The English drama- 
 tists were not profound and penetrating 
 psychologists, so that his methods were 
 entirely out of keeping with their aims. The 
 only pervasive influence was the tendency 
 to interrupt the movement in order to linger 
 over scenes from contemporary life, and that 
 influence was not the result of direct imita- 
 
132 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 tion, but of the interest Moliere had started 
 in the recognition of scenes from daily life 
 as a source of popular appeal. The smallness 
 of the influence on structure is entirely ex- 
 plained by the facts given in the last chap- 
 ter on the general attitude toward Moliere. 
 Even in composing comedies of intrigue the 
 playwrights did not study the Frenchman's 
 lighter work. These men were not eager 
 and fastidious artists cherishing lofty ideals 
 for the drama and poring over the greatest 
 models in hope of attaining some far-off 
 perfection. They were practical playwrights 
 working for the approval of a narrow coterie 
 or the commercial reward of popular success. 
 They did the practical thing of trying their 
 best to please their audience, and they were 
 in no doubt concerning the tastes of that 
 audience. One of the characters in Ether- 
 edge is given a remark that explains both the 
 life and the drama of the period : — 
 
 A single intrigue in love is as dull as a single plot in 
 a play, and will tire a lover worse than t'other does an 
 audience.^ 
 
 1 She Would if She Could, iii. 1 (p. 161). 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 CHARACTER 
 
 The demand of Restoration audiences for 
 several lines of action is to some extent ex- 
 plained by the prevailing interest in variety 
 of character. Seeing nothing but the super- 
 ficial side of life, those audiences got tired 
 of watching the same persons come upon the 
 stage time and again. The playwrights found 
 it much easier to borrow characters than to 
 invent them, and they discovered that Moliere 
 was one of the most convenient sources for 
 borrowings. A great deal of this adaptation 
 was made with no attempt to preserve the 
 spirit of the original. I need not advert to 
 the treatment of character in Lacy or Ravens- 
 croft. The ordinary treatment of Moliere's 
 conceptions may be observed in Shadwell's 
 Bury Fair, the main stratagem and chief 
 characters of which were taken from Les 
 Precieuses Ridicules. Wildish, a fine gentle- 
 man from London who has come to Bury to 
 133 
 
134 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 seek his beloved, conceives the idea of passing 
 off his peruke-maker as a count on two rustic 
 blue-stockings, Lady Fantast and her daughter, 
 not because he has been rejected as a lover, 
 but because their affectation disgusts him.^ 
 This pretended count in his conversation 
 makes reference to army experiences,^ as 
 Mascarille and Jodelet do ; he has the ladies 
 try the scent of his powdered peruke,^ as 
 Mascarille does ; and at one point he is cudg- 
 eled ^ as the French servants are. That is 
 pretty close imitation of externals, but none 
 of the peruke-maker's dialogue with Lady 
 Fantast and her daughter, though fully as 
 affected as that of the French valets, is trans- 
 lated or paraphrased from Mohere. As La 
 Roche is a copy of Mascarille and Jodelet, 
 so Lady Fantast and her daughter, Mrs. 
 Fantast, are copies of Madelon and Cathos, 
 but their special affectation is the French lan- 
 
 1 Bury Fair, i (pp. 137-139). Cf. Les Precieuses 
 Ridicules, sc. 1. 
 
 2 Ibid., ii (p. 155). Cf. Les Precieuses Ridicules, 
 sc. 11. 
 
 3 Ibid., iii (p. 180). Cf. Les Precieuses Ridicules, 
 sc. 9. 
 
 * Ibid., iv (p. 195 f.). Cf. Les Precieuses Ridicules, 
 sc. 13. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 135 
 
 guage rather than heroic romances. This ele- 
 ment of the original satire is preserved, how- 
 ever, in the conversation of the country fop, 
 Trim, with Mrs. Fantast, in which they dis- 
 play their reading of heroic romances by ad- 
 dressing each other as Dorinda and Eugenius. 
 Compared with Moliere these figures are lack- 
 ing in comic force, but judged by the work of 
 contemporary playwrights the satire is found 
 to be much better adapted to English con- 
 ditions, and the figures accordingly more ap- 
 propriate in an English drama, than was usually 
 the case with such borrowing. 
 
 There was, however, another class of bor- 
 rowed characters in which a good deal of the 
 spirit of Moliere was preserved. One of the 
 most famous figures in all Restoration comedy 
 is an instance. Sir Fopling Flutter is the 
 most airily graceful of Restoration fops, has 
 the most delightfully fastidious taste and the 
 most affected fine manners. He owes these 
 qualities not solely to the lightness and gaiety 
 of Sir George Etheredge himself. He owes 
 them in no sUght degree to the Mascarille of 
 Les Precieuses Ridicules. Certainly the au- 
 thor after having seen Moliere in this role 
 
136 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 in Paris could never forget the experience. 
 It was perfectly natiiral, therefore, that Ether- 
 edge should transfer the character to one 
 of his own comedies when social conditions 
 had developed a similar degree of foppery in 
 England. So much of the original was re- 
 tained in the transference that one can be 
 in no doubt concerning the method. Fopling's 
 attempt to dance ^ and his later attempt to 
 sing 2 were clearly in imitation of Mascarille's 
 vanity,^ but the most suggestive passage is 
 one exhibiting his finical attention to matters 
 of dress. 
 
 [Lady Townley, Emilia, Mr. Medley, Dorimant, 
 Sir Fopling Flutter.] 
 
 Lady Town. He's very fine. 
 
 Emil. Extreme proper. 
 
 Sir Fop. A slight suit I made to appear in at my 
 first arrival, not worthy your consideration, ladies. 
 
 Dor. The pantaloon is very well mounted. 
 
 Sir Fop. The tassels are new and pretty. 
 
 Med. I never saw a coat better cut. 
 
 Sir Fop. It makes me show long-waisted, and, I 
 think, slender. 
 
 ^ Sir Fopling Flutter, iv. 1 (p. 327). 
 
 2 Ibid., iv. 2 (p. 338). 
 
 3 Les Precieuses Ridicules, so. 9. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 137 
 
 Dor, That's the shape our ladies dote on. 
 
 Med. Your breech, though, is a handful too high in 
 my eye, Sir Fopling. 
 
 Sir Fop. Peace, Medley ; I have wished it lower a 
 thousand times, but a pox on't, 'twill not be. 
 
 Lady Town. His gloves are well fringed, large and 
 graceful. 
 
 Sir Fop. I always was eminent for being bien-gante. 
 
 Emil. He wears nothing but what are originals of 
 the most famous hands in Paris. 
 
 Sir Fop. You are in the right, madam. 
 
 Lady Town. The suit? 
 
 Sir Fop. Barroy. 
 
 Emil. The garniture? 
 
 Sir Fop. Le Gras. 
 
 Med. The shoes? 
 
 Sir Fop. Piccat. 
 
 Dor. The periwig ? 
 
 Sir Fop. Chedreux. 
 
 Lady Town, and Emil. The gloves ? 
 
 Sir Fop. Orangerie : you know the smell, ladies. 
 Dorimant, I could find in my heart for an amusement 
 to have a gallantry with some of our English ladies.^ 
 
 [Magdelon, Cathos, Mascarille.] 
 
 Mas. Que vous semble de ma petite-oie? La 
 trouvez-vous congruante a Thabit? 
 Cath. Tout a fait. 
 Mas. Le ruban est bien choisi. 
 
 ^ Sir Fopling Flutter, iii. 2 (p. 297 f.). 
 
138 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Mag. Furieusement bien. C'est Perdrigeon tout 
 pur. 
 
 Mas. Que dites-vous de mes canons? 
 
 Mag. lis ont tout a fait bon air. 
 
 Mas. Je puis me vanter au moins qu'ils ont un grand 
 quartier plus que tous ceux qu'on fait. 
 
 Mag. II faut avouer que je n'ai jamais vu porter si 
 haut Telegance de I'ajustement. 
 
 Mas. Attachez un peu sur ces gants la reflexion de 
 votre odorat. 
 
 Mag. lis sentent terriblement bon. 
 
 Cath. Je n'ai jamais respire une odeur mieux con- 
 ditionnee. 
 
 Mas. Et celle-la? [II donne a sentir les cheveux 
 poudres de sa perruque.] 
 
 Mag. Elle est tout a fait de quality ; le sublime en 
 est touche delicieusement. 
 
 Mas. Vous ne me dites rien de mes plumes : com- 
 ment les trouvez-vous ? 
 
 Cath. Effroyablement belles. 
 
 Mas. Savez-vous que le brin me cotlte un louis d'or? 
 Pour moi, j'ai cette manie de vouloir donner gen^rale- 
 ment sur tout ce qu'il y a de plus beau. 
 
 Mag. Je vous assure que nous sympathisons vous 
 et moi : j 'ai une delicatesse f urieuse pour tout ce que 
 je porte ; et jusqu'a mes chaussettes, je ne puis rien 
 souffrir qui ne soit de la bonne ouvriere.^ 
 
 Obvious as the borrowing is, the adap- 
 tation was so complete that the audience 
 
 * Les Precieuses Ridicules, so. 9. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 139 
 
 thought they recognized in more than one 
 dandy of the courtly circle the original for 
 Etheredge's conception/ The figure was, in 
 fact, so good a reflection of contemporary life 
 that Crowne and Gibber and Vanbrugh, to 
 mention the most noteworthy imitators, 
 helped to make it one of the most pleasant 
 and characteristic comic types of the period. 
 They failed to attain the lightness and grace 
 of Etheredge's adaptation, partly because 
 they had never absorbed the comic spirit of 
 the Frenchman. For adaptations of this 
 kind, one hardly need remark, were possible 
 only to men who could in a degree assume 
 MoUere's attitude of never-tiring delicate 
 ridicule toward all things unreasonable. 
 
 The consideration of these borrowings — 
 both of the extremely small class which re- 
 tained a good deal of Moliere's spirit and of 
 the extremely large class in which little at- 
 tention was paid to the integrity or the par- 
 ticular effectiveness of the original — does not 
 exhaust the question of influence. For such 
 borrowings might be made quite independ- 
 ently of any adoption of Moliere's peculiar 
 
 1 Cf. Etheredge, p. xiv, note 1. 
 
140 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 methods of character-drawing. The author 
 of Le Misanthrope, to be sure, was not a de- 
 voted student of dramaturgic devices nor 
 a clever exploiter of technical resources. But 
 he spent considerable thought on the group- 
 ing and contrasting of his characters, not only 
 to heighten dramatic effectiveness, but also 
 to emphasize the idea upon which each play 
 was based. In praising his friend, Mignard, 
 he noted that painter's noble arrangement 
 of contrasted groups,^ a feature of painting 
 not suggested by Du Fresnoy, the som-ce of 
 several of his opinions.^ In his dramas 
 he made notable use of contrast from the 
 beginning. In Le Depit Amour eux, for in- 
 stance, he employed the frequent Spanish de- 
 vice for heightening comic effect by presenting 
 the love affairs of a servant as a foil to those 
 of the master. In VEcole des Maris he op- 
 posed the severe Sganarelle to the indulgent 
 Ariste, not only for clearer portrayal of char- 
 acter, but to make the thesis of the play more 
 prominent. Indeed, take any of Moliere's 
 pieces that comes to hand, and you will find 
 
 ^ Cf. La Gloire du Val-de-grdce, I. 74. 
 2 Cf. Moliere, (Euvres, ix. 518 ff., 540. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 141 
 
 contrast utilized to render the comedy more 
 effective, the characters more striking, and 
 the idea of the play more unmistakable. 
 
 The skill with which Moliere employed the 
 device is so considerable that it would have 
 been very strange if the Restoration drama- 
 tists who thought him anything but a store- 
 house of incidents had not seen it. But it is 
 quite another matter to be able to trace his 
 influence on so common a practice. Dry- 
 den, with his keen and powerful intellect and 
 his small native aptitude for the theater, paid 
 more attention to technical matters than 
 most plajrwrights of the time. In Limherham, 
 for example, he arranged the characters in a 
 very symmetrical pattern. Aldo, the open- 
 hearted befriender of mistresses, is set over 
 against Mrs. Saintly, the hypocritical keeper 
 of a '^ boarding-house"; Brainsick, despising 
 his wife, against Limberham, doting on his 
 mistress ; the wheedling Mrs. Brainsick 
 against the termagant Mrs. Tricksy ; Aldo's 
 son, Woodall, a rake, against Mrs. Saintly's 
 supposed daughter, the virtuous Pleasance ; 
 even the servant Gervase, giving his master 
 good counsel, against the maid Judith, obey- 
 
142 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 ing strictly her mistress's behests. Giles 
 is the only unbalanced character in the whole 
 play, and he is used merely to untie the knot 
 at the close. Of course this is all very pretty 
 in its geometrical regularity, but it affords 
 no evidence of influence from Moliere's vital 
 contrasts. 
 
 Crowne was likewise too careful a workman 
 to neglect the principle. In Sir Courtly Nice 
 he made notable use of it to introduce satirical 
 reahsm into the Spanish plot he was adapting. 
 Hothead and Testimony, representing the 
 royalist and Presbyterian parties, are brought 
 into continual altercation, in which the heat 
 of the one and the affected calnmess of the 
 other present a very amusing spectacle. Even 
 more effective is the contrast between the 
 exquisite, super-refined Sir Courtly and the 
 coarse, rude Surly. One feels that Crowne, 
 a student of Moliere's characters, was under 
 his influence in thus making contrast serve 
 his satirical purpose as well as the heightening 
 of comic effect. In the case of Wycherley 
 imitation is as certain as such matters can be. 
 He not only made his contrasts sharp and 
 complete, but in giving the persons opposing 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 143 
 
 views of life he contrived to enforce the more 
 or less definite thesis of his play. The ve- 
 hemence of his temperament and the well- 
 recognized tastes of an English audience com- 
 bined to rob his contrasts of restraint, but 
 the result in every case gives one the impres- 
 sion that the brilliant Englishman was merely 
 trying to improve on the methods of MoHere. 
 The dissimilarity between such roles as the 
 ridiculously jealous Pinch wife and the ridic- 
 ulously trustful Sparkish, or the excessively 
 rough Manly and the excessively complaisant 
 Plausible, even though less natural than that 
 between Sganarelle and Ariste, was, I feel 
 sure, drawn in imitation of the French master. 
 I hardly need add that such a statement can 
 be made of very few dramatists of the period. 
 In the drawing of individual character 
 Moliere displayed peculiarities that may at 
 first puzzle an English reader. At any rate, 
 the coloring he gave to his dramatis personce 
 was misunderstood by such a considerable 
 critic as Hazlitt.^ Moliere, however, knew 
 exactly what he was about. He was not a 
 Uterary student poring over dramatic master- 
 1 Cf . Hazlitt, Works, viii. 28 f. 
 
144 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 pieces in an endeavor to emulate the poetic 
 beauties of the classics. He was an actor, 
 probably the greatest comic actor of his time. 
 He was stage-manager and producer and 
 advertiser of all the plays brought out by 
 his company. He therefore was perfectly 
 familiar with the demands of presentation 
 in a theater. He knew that the playgoer 
 has no time to study out the subtle signifi- 
 cance of a trait of character or the esoteric 
 meaning of a polished speech. He knew, 
 moreover, that to be impressive character 
 and incidents cannot be presented in the hum- 
 drum manner of everyday hfe. Recently 
 a student who was serving as supernumerary 
 in a famous opera performed in New York 
 City, stood behind the scenes to watch one 
 of the best actors on the operatic stage. ^^He 
 was painted Hke a savage and grinned like 
 an idiot," the student declared afterward. 
 But that coloring and that grimace impressed 
 on the audience the anguish of a tragic mo- 
 ment when the music was yearning like a god 
 in pain. So Moliere in his character-drawing, 
 in order to impress on the audience his con- 
 ception of a person, exaggerated traits beyond 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 145 
 
 what would be manifested on the street or in 
 the home. This principle accounts for the 
 almost farcical coloring given to Harpagon 
 in L'Avare. The miser is so much interested 
 in his search for valuables on the person of 
 a servant that he demands to see still other 
 hands after La Fleche has already shown 
 both right and left.^ At the end of the act 
 he exclaims with delight, after listening to a 
 declaration that money is more precious than 
 youth, beauty, birth, wisdom, or uprightness : 
 ^'Ah, what a fine fellow! That was spoken 
 like an oracle. Happy is the man with a ser- 
 vant of that kind !" ^ The same method is 
 employed in his most serious and realistic 
 dehneations. Tartuffe enters on the scene 
 for the first time giving directions to his serv- 
 ant : ''Laurent, put away my hair shirt and 
 my scourge, and pray that heaven may always 
 light your pathway. If any one calls for 
 me, say that I am visiting the prisoners to 
 share with them what Httle alms I have 
 received.^' ^ 
 
 1 VAvare, i. 3. 
 
 ^Ihid., i. 5. 
 
 3Le Tartuffe, iii. 2. 
 
 L 
 
146 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 This footlight shading is a conspicuous 
 feature of MoHere's character-drawing, but it 
 is no more distinctive of his art than the use 
 of contrast. Every playwright who has any 
 practical knowledge of theatrical require- 
 ments finds such coloring necessary. The 
 presence of dramatic heightening in Restora- 
 tion comedy is nevertheless in many cases 
 to be ascribed to the influence of Mohere, 
 because the borrowing of his characters was 
 frequent, and it was much harder to keep 
 from observing his method in individual de- 
 lineations than in the arrangement of groups. 
 Two illustrations will suffice. Crowne con- 
 stantly employed it in a way to remind one 
 of the French genius. Sir Thomas Rash in 
 The Country Wit makes statements like the 
 following threat to his daughter : — 
 
 Sir Mannerly will be in town to-morrow, and to- 
 morrow he shall marry you before he sleeps, nay, before 
 his boots are off, nay, before he lights off his horse; 
 he shall marry you a horse-back but he shall marry you 
 to-morrow/ 
 
 One immediately recalls Orgon's infatuation 
 for the hypocrite : — 
 
 ' The Country Wit, i. (p. 20). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 147 
 
 II m'enseigne a n'avoir affection pour rien, 
 
 De toutes amities il detache mon ame ; 
 
 Et je verrois mourir frere, enfants, mere et femme, 
 
 Que je m'en soucierois autant que de cela.* 
 
 Other passages, such as the speeches of Lord 
 Stately in The English Friar, or of Sir Courtly 
 in Sir Courtly Nice, contain the same kind of 
 exaggeration that Moliere adopted to bring 
 his figures into proper perspective before an 
 audience. 
 
 In Wycherley, too, the influence is obvious. 
 In Love in a Wood Mrs. Crossbite praises 
 Dapperwit to the procuress, Mrs. Joyner, 
 but as soon as the latter proposes a better 
 ^^ keeper" for her daughter Lucy, she exclaims : 
 ^^D'ye hear, daughter, Mrs. Joyner has satis- 
 fied me clearly ; Dapperwit is a vile fellow, 
 and, in short, you must put an end to that 
 scandalous famiharity between you.'' ^ j^ 
 is the voice of Geronte, who, when he learns 
 that Leandre has inherited a large fortune, 
 suddenly desists from his violent opposition : 
 '^Monsieur, votre vertu m'est tout a fait 
 considerable, et je vous donne ma fille avec 
 
 1 Le Tartuffe, i. 5. 
 
 2 Love in a Wood, iii. 1 (p. 57). 
 
148 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 la plus grande joie du monde." ^ Numerous 
 little touches like this show that Wycherley 
 in his exaggerations was imitating the method 
 of Moliere. But in this matter as much as 
 in the use of contrast the Englishman thought 
 it necessary to improve on his model. Olivia 
 in The Plain Dealer, though borrowed from 
 Le Misanthrope, is portrayed too glaringly 
 to win any credence. The affectation of 
 Paris or Don Diego in The Gentleman Dancing 
 Master is presented with so much exaggera- 
 tion that neither of them is convincing. 
 Indeed, all his leading persons are delineated 
 with so Httle restraint that they give an im- 
 pression of unreality not in keeping with the 
 plays as wholes. 
 
 A second characteristic of Moliere's de- 
 lineations is that he never traces the de- 
 velopment or unfolding of character. Even 
 the dominating personahties in his most 
 serious plays never change from the first 
 scene to the last. Alceste after his rejection 
 by Celimene remains the same champion of 
 high ideals in conflict with the hypocritical 
 society about him that he was in the open- 
 
 1 Le Medecin malgre lui, iii. 11. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 149 
 
 ing of the play in conversation with Oronte. 
 The different scenes where he appears merely 
 throw brighter hght upon one or another 
 phase of his character. In a word, Moliere's 
 characters are static. This is quite different 
 from the method familiar to English students 
 in Shakspere. Shakspere traces the develop- 
 ment of ambition in the soul of Macbeth 
 and the resulting deterioration of character, 
 or the gradual awakening of jealousy in the 
 mind of Othello and the terrible and pitiful 
 consequences thereof. What Shakspere was 
 interested in was the biography of a soul. 
 His prevailing method was to study evolution, 
 degeneration, change. 
 
 One explanation of the difference is that 
 MoHere was writing comedy. I think I have 
 already made it clear that pure comedy is 
 impossible wherever sympathy is aroused. 
 Now intense sympathy is aroused by the 
 spectacle of a soul's development. It is only 
 static figures, where incongruities are salient, 
 that are genuinely and consistently comic. 
 Shakspere illustrates this as well as Moliere. 
 No Ehzabethan audience ever found de- 
 velopment in Touchstone or Bottom or 
 
150 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Dogberry. Unlike Shakspere, Moliere was 
 always and everywhere following the methods 
 of comedy. Even his most somber, sinister 
 figure is not presented as tragic. Tartuffe, 
 it is true, does not raise much laughter; he is 
 not a strictly comic figure, but it would be 
 a total misunderstanding of the play to sup- 
 pose that he was intended to arouse tragic 
 interest. 
 
 A further explanation of why Mohere's 
 figures are characterized by a lack of de- 
 velopment is that he makes them typical, 
 general; he founds them upon an idea. Shak- 
 spere's are strictly individual and have 
 general significance only because they are 
 true to universal laws of being. But Moliere, 
 it will be remembered, was writing in an age 
 and country far different from Ehzabethan 
 England. I need not repeat what I have 
 previously said about the strong spirit of 
 society which permeated the Paris of Louis 
 XIV. I need not insist, either, on the strong 
 classical ideals which dominated the literary 
 circles of that time and found their most 
 complete exemplification in the drama. 
 Every one understands that ancient models 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 151 
 
 and the new unities were equally hostile to 
 Shakspere's biographic interest in character. 
 French society was certainly in complete 
 contrast with the worship of individualism 
 that saturated the London of Elizabeth and 
 with the spirit of revolt from all classic con- 
 straints that animated the young poets of 
 her reign. The French spirit of society and 
 classicism and the English love of the indi- 
 vidual and the irregular could not but get 
 themselves expressed in the drama of the two 
 periods. But more important for Mohere's 
 character-drawing was the influence of the 
 commedia delV arte. The masks of the Italians, 
 though reaUstic enough in their origin, were for 
 the French nothing but general types vivified 
 by the histrionic genius of successive actors. 
 Moliere's servants and lovers and old men 
 were at first merely brilliant specimens of 
 the Itahan mask. That is, he formed his 
 method of character-drawing by imitation 
 of general types, and that method, gradually 
 modified by his developing genius, he 
 employed throughout his career. But the 
 method was peculiarly suited to his tempera- 
 ment. I have aheady emphasized the clarity 
 
152 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 of his thinking, the dominance of reason over 
 fancy in his sense of comedy, the submission 
 of all details to a controlling idea in his con- 
 struction of plot. The same mental attitude 
 determined his character-drawing. His char- 
 acters were founded on an idea. Harpagon 
 presents many a facet of avarice. Tartuffe 
 has become the synonym for hypocrisy. Le 
 Misanthrope has been considered a modern 
 form of the medieval '' morality" with its 
 group of personified abstractions. This is 
 a very grievous exaggeration, to be sure, but 
 it illustrates an essential difference between 
 / Moliere and Shakspere. Mohere has all 
 the interest in general ideas and the love of 
 lucidity characteristic of the French. Shak- 
 spere was interested in searching out the 
 secrets of personality and exploring all the 
 mysterious corners of the individual soul. 
 His creations have the complexity of life, 
 and are often more baffling than any of our 
 acquaintances. Moliere presented a simpli- 
 fied transcript from life. His characters 
 revealed the dominance of an idea connected 
 with the theme upon which the play was 
 based. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 153 
 
 Moliere^s method of character-drawing sug- 
 gests Ben Jonson's theory of humors. Both 
 men adopted an intellectual simplification 
 of life, as opposed to the rich imaginative 
 imitation to be found in Shakspere. Jon- 
 son, like Moliere, centered his interest on the 
 dominating characteristic of each person. 
 In late life, to be sure, he carried the method 
 to a bare and lifeless allegory, but in his best 
 work he produced figures, such as Bobadil, 
 that must have been as convincing on the 
 stage as the valiant Nym or mine ancient 
 Pistol. Where, then, it may be asked, Hes 
 the difference between Jonson and Mohere? 
 The difference is not so much in the method 
 of presenting character as in the men who 
 used the method. Jonson surely had a strong 
 intellect and a gift for shrewd observation. 
 He filled out his conceptions with all the 
 realism necessary for rendering the characters 
 convincing behind the footlights. But when 
 subjected to the analysis of the study, the 
 product remains rather thin in comparison 
 not only with Shakspere, but with Moliere. 
 For Mohere as well as Shakspere had a pene- 
 trating imagination. He, too, created char- 
 
154 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 acters that are individual, though he was at 
 the same time careful to show them as typical. 
 He presented the large, fat Tartuffe, with his 
 florid complexion and enormous appetite 
 and domineering manners. He dehneated 
 the passionately sincere Alceste, who yet has 
 the urbanity of a courtier, and, by a stroke of 
 genius which preserved some of the inconsis- 
 tency of life, had him love the most elegantly 
 coquettish mistress of a fashionable salon. 
 Mohere never devoted a play to the fate 
 brooding over human life nor to the destiny 
 that awaits man hereafter. He was inter- 
 ested in this world. But he had the gift of 
 imagination to create characters as living, 
 as human, as true to life as he saw it, as any 
 in Shakspere. His peculiarity is that his 
 imagination was always subject to the control 
 of intellect, that in imitating life he always 
 simplified so as to make his characters un- 
 mistakably typical. 
 
 This method of delineating static and tjq^i- 
 cal characters based on an idea is intimately 
 related to Moliere's conception of comedy, 
 which was that it should correct the follies 
 and foibles of men, and particularly of the 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 155 
 
 men of his time.^ One might therefore expect 
 that the method would be adopted in England 
 only so far as the basic conception was shared 
 by the EngUsh playwrights. A few concrete 
 comparisons will bear out the supposition. 
 The case of Wycherley, who did as much as 
 Etheredge to establish Mohere's kind of 
 comedy in England, is typical. In UEcole 
 des Femmes, which we know he studied, 
 Arnolphe is a man who places ridiculous 
 emphasis on securing a faithful wife. It is 
 the incongruity between his methods and the 
 dictates of reason that Moliere makes the 
 source of all the comic effect he draws from 
 this character. Every precaution he takes 
 to attain his object serves only to render him 
 ridiculous. The servants he has selected as 
 best suited to protect the innocence of his in- 
 tended wife are a source of untold annoyance; 
 the simplicity of Agnes, upon which he 
 chiefly relies, in a dozen ways helps to defeat 
 his aims ; and his own active efforts near 
 the close have no result but to secure Agnes 
 to her lover, Horace. This method Wycher- 
 ley followed only in part. In The Country 
 
 ^ Cf. Le Tartuffe : Preface, Premier Placet. 
 
156 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Wife Pinch wife is an excessively jealous hus- 
 band whose jealousy at every point brings 
 on the fate he fights against. Yet even when 
 Wycherley was using a suggestion from 
 Moliere he did not always restrict himself 
 to this method of developing the character 
 from some basal incongruity. Paris in The 
 Gentleman Dancing Master is based on the 
 Sganarelle of UEcole des Maris. A good part 
 of the comic effect is accordingly produced 
 by the contradiction between what he thinks 
 he is accomplishing and what he actually ac- 
 complishes : he thinks he is making his rival 
 Gerrard utterly ridiculous when he is in reality 
 making a complete fool of himself. But this 
 is not the only source of humor in his character ; 
 he also gives rise to laughter by his absurd 
 aping of French manners. In his original 
 characters Wycherley came no nearer the 
 method. Sparkish in The Country Wife, for 
 instance, has some resemblance to Paris ; he 
 thinks he is a great wit when he is a perfect 
 wittol. Still, this incongruity is not the only 
 feature emphasized, for Sparkish is also made 
 to serve as an antithesis to jealous Pinch wife. 
 The use of such distracting additions is on 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 157 
 
 reflection seen to be the logical outcome of 
 the failure to adopt MoUere's plot-structure : 
 since Wycherley introduced no central thesis 
 controlling all parts of the play, there was no 
 necessity for his developing each comic char- 
 acter from a basal incongruity related to 
 the central thesis. He was free to combine 
 in a single role as many sources of comic 
 effect as he chose. 
 
 Dryden, who was led to a realization of 
 Moliere's conception through the success of 
 Wycherley and Etheredge, after 1671 drew 
 characters in somewhat the same way. The 
 comic underplot of Marriage a la Mode, as 
 I have remarked before, showed that Dryden 
 had been studying Moliere carefully. Not 
 only Melantha, a very clever adaptation, 
 but the original figures, Doralice and Rho- 
 dophil, were developed from a central in- 
 congruity, though it must be confessed the 
 characters do not all enforce the idea of the 
 sub-plot as a whole. In some plays it is a 
 minor action that embodies the satiric pur- 
 pose. The character of Judge Gripus, the 
 third person in the Mercury-Phaedra intrigue 
 in Amphitryon, was in all Ukelihood a satire on 
 
158 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 well-known practices of the bench, and the 
 intrigue between the god and the maid could 
 have been paralleled in the society of the time. 
 Such killing of two birds with one stone was a 
 renunciation of Moliere's method of variously 
 illustrating a central idea. It was therefore 
 only in part that Dry den employed Moliere's 
 method of character development. He no- 
 where invented his action and depicted his 
 persons to explain or enforce a controlling 
 idea, and even in the dehneation of individual 
 borrowed roles he followed at a considerable 
 distance the master's development of a central 
 incongruity. 
 
 In this matter Crowne was a better work- 
 man. The plot of The English Friar was 
 adapted from Le Tartuffe in order to satirize 
 the power of the church under James II. 
 Crowne, of course, had no difficulty in fitting 
 the figures from that play into the demands 
 of the English satire, but when we find Harpa- 
 gon from UAvare appearing as Lady Pinchgut 
 we think the author has merely yielded to 
 the common English demand for many per- 
 sons. He certainly reproduces the comic 
 incongruity of the original. Lady Pinchgut's 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 159 
 
 starving the servants/ keeping the liveries 
 under key except when needed for special 
 occasions/ reducing her horses to skeletons 
 by locking the oats up in her closet/ making 
 her household observe all the fasts of the 
 church ^ — all these revelations by the coach- 
 man are reminiscences or variations from 
 UAvare.^ The relations between master and 
 servants in the original, with raihngs on one 
 side and frequent impertinence on the other, 
 are also reproduced in the English imitation. 
 But Lady Pinchgut is introduced not merely 
 to lend variety to the dramatis personce. 
 Crowne makes the role serve his purpose of 
 exposing the power of the priesthood as com- 
 pletely as he adapts the plot of Le Tartuffe 
 to the same purpose. 
 
 His case merely furnishes one more illus- 
 stration of the general statement that it was 
 only in so far as a Restoration playwright 
 adopted Moliere's conception of comedy 
 
 1 The English Friar, p. 46. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 45. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 65. 
 
 4 Ibid., p. 113. 
 
 * In particular, cf. VAvare, iii. 1 , especially the speech 
 of Maitre Jacques at the end of the scene. 
 
160 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 that he followed the Frenchman's method of 
 drawing character. In other words, the large 
 class of dramatists who in borrowing concep- 
 tions paid little attention to the integrity 
 or peculiar effectiveness of the original were 
 not influenced by Moliere's employment of 
 contrast in the grouping of dramatis personce 
 and, in the delineation of individual persons, 
 by his method of dramatic heightening and 
 of developing typical figures, founded on an 
 idea, to carry out the theme of a play as a 
 whole. Such influence was felt only by the 
 small class who sought to retain or reproduce 
 the spirit of Moliere's comedy. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 DIALOGUE 
 
 Not only can audiences determine the 
 kind of plots a dramatist shall "construct and ^ 
 the types of character he shall present, but 
 they can influence, not very deeply perhaps, 
 but nevertheless unmistakably, the style of 
 dialogue he shall write. For though style 
 is rightly considered the expression of indi- 
 vidual temperament, external features have 
 always been introduced in accordance with 
 the pecuhar likes and dislikes of the playgoer. 
 Such an external feature is the lubricity which 
 has almost become synonymous with Restora- 
 tion dialogue. Not only were the ephemeral 
 playwrights willing to insert passages having 
 no attraction but their indecency, but some 
 of the most sparkling wit of the leaders played ^:^„ 
 around subjects now no longer alluded to in re- 
 fined society. I need dwell on this notorious 
 characteristic no longer than I have on the 
 
 M 161 
 
162 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 delight in amorous intrigues. It is already 
 indelibly stamped on every man's memory. 
 Besides, it has absolutely nothing to do with 
 Moliere's influence. 
 
 There is, however, some very tangible evi- 
 dence of his influence in the dialogue of the 
 leading dramatists. A recurrent feature of 
 his plays is the passages of lively staccato 
 conversation which were possibly a remi- 
 niscence of the lazzi indulged in by the actors 
 of the commedia delV arte. Such passages 
 are at any rate totally opposed to the love of 
 reasoning and long speeches characteristic of 
 French drama. Etheredge was apparently 
 impressed by the gaiety and sprightliness of 
 those conversations when vivified by the con- 
 summate acting of Moliere in Les Predeuses 
 Ridicules.^ The opening of his first play 
 bears witness to the impression. 
 
 [Clark, servant to Lord Beaufort, and Dufoy, French 
 valet to Sir Frederick, are speaking.] 
 
 Clark. Good-morrow, monsieur. 
 Duf. Good-mor', — good-mor'. 
 Clark. Is Sir Frederick stirring ? 
 Duf. Pox sturre him6. 
 
 1 On Moliere's acting, cf. Larroumet, p. 358 ff. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 163 
 
 Clark. My lord has sent me — 
 Duj. Begar, me vil have de reveng^ ; me vil no 
 stay two day in Englande. 
 
 Clark. Good monsieur, what's the matter ? 
 
 Duj. De matre ! de matre is easy to be perceive.^ 
 
 Throughout the piece the device was repeated 
 time and again. 
 
 [The Bailiffs enter as Sir Frederick, Sir Nicholas, 
 and Wheedle are talking.] 
 
 Bailiffs. We arrest you, sir. 
 
 Wheed. Arrest me ? Sir Frederick, Sir Nicholas ! 
 
 Sir Fred. We are not provided for a rescue at pres- 
 ent, sir. 
 
 Wheed. At whose suit ? 
 
 Bailiffs. At Sir Frederick Frollick's. 
 
 Wheed. Sir Frederick Frollick's ? I owe him never 
 a farthing. 
 
 Sir Fred. You're mistaken, sir; you owe me a 
 thousand pounds.^ 
 
 Staccato dialogue was in MoUere frequently- 
 combined with repetition almost to the ex- 
 tent of becoming a mannerism. Possibly 
 that fact explains why the feature crept into 
 Congreve's dialogue, for he had an ideal of 
 style directly opposed to Moliere's. He never- 
 theless imitated this particular mannerism 
 
 1 Love in a Tub, i. 1 (p. 7). 
 
 2 Ibid., V. 4 (p. 107). 
 
164 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 in more than one passage. The similarities 
 in the following excerpts render extended com- 
 ment unnecessary. 
 
 [Scandal, Foresight.1 
 
 Scan. You are not satisfied that you act justly. 
 
 Fore. How? 
 
 Scan. You are not satisfied, I say. — I am loath 
 to discourage you — but it is palpable that you are not 
 satisfied. 
 
 Fore. How does it appear, Mr. Scandal? I think 
 I am very well satisfied. 
 
 Scan. Either you suffer yourseK to deceive yourself ; 
 or you do not know yourself. 
 
 Fore. Pray explain yourself. 
 
 Scan. Do you sleep well o' nights ? 
 
 Fore. Very well. 
 
 Scan. Are you certain ? you do not look so. 
 
 Fore. I am in health, I think. 
 
 Scan. So was Valentine this morning ; and looked 
 just so. 
 
 Fore. How ! am I altered any way ? I don't per- 
 ceive it. 
 
 Scan. That may be, but your beard is longer than 
 it was two hours ago. 
 
 Fore. Indeed ! bless me ! ^ 
 
 [Du Bois, Alceste.] 
 Ale. Ah ! que d'amusement ! 
 
 1 Love for Love, iii. 4 (p. 255 f.). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 165 
 
 Veux-tu parler ? 
 
 Du B. Monsieur, il faut faire retraite. 
 
 Ale. Comment? 
 
 DuB. II faut d'ici deloger sans trompette. 
 
 Ale. Et pourquoi ? 
 
 Bu B. Je vous dis qu'il faut quitter ce lieu. 
 
 Ale. La cause ? 
 
 Du B. II faut partir, Monsieur, sans dire adieu. 
 
 Ale. Mais par quelle raison me tiens-tu ce langage ? 
 
 Du B. Par la raison. Monsieur, qu'il faut plier bagage. 
 
 Ale. Ah ! je te casserai la tete assurement. 
 
 Si tu ne veux, maraud, t'expliquer autrement/ 
 
 More conscious imitation of the device 
 appears in Crowne, who studied the French- 
 man's dialogue more carefully than any other 
 dramatist of the period. Even in plays con- 
 taining no adapted scenes or borrowed char- 
 acters he frequently imitated the repetition 
 of Mohere. City Politics furnishes a typical 
 illustration, as a comparison with a well- 
 known scene in UAvare will show. 
 
 [PiETRO is talking with the Podesta.] 
 
 Piet. . . . Great honours, to my knowledge, are 
 design' d you : no less than the high office of Lord 
 Treasurer. 
 
 Pod. Lord Treasurer ? 
 
 1 Le Misanthrope, iv. 4. 
 
166 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Piet. Sir, I speak what I know ; 'twill be some time 
 before you come to it ; and the Viceroy will expect you 
 to sacrifice to him the doctor, bricklayer, Florio — 
 
 Pod. Ay, and my father, too, if he were alive ; and 
 shou'd hang 'em all. Lord Treasurer ! 
 
 Piet. I hope, my lord, you won't refuse some oaths 
 — and — 
 
 Pod. Nothing ! I'll refuse nothing, sir, for such 
 honour as this. Lord Treasurer ! 
 
 Piet. I'll acquaint his highness with your arrival. 
 You must be willing to suffer some attendance, the com- 
 mon affliction of all courtiers. 
 
 Pod. I'll do or suffer anything for so much glory 
 as this Lord Treasurer ! 
 
 Piet. Your most humble servant, my lord ! 
 
 [Exit Piet. 
 
 Pod. Your most humble servant, sir. Lord Treas- 
 urer ! to what grandeur am I rising ? ^ 
 
 [Harpagon, Valere.] 
 
 Harp. ... II s'engage k la prendre sans dot. 
 
 Val. Sans dot? 
 
 Harp. Oui. 
 
 Val. Ah! je ne dis plus rien. Voyez-vous? voila 
 une raison tout a fait convaincante ; il se f aut rendre a 
 cela. 
 
 Harp. C'est pour moi une epargne considerable. 
 
 Val. Assur^ment, cela ne regoit point de contradic- 
 tion. II est vrai que votre fiUe vous pent repr^senter 
 
 1 City Politics, v. (p. 196 f.). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 167 
 
 que le mariage est une plus grande affaire qu'on ne put 
 croire ; . • . 
 
 Harp. Sans dot. 
 
 Vol. Vous avez raison : voila qui decide tout, cela 
 s'entend. II y a des gens qui pourroient vous dire 
 qu'en de telles occasions Tinclination d'une fiUe est une 
 chose sans doute ou Ton doit avoir de regard ; . . . 
 
 Har-p. Sans dot. 
 
 Vol. Ah ! il n'y a pas de r^plique a cela : on le sait 
 bien ; qui diantre pent aller la contre ? Ce n'est pas 
 qu'il n'y ait quantity de peres qui aimeroient mieux 
 menager la satisfaction de leur fiUes que I'argent qu'ils 
 pourroient donner ; . . . 
 
 Harp. Sans dot. 
 
 Val. II est vrai : cela fenne la bouche a tout, sans 
 dot. Le moyen de r^sister a une raison comme celle- 
 la?^ 
 
 Another device in Moliere's dialogue was 
 the employment of dramatic irony in qui- 
 pro-quo situations. Of course nothing is 
 more frequent in Spanish comedies of intrigue 
 than equivoke. Half the situations are the 
 result of mistakes and misunderstandings. 
 Indeed, it was from the Spanish and the Italian 
 that Moliere borrowed the device. But his 
 treatment of it can easily be distinguished 
 from that typical of the comedy of intrigue. 
 
 1 UAvare. i. 5. 
 
168 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 In the latter all the humor comes from the 
 situations — any other set of persons with 
 the same relations would provide just as 
 laughable a scene. In Moliere the peculiar 
 traits of the characters taking part in the 
 situation furnish half the comedy. Every 
 one familiar with his masterpieces will rec- 
 ognize this to be true, but traces of such 
 treatment appear even in so early a play as 
 Le Depit Amour eux. An examination of the 
 qui-pro-quo scenes in The Gentleman Dancing 
 Master will show that Wycherley in altering 
 the dialogue of the Spanish play he was adapt- 
 ing took hints from Moliere. The comic 
 effectiveness of the following scene, for in- 
 stance, depends to a very considerable extent 
 on the character of Don Diego. 
 
 [Gerrard, the lover, has been passed off on Don Diego, 
 who prides himself on never beirig deceived, as a dancing 
 master sent by Paris, who expects to marry Hippolita 
 on the morrow.] 
 
 Re-enter Don Diego. 
 
 Don. Come, have you done ? 
 
 Hip. 0, my father again ! 
 
 Don. Come, now let us see you dance. 
 
 Hip. Indeed I am not perfect yet : pray excuse me 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 169 
 
 till the next time my master comes. But when must 
 he come again, father? 
 
 Don. Let me see — friend, you must needs come 
 after dinner again, and then at night again, and so 
 three times to-morrow too. If she be not married to- 
 morrow, (which I am to consider of,) she will dance a 
 corant in twice or thrice teaching more ; will she not ? for 
 'tis but a twelve-month since she came from Hackney- 
 school. 
 
 Ger. We will lose no time, I warrant you, sir, if she 
 be to be married to-morrow. 
 
 Don. True, I think she may be married to-morrow ; 
 therefore, I would not have you lose any time, look you. 
 
 Ger. You need not caution me, I warrant you, sir. — 
 Sweet scholar, your humble servant : I will not fail you 
 immediately after dinner. 
 
 Don. No, no, pray do not; and I will not fail to 
 satisfy you very well, look you. 
 
 Hip. He does not doubt his reward, father, for his 
 pains. If you should not, I would make that good to him.^ 
 
 Such conscious or unconscious reproduction 
 of the devices of staccato effect, repetition, 
 and dramatic irony was sporadic. The only 
 dramatist whose dialogue was appreciably 
 colored by imitation of Moliere was Crowne, 
 and even in his case the coloring was faint. 
 The explanation is that the dramatists who 
 
 1 The Gentleman Dancing Master, ii. 2 (p. 170 f.). 
 
170 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 had any decided notions about dialogue held 
 to an ideal directly opposed to Mohere's 
 practice, and accordingly no more attempted 
 to reproduce his style than they did his plot- 
 structure. It should not be inferred, how- 
 ever, that the brilliant wit of Restoration 
 comedy was the result of English literary tra- 
 dition. In fact, the influence of models 
 was notable only in the case of John Dryden, 
 and his models were not the pre-Restoration 
 dramatists, but the metaphysical poets. He 
 was in particular influenced by two of the 
 leaders, — by Donne, who applied all the 
 subtlety developed by an early scholastic 
 education to the refinement of far-fetched 
 metaphors and impossible hyperboles and 
 labyrinths of paradoxical logic, and by Cowley, 
 who escaped from the turmoil of rehgious wars 
 and the more distracting confusions of chang- 
 ing beliefs and wavering systems of thought 
 into a world where he devoted himself to 
 expressing metaphysical abstractions in all 
 the novel, ingenious, and subtle images which 
 his quick fancy and a talent for facile imita- 
 tion provided. Dryden' s Astrea Redux con- 
 tains metaphors as far-fetched as any in 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 171 
 
 Donne, and his Annus Mirahilis vies with 
 Cowley in the abundance of witty conceits. 
 When Dryden forsook panegyrical verse for 
 the more lucrative form of drama, he naturally 
 retained some of this conception of style. 
 This fact explains his definition of wit in 
 comedy as sharpness of conceit ^ and his belief 
 that the chief ornament of dialogue was 
 repartee,^ a constant fusillade of similitudes, 
 paradoxes, antitheses, phrased with the ut- 
 most point to produce a brilliant impression. 
 Examples of the device occur in his first play,^ 
 but the liveliest dialogue in his comic writing 
 is to be found in the tilts between Wildblood 
 and Jacintha in An Evening^ s Love. A short 
 passage will show how the conceit of the 
 metaphysical poets has been transformed 
 into dartling wit. 
 
 Jac. I see there's no hope of reconcilement with you ; 
 and therefore I give it over as desperate. 
 
 Wild. You have gained your point, you have my 
 money ; and I was only angry, because I did not know 
 'twas you who had it. 
 
 Jac. This will not serve your turn, sir : what I have 
 got, I have conquered from you. 
 
 1 Dryden, Works, iii. 244. 2 Ibid., p. 245. 
 
 3 E.g., The Wild Gallant, ii. 1; iii. 2. 
 
172 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Wild. Indeed you use me like one that's conquered ; 
 for you have plundered me of all I had. 
 
 Jac. I only disarmed you, for fear you should rebel 
 again ; for if you had the sinews of war, I am sure you 
 would be flying out.^ 
 
 It is indeed true that these tilts were in 
 conception slightly influenced by the love 
 quarrels in Le Depit Amour eux and Le Tartuffe. 
 It is also true that Dryden borrowed a sur- 
 prisingly large number of phrases and passages 
 from Moliere. Some of these he utilized 
 merely as characterizing speeches, but gen- 
 erally there was some comparison involved 
 which supplied him with one more simihtude to 
 be displayed at the first opportunity. In Sga- 
 narelle, for instance, he ran across this couplet : 
 
 Ah ! que j'ai de depit que la loi n'autorise 
 
 A changer de mari comme on fait de chemise ! ^ 
 
 In The Maiden Queen he accordingly had 
 Celadon say: — 
 
 Yet, for my part, I can live with as few mistresses 
 as any man. I desire no superfluities : only for neces- 
 sary change or so, as I shift my hnen.^ 
 
 1 An Evening's Love, iii. 1 (p. 315). 
 
 2 Sganarelle, so. 5. 
 
 3 The Maiden Queen, i. 2 (p. 428). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 173 
 
 The dilution of thought in this case was, I 
 think, intended to make the paradox more 
 readily apprehensible by an English audience. 
 But all this borrowing of suggestions and 
 expansion of simihtudes does not indicate 
 an influence from Moliere in Dryden's dia- 
 logue. In Amphitryon his handling of the 
 French betrays the metaphysical striving not 
 only for novel comparisons, but for paradox 
 and antithesis. No one would expect Dryden 
 with his sense of style to change the admirable 
 neatness and finish of the following passage: — 
 
 Cle[anthis]. Merites-tu, pendard, cet insigne bonheur 
 De te voir pour epouse une femme 
 d'honneur ? 
 
 Mer[cure]. Mon Dieu ! tu n'es que trop honnete : 
 Ce grand honneur ne me vaut rien. 
 Ne sois point si femme de bien, 
 Et me romps un peu moins la tete.^ 
 
 Yet what he actually did was to introduce 
 more balance and antithesis in an effort to 
 render the paradox more striking : — 
 
 ^rom[ia]. Thou deservest not to be yoked with a 
 woman of honour, as I am, thou perjured villain. 
 Merc[ury]. Ay, you are too much a woman of honour, 
 
 1 Moliere's Amphitryon, i. 4. 
 
174 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 to my sorrow; many a poor husband would be glad 
 to compound for less honour in his wife, and more quiet. 
 Pr'ythee, be but honest and continent in thy tongue, 
 and do thy worst with everything else about thee.^ 
 
 It is clear enough that he had independent 
 notions of dialogue which agreed ill with the 
 style of Moliere. 
 
 The forms of wit in Dryden's dialogue were 
 therefore a modified continuation of the search 
 for new and striking simihtudes and for antith- 
 esis and paradox to be observed in Cowley 
 and Donne, but the prominence he gave to 
 wit must be ascribed to an entirely different 
 cause, to the ideals of the coterie which con- 
 trolled the society of the day, — that is, as 
 I said in the beginning of the chapter, to the 
 taste of the audience before whom he was to 
 appear. Dryden himself leaves us in no 
 doubt on this point. He tells us in An Essay 
 on the Dramatic Poetry of the Last Age that 
 the conversation of his time was much im- 
 proved over the conversation of Ehzabethan 
 times, that in his time 
 
 the fire of the English wit, which was before stifled 
 
 under a constrained, melancholy way of breeding, began 
 
 ^ Dryden's Amphitryon, ii. 2 (p. 50 f.). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 175 
 
 first to display its force, by mixing the solidity of our 
 nation with the air and gaiety of our neighbours. This 
 being granted to be true, it would be a wonder if the 
 poets, whose work is imitation, should be the only 
 persons in three kingdoms who should not receive ad- 
 vantage by it; or, if they should not more easily imi- 
 tate the wit and conversation of the present age than 
 of the past/ 
 
 What Dryden did not see was that the pe- 
 culiar quality in the ^'air and gayety of our 
 neighbors" was intimately related to the 
 European movement of which Cowley and 
 Donne and the whole metaphysical school 
 were merely one manifestation. This is not 
 the place to discuss the complex causes of the 
 movement, which scholars have traced to 
 literary forces and to political, social, and 
 religious conditions.^ It is sufficient to note 
 that it was dominant in Italy in the first half 
 of the seventeenth century under the name of 
 secentismo, reaching its best-known expres- 
 sion in Marino, and that in France of the same 
 period it assumed the form of preciosity. In 
 both countries, as in England, the movement 
 was characterized by a search for unexpected 
 
 * Dryden, Works, iv. 241 f. 
 
 2Cf. BeUoni, p. 456 ff.; Corradino. 
 
176 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 antitheses, striking paradoxes, and subtle 
 or surprising comparisons. This search did 
 not prevail only in literature. The man who 
 possessed ''wit" was the social idol of the time. 
 Marino was on his return from Paris escorted 
 into his native city of Naples through an arch 
 of triumph, accompanied by the shouting 
 throngs of his fellow-citizens, who at once 
 made him president of their academy. The 
 worship of hel esprit among the fashionable 
 circles of Paris is incomparably satirized 
 in Les Precieuses Ridicules. One whole scene 
 is taken up with the infatuation for beaux 
 esprits and their enigmas, epigrams, and im- 
 promptus. 
 
 Now it is interesting to observe that the 
 men who were to become the leaders in Res- 
 toration social circles traveled extensively 
 in those countries. Buckingham, before he 
 was seventeen, had hved in Florence and 
 Rome in as great state as the native princes,^ 
 and subsequently passed several years at 
 Paris in the vicinity of the Palais Royals.^ 
 Rochester spent part of his youth in Italy,^ 
 
 1 Cf. Burghelere, p. 21. 2 ji)id., pp. 68 f., 71. 
 
 3 Cf . Burnet, p. 5. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 177 
 
 and he told Burnet that his studies had been 
 chiefly in 'Hhe Comical and witty Writings 
 of the Ancients and Moderns/' 'Hhe Modern 
 French and Italian as well as the EngUsh." ^ 
 Dorset also traveled in Italy. I have already 
 shown how familiar with French society 
 Etheredge and Wycherley had become before 
 beginning their dramatic career in London. 
 It was this group of men, acquainted with 
 the polished society of Italy and France and 
 the prevalent worship of wit, that is, with 
 the foreign ^^air and gaj^ety," to use Dry- 
 den's phrase, who became the idols of the 
 English courtly society and thus modified 
 ^Hhe solidity of our nation." Rochester 
 was admired because ^^he had a strange Vi- 
 vacity of thought, and vigour of expression : 
 his Wit had a subtihty and subhmity both, 
 that were scarce imitable. When he used 
 Figures they were very lively, and yet far 
 enough out of the Common Road." ^ He was 
 so extravagantly pleasant when inflamed 
 with wine that many, to be the more diverted 
 by his humor, engaged him deeper in intem- 
 
 1 Burnet, pp. 28, 27, 7. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 7. 
 
178 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 perance.^ Buckingham, it is said, was 
 mightily praised for the wit he displayed one 
 afternoon in a theater. An actress in one of 
 Dryden's plays spoke the Une, 
 
 My wound is great, because it is so small, 
 
 and then paused as if in distress. The Duke 
 rose at once from his seat in a box and '^ added, 
 in a loud ridiculing voice : 
 
 Then 'twould be greater were it none at all !" ^ 
 
 The audience was not shocked by this insolent 
 behavior. On the contrary, its delight in wit 
 was so great that it '^ hissed the poor woman 
 off the stage ; and would never bear her ap- 
 pearance in the rest of her part." ^ 
 
 It is the worship of wit, demonstrated in 
 this and other ways, that explains the dialogue 
 of Restoration comedy. Etheredge, endowed 
 with a very considerable Hterary talent, 
 produced in his comedies merely a polished 
 imitation of the most sparkling dialogue in 
 the circle of courtly wits with whom he 
 mingled intimately after his first play. Yet 
 this transcript from life simply reveals se- 
 centismo and preciosity modified and clarified 
 
 1 Cf. Burnet, p. 12. 2 Spence, p. 47. ^ Loc. cit. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 179 
 
 by the ''solidity/' that is, the native common 
 sense, of the Enghsh. How far this simpH- 
 fication had gone under the chastening in- 
 fluence of EngUsh conditions may be seen in 
 the handhng of simihtudes : — 
 
 Court[al]. That which troubles me most is, we lost 
 the hopes of variety, and a single intrigue in love is as 
 duU as a single plot in a play, and will tire a lover worse 
 than t'other does an audience. 
 
 Free[man]. We cannot be long without some under- 
 plots in this town ; let this be our main design, and if 
 we are anything fortunate in our contrivance, we shall 
 make it a pleasant comedy.^ 
 
 The handhng of paradox is equally effective: 
 
 Gat[ty]. Truly you seem to be men of great em- 
 plojnnent, that are every moment rattling from the 
 eating-houses to the playhouses, from the playhouses 
 to Mulberry Garden ; that live in a perpetual hurry 
 and have httle leisure for such an idle entertainment [as 
 making love]. 
 
 Court[al]. Now would not I see thy face for the 
 world ; if it should be but half so good as thy humour 
 thou wouldst dangerously tempt me to dote upon thee, 
 and, forgetting all shame, become constant.^ 
 
 A single reading of another passage will show 
 how much more gaiety Etheredge put into 
 
 1 She Would if She Could, iii. 1 (p. 161). 
 
 2 Ibid., ii. 1 (p. 143). 
 
180 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 repartee than Dryden with his Uterary models 
 was able to impart. 
 
 Enter the Women [Ariana and Gatty], and after 
 them CouRTAL at the lower door, and Freeman at the 
 upper on the contrary side. 
 
 Court. By your leave, ladies. 
 
 Gat. I perceive you can make bold enough without 
 it. 
 
 Free. Your servant, ladies. 
 
 Aria. Or any other ladies that will give themselves 
 the trouble to entertain you. 
 
 Free. 'Slife, their tongues are as nimble as their heels. 
 
 Court. Can you have so httle good-nature to dash 
 a couple of bashful young men out of countenance, who 
 came out of pure love to tender you their service? 
 
 Gat. 'Twere pity to baulk 'em, sister. 
 
 Aria. Indeed, methinks they look as if they never 
 had been slipped before. 
 
 Free. Yes, faith, we have had many a fair course in 
 this paddock, have been very well fleshed, and dare 
 boldly fasten. [They kiss their hands with a little force. 
 
 Aria. Well, I am not the first unfortunate woman 
 that has been forced to give her hand where she never 
 intends to bestow her heart, ^ 
 
 In view of the profound influence of Moliere 
 on Etheredge, it may be well to remember 
 that in this feature of his dialogue the English 
 
 1 She Would if She Could, ii. 1 (p. 141 f.). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 181 
 
 pla3nvright was in complete opposition to his 
 French master. There was nothing MoHere 
 found more ridiculous than the striving for 
 wit among the precieux. Every one recalls 
 the ninth scene of Les Precieuses Ridicules as 
 evidence on this point, but a more sarcastic 
 attack is the untranslatable speech of EHse 
 in La Critique de VEcole des Femmes. 
 
 La jolie de fagon de plaisanter pour des courtisans ! et 
 qu'un homme montre d'esprit lorsqu'il vient vous dire : 
 'Madame, vous etes dans la place Royale, et tout le 
 monde vous voit de trois lieues de Paris, car chacun 
 vous voit de bon oeil,' a cause que Boneuil est un village 
 ^ trois lieues d'ici ! Cela n'est-il pas bien galant et 
 bien spirituel? Et ceux qui trouvent ces belles ren- 
 contres, n'ont-ils pas lieu de s'en glorifier ? ^ 
 
 This passage illustrates the spirit of Moliere's 
 style. The effectiveness of his dialogue, with 
 all its incomparable gaiety and unflagging 
 verve, is dependent on character and not on 
 sharpness of conceit. Dorine in Le Tartuffe 
 is witty enough, but she is so, not from the 
 use of any figures of speech, but from the 
 characteristic impertinence and common sense 
 she everyT\^here displays. It was this quality 
 
 1 La Critique de VEcole des Femmes^ sc. 1. 
 
182 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 in Moliere's style that was influential in call- 
 ing forth the grace and ease and liveliness of 
 Etheredge's literary gift. Nevertheless, de- 
 spite its vivacity, his dialogue is not that of 
 Moliere, which with all its gaiety and high 
 spirits yet contrives to make us feel the ri- 
 diculous side of our follies and foibles. Ether- 
 edge, on the contrary, reproduces the life 
 and talk of the idle, intriguing, heartless young 
 men of his day, not for the purpose of satire, 
 but with an air of careless indifference, with 
 never a glance at serious matters, with entire 
 absorption in the panorama before him. Yet 
 it was this very faithfulness that made his 
 dialogue more influential than Dryden's, for, 
 in Restoration comedy, he was the first 
 writer with brilliance enough to succeed con- 
 spicuously in transferring to the stage that 
 striving after wit which was developing in 
 the high society of the realm. 
 
 In the matter of dialogue Wycherley's 
 comedies were also more influential than 
 Dryden's. Coming out in quick succession, 
 they drew all eyes to the yet novel style of 
 writing and made famiUar to every playgoer 
 the vivid, witty, satirical transcripts from 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 183 
 
 contemporary life. His dialogue of course 
 furnishes abundant proof of his study of 
 Moliere. Besides the employment of devices 
 mentioned earlier in the chapter, there are 
 many adapted passages in which he retained 
 much of the Frenchman's manner, even where 
 the variations from the original were most 
 considerable. How true this is may be seen 
 by comparing the first half of the second act 
 of The Plain Dealer, which is as good dialogue 
 as he ever wrote, with the corresponding scene 
 in Le Misanthrope} It is nevertheless true 
 that he reproduced in his dialogue even less 
 of the spirit of Mohere's than Etheredge had, 
 for he displayed in even greater profusion 
 various forms of metaphysical wit chastened 
 by the influence of daily conversation. His 
 pages sparkle with the kind of brilliancy most 
 admired in the gay society of the time. His 
 first play flashes with similitudes like this : — 
 
 Val[entine]. You are as unmerciful as the physician 
 who with new arts keeps his miserable patient aUve 
 and in hopes, when he knows the disease is incurable. 
 
 Vinlcent]. And you, like the melancholy patient, 
 
 * Op. cit., ill. 4. 
 
184 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 mistrust and hate your physician, because he will not 
 comply with your despair.* 
 
 His paradoxes are more numerous than Eth- 
 eredge's. The close of Love in a Wood re- 
 veals his fondness for this kind of cynicism : — 
 
 Lyd[ia]. But if I could be desperate now and give 
 you up my liberty, could you find in your heart to quit 
 all other engagements, and voluntarily turn yourself 
 over to one woman, and she a wife too ? could you away 
 with the insupportable bondage of matrimony? 
 
 Ran[ger]. You talk of matrimony as irreverently 
 as my Lady Flippant : the bondage of matrimony ! 
 no — 
 
 The end of marriage now is liberty. 
 
 And two are bound — to set each other free.^ 
 
 These devices are used in profusion in passages 
 of repartee. He began early : — 
 
 Gripe. Where is your parson ? 
 
 Dap[perwit]. What ! you would not revenge yourself 
 upon the parson ? 
 
 Gripe. No, I would have the parson revenge me upon 
 you ; he should marry me.^ 
 
 It is very easy to understand why the circle 
 that kept Rochester drunk and applauded 
 
 1 Love in a Wood, v. 5 (p. 111). 
 
 2 Ibid., V. 6 (p. 123). 
 
 3 Ibid. (p. 122). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 185 
 
 the insolence of Buckingham should be 
 dazzled by such scintillation and should with 
 open arms receive the young author into its 
 most exclusive revels and merrymakings. It 
 is this association with utterly heartless and 
 profligate courtiers that helps to explain his 
 even greater departure from Moliere in his 
 last two plays, with their uncompromising 
 realism and their unrelenting, coarse, violent, 
 at times even fierce, satire. No one hears 
 even after the most brilliant coruscation the 
 peals of laughter that ring in many a scene 
 of Moliere. 
 
 The climax and perfection of Restoration 
 dialogue is to be found in the comedy of 
 William Congreve. . I can think of nothing 
 more adequate than the praise of Hazlitt. 
 ^^It is the highest model of comic dialogue. 
 Every sentence is replete with sense and 
 satire, conveyed in the most polished and 
 pointed terms. Every page presents a shower 
 of brilliant conceits, is a tissue of epigrams 
 in prose, is a new triumph of wit, a new con- 
 quest over dullness. The fire of artful raillery 
 is nowhere else so well kept up.'^ ^ Yet this 
 
 1 Hazlitt, Works, viii. 71. 
 
186 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 is not the result merely of a supreme literary- 
 gift. It is simply further evidence of the 
 chastened forms of secentismo and preciosity 
 lingering in English high society at the end 
 of the century. Indeed, Congreve declared 
 the banquet-hall of Ralph, Earl of Montague, 
 still echoed with the similitudes and para- 
 doxes abounding in his comedy,^ and his dec- 
 laration is corroborated by the plays them- 
 selves. For, to quote Hazlitt again, his 
 dialogue "bears every mark of being what 
 he himself in the dedication of one of his 
 plays tells us that it was, a spirited copy taken 
 off and carefully revised from the most select 
 society of his time, exhibiting all the spright- 
 liness, ease, and animation of familiar con- 
 versation, with the correctness and delicacy 
 of the most finished composition." ^ 
 
 The result is not an individual creation, 
 — it is merely a culmination. The devices 
 which Etheredge began to copy from the con- 
 versation of the coffee-house and the salon, 
 and which Wycherley established behind the 
 footUghts, Congreve employed in his bright 
 
 1 Cf . dedication to The Way of the World, 
 
 2 Hazlitt, Works, viii. 71. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 187 
 
 and sparkling dialogue. Naturally, with his 
 fine taste, he made less use of similitudes and 
 handled them with greater skill. The follow- 
 ing piece of repartee is realistic enough to be 
 put into any sailor's mouth: — 
 
 Ben. . . . What d'ye mean, after all your fair 
 speeches and stroking my cheeks, and kissing, and 
 hugging, what, would you sheer off so ? would you, and 
 leave me aground? 
 
 Mrs. Frail. No, I'll leave you adrift, and go which 
 way you will. 
 
 Ben. What, are you false-hearted, then ? 
 
 Mrs. Frail. Only the wind's changed.^ 
 
 Equally appropriate is this comparison on 
 the lips of Valentine feigning madness : — 
 
 You're a woman, — one to whom Heaven gave 
 beauty, when it grafted roses on a briar. You are the 
 reflection of Heaven in a pond, and he that leaps at 
 you is sunk. You are all white, a sheet of lovely, spot- 
 less paper, when you first are born ; but you are to be 
 scrawled and blotted by every goose's quill.^ 
 
 The remainder of the passage illustrates Con- 
 greve's favorite form of wit, paradox : — 
 
 Val[entine]. ... I know you ; for I loved a woman, 
 and loved her so long, that I found out a strange thing ; 
 I found out what a woman was good for. 
 
 1 Love for Love, iv. 3 (p. 276). 
 
 2 Ibid. (p. 282). 
 
188 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 Tat[tle]. Ay, prithee, what's that? 
 Val. Why, to keep a secret. 
 Tat. Lord ! 
 
 VaL 0, exceeding good to keep a secret : for though 
 she should tell, yet she is not to be believed/ 
 
 He combines it frequently with repartee : — 
 
 Tattle, Valentine, Scandal, and Angelica. 
 
 Ang. You can't accuse me of inconstancy ; I never 
 told you that I loved you. 
 
 Val. But I can accuse you of uncertainty, for not 
 telling me whether you did or not. 
 
 Ang. You mistake indifference for uncertainty ; I 
 never had concern enough to ask myseK the question. 
 
 Scan. Nor good-nature enough to answer him that 
 did ask you ; I'll say that for you, madam. 
 
 Ang. What, are you setting up for good-nature? 
 
 Scan. Only for the affectation of it, as the women 
 do for ill-nature. 
 
 Ang. Persuade your friend that it is all affectation. 
 
 Scan. I shall receive no benefit from the opinion ; 
 for I know no effectual difference between continued 
 affectation and reality. 
 
 Tat. [Coming up]. Scandal, are you in private dis- 
 course? anything of secrecy? [Aside to Scandal. 
 
 Scan. Yes, I dare trust you ! we were talking of 
 Angelica's love for Valentine ; you won't speak of it ? 
 
 Tat. No, no, not a syllable ; — I know that's a secret, 
 for it's whispered everjrwhere.^ 
 1 Love for Love, iv. 3 (p. 282). 2 jjjid., iii. 3 (p. 240 f.). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 189 
 
 Of course all Congreve's dialogue was height- 
 ened and polished by a rare genius for expres- 
 sion. No actual conversation ever gUstened 
 and glittered with the scintillation that appears, 
 for example, in the second act of The Way of 
 the World after Millamant enters. Yet even 
 in such scenes one must admit that no one 
 else has ever combined so much naturalness 
 with so much briUiancy. 
 
 After what has been said I hardly need re- 
 peat that, neither in Congreve's case nor in 
 Restoration comedy as a whole, was the tone 
 and spirit of the dialogue due to the influence 
 of Moliere. On the contrary, despite numer- 
 ous imitated passages and several borrowed 
 devices, its tone and spirit were really a con- 
 tinuation of the preciosity against which the 
 author of Les Femrnes Savantes launched 
 some of his most deUghtful satire. The con- 
 tinuation was not through literary channels, 
 except to a slight degree in the case of John 
 Dryden. The other leading dramatists were 
 merely dipping from the clarified English 
 rivulet of that broad and turbulent current 
 of secentismo that flowed through the west- 
 ern countries of seventeenth-century Europe. 
 
190 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 This is evident not only from the statements 
 of Dryden and Congreve, but from the oc- 
 casional complaint of a minor dramatist that 
 
 in this Age Design no Praise can get : 
 You cry it Conversation wants and Wit.^ 
 
 It is evident also from the comic types that 
 appear and reappear in successive plays. 
 The universally ridiculous figure is the man 
 who tries to be a wit and can't. He appears 
 variously as the Sparkish or Monsieur Paris 
 of Wycherley, as the country wit of Crowne, 
 as the Petulant, or Witwoud, or Tattle of 
 Congreve. The artificial air of Restoration 
 comedy is therefore due to the artificial stand- 
 ards of the age. Just as the quick but coarse 
 Roman Hstened with delight to the constant 
 punning of Plautus, or the volatile and un- 
 reflecting Itahan clapped his hands at the 
 lazzi, the gymnastic feats and improvised 
 wit, of his favorite actors, or the romantic 
 but subtle Spaniard found unalloyed pleasure 
 in passion that expressed itself in acrostics, 
 in pathos that poured forth a flood of conceits, 
 in sorrow that had leisure to marshal a whole 
 
 1 Cf . prologue to Durfey's Fond Husband. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 191 
 
 battery of agudezas, so the courtly rakes of 
 the Restoration found in the dialogue of the 
 leading dramatists the most brilliant employ- 
 ment of the wit which it was their chief am- 
 bition to display in conversation. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE CLOSE OF THE PERIOD 
 
 The comedy of manners developed by 
 Moliere was, as we have seen, established in 
 England in the decade between 1664 and 
 1674, but the previous chapters have made 
 it clear that the type was wondrously trans- 
 formed by the very men who did most to 
 create its vogue in London. Coincident with 
 this development of a new variety, the minor 
 dramatists in the decade of the seventies bor- 
 rowed from Moliere right and left in the con- 
 coction of their jumbled intrigues. The influ- 
 ence of the reigning style appeared, however, 
 in the dim reflection of manners in all these 
 busy plots. The scene was frequently Mul- 
 berry Garden or the coffee-house or the tavern 
 or a boudoir or a drawing-room, and the 
 amorous intrigue was supposed to correspond 
 more or less closely with the diversions of the 
 killing sparks of the day. Such writers as 
 Mrs. Behn and Thomas Durfey carried this 
 192 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 193 
 
 contaminated intrigue comedy through the 
 eighties, and indeed it was the common form 
 to the close of the period. The purer variety 
 of comedy of manners was perpetuated by 
 John Crowne. This diffident writer supple- 
 mented his lack of originality by adapting 
 plots and characters from Moliere and by 
 frequent imitation of his manner of conduct- 
 ing dialogue. But Crowne was too conscien- 
 tious a workman not to adjust all his borrow- 
 ings to his independent purposes. He was too 
 conscientious, also, to pander to the tastes of 
 his audience by impudent intrigue or indecent 
 wit. He could not escape the overwhelming 
 influence of Restoration social life and ideals, 
 as one sees all too clearly in the plot of The 
 Country Wit or the character of Camilla in 
 The Married Beau, but the moral tone of his 
 comedies is not so perverted as the spirit of 
 the age would lead one to expect. From the 
 fact that he gave to his style a literary finish 
 that reminds one at times of Congreve yet 
 did not care much to spin bright webs of rep- 
 artee, we may also infer that he did not share 
 the prevalent admiration for the incessant 
 crackhng of similitude and paradox. 
 
194 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 As successful as Crowne, but less con- 
 sonant with the standard set by Etheredge and 
 Wycherley, was Thomas Shad well. He pro- 
 fessed himself a follower of Ben Jonson, and 
 he did catch exactly the point of view of the 
 Jacobean master. Even after the amorous 
 intrigues of Epsom Wells he declared 
 
 he'd have it understood, 
 By representing few ill Wives, he wou'd 
 Advance the Value of the many Good.^ 
 
 The animus of his whole work shows that this 
 defense was not so entirely casuistical as would 
 appear on the surface. Thefunescapable in- 
 fluence of contemporary comedy of manners 
 made itself felt also in the faithfulness with 
 which he reproduced the slang and cant and 
 passing antipathies of London life. For the 
 study of that period his Squire of Alsatia is 
 an invaluable document. As a piece of Htera- 
 ture it is well-nigh worthless, for it not only 
 possesses none of the wit of Etheredge or 
 Congreve, but it has none of the finish of 
 Dryden or Crowne. 
 
 In a theater peopled by such mediocrities 
 appeared, at the beginning of the nineties, 
 
 1 Shadwell, Works, ii. 288. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 195 
 
 that astonishing youth, WilHam Congreve, 
 destined to carry the Enghsh imitation of 
 MoHere's comedy of manners to its highest 
 point. On his arrival from the country he 
 had with him a play, The Old Bachelor, which 
 revealed his acquaintance with Moliere but 
 which was constructed as a comedy of intrigue 
 with five threads of action. Inspired by 
 the success of this first play and by the desire 
 to excel in the art which had brought him the 
 warm friendship of the literary dictator of the 
 age, the young author devoted himself to 
 a more serious study of the great Frenchman 
 who had started Wycherley and Etheredge 
 on their successful careers. 
 
 The effect was obvious at once, as a brief 
 review of his plays will show. In The Double 
 Dealer J as he avowed in the epistle dedicatory, 
 his effort was to imitate the French. A con- 
 sideration of the similarities between it and 
 Le Tartuffe will reveal how well he had learned 
 Moliere's method. Each play is taken up 
 with presenting a hypocrite and the evil 
 effects of his hypocrisy on the life of the family 
 that has befriended him ; in Moliere the chief 
 interest is in the characters; in Congreve this 
 
196 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 interest is not very successfully satisfied, for 
 the best work in the play is satire on society. 
 Each playwright endeavors to hold the at- 
 tention until the very end by allowing the 
 hypocrite to succeed in every scheme until 
 he brings ruin on himself by excess of con- 
 fidence. Each devotes nearly all of the 
 first two acts to exposition, and consequently 
 fails to secure liveliness of movement. In 
 the rest of the play Moliere brings in more 
 incident than Congreve, although the latter 
 has more intrigue in the last act than in all 
 the preceding put together. Each alternates 
 serious scenes with genuine comedy. In the 
 third act of The Double Dealer, after Lady 
 Touchwood's arousing her husband's suspi- 
 cion of Mellefont and her conferring with 
 Maskwell, Congreve brings in some comic 
 scenes ending with the matchless Froth-Brisk 
 dialogue. So in the fifth act of Le Tartuffe 
 Madame Pernelle is brought in to reheve the 
 somber tone with the richest comic effects. 
 There is, too, throughout The Double Dealer 
 a very good motivation, in which, however, 
 Congreve falls below Moliere. These simi- 
 larities of method are the more striking be- 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 197 
 
 cause the incidents in the two plays are almost 
 entirely different. Congreve was an inde- 
 pendent artist, but he profited by a study of 
 Moliere's practice. 
 
 Look now at Love for Love, which owes even 
 less to Moliere. Sir Sampson Legend is the 
 heartless father who drives his son into a re- 
 bellious attitude and who becomes the rival 
 of his son only to lose in the end, just as Har- 
 pagon does in UAvare. The movement in 
 the first two acts, which, as in UAvare, are 
 largely taken up with exposition, is slower 
 than in the French masterpiece. Though Con- 
 greve made no exceptional effort to observe 
 the unities, the effect of contemporary ex- 
 ample and of Moliere's practice is apparent. 
 The scene alternates between Valentine's 
 lodgings and a room in Foresight's house, 
 and the time is part of two days. Unity of 
 action is not preserved perfectly, since the 
 Foresight-Scandal episode has almost no 
 connection with the main plot. But this 
 underplot serves the purpose of the whole 
 play — which is to satirize the society of the 
 day, just as the aim of UAvare is to turn a 
 single vice into ridicule. The motivation is 
 
198 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 not perfect ; it is not clear what Valentine 
 hopes to accomplish by his simulation of 
 madness, nor is the Frail-Tattle affair suffi- 
 ciently prepared for ; but in the motivation 
 as a whole the play is not far behind UAvare. 
 It is equal to that piece in sustaining the in- 
 terest to the very end, and it is even more 
 successful in the way that end is brought 
 about, — not by a deus ex machina, but from 
 within the play itself. In this production 
 Congreve accordingly displays again distinc- 
 tive features of the French master's craft. 
 In The Way of the World, in which there is 
 very little borrowing from Moliere, the effect 
 of the French technique is equally apparent. 
 Observe that this comedy has the same 
 purpose as Le Misanthrope: Moliere wishes 
 to depict the heau monde of Paris ; Congreve 
 wishes to present the high life of London. 
 The Frenchman is, as usual, more interested 
 in the portrayal of character, the Englishman 
 in the satire on society. Observe, too, that 
 there is the same want of incident. The first 
 two acts in both plays are again largely 
 devoted to exposition. The fourth act of 
 Congreve 's is slow, but the third and fifth 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 199 
 
 have more movement than the last three of 
 Le Misanthrope. Most of the action, too, 
 passes in Lady Wishfort's house. Observe, 
 lastly, the same device for sustaining the 
 suspense. In the first act of each play no 
 woman appears. The hstener is kept in 
 uncertainty about the denouement until the 
 very close of each play. Here Congreve falls 
 behind Moliere. Mirabell's plot against Lady 
 Wishfort to secure her niece Millamant is 
 not perfectly plausible, and Fainall's counter- 
 plot to secure a fortune from Lady Wishfort 
 is not perfectly clear. Here we miss the 
 lucid and convincing motivation of Le Misan- 
 thrope. The last act, too, is not the inevitable 
 consequence of the preceding action, as it is 
 in the French masterpiece. It is so com- 
 plicated that it is confusing, and the de- 
 nouement is brought about by the deus ex 
 machina of the suddenly discovered deed of 
 conveyance of Mrs. Fainall's property to 
 Mirabell. In spite of these shortcomings 
 the general features of the plot-management 
 are here, as in the two preceding comedies, 
 the same as in Moliere. 
 
 This survey reveals, then, a considerable 
 
200 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 influence from the great French genius upon 
 the general dramatic method of Congreve. 
 In all his comedies but the first he manages 
 the course of the action in the same way as 
 Moliere — he employs a long exposition taking 
 up most of two acts, he seldom changes the 
 scene, and he holds the interest till the close 
 by deferring much of the incident till the final 
 act. He shows a care in motivation which, 
 though faulty in places, approaches the care 
 of the Frenchman in his best pieces, a care 
 which was unknown in the comedies of the 
 Elizabethan and Jacobean periods of the elder 
 drama and which was extremely rare in Res- 
 toration comedy. What is equally signifi- 
 cant, he gave an earnestness to the main 
 thread in each plot that inevitably reminds 
 one of the serious element in the French 
 masterpieces. Indeed, the action of The 
 Double Dealer is essentially tragic, and an 
 atmosphere of gravity hangs about the 
 central intrigues of The Way of the World 
 also. Even Love for Love receives a serious- 
 ness of treatment, contains a recognition of 
 the fact that life may have some meaning, 
 very rare in previous comedy of the period. 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 201 
 
 What is more significant, after his first effort 
 he constructed plots of the same kind as those 
 in Moliere's masterpieces — plots in which 
 the action is invented to serve the purpose 
 of the play, — that is, to satirize the foibles 
 and vices of society. He did not adopt 
 Moliere's practice completely, for he in no 
 case made all parts of the intrigue illustrate 
 a controlling thesis ; he felt it necessary to 
 introduce underplots, which frequently sat- 
 irize a different foible, apparently on the 
 model of the Fidget episode in The Country 
 Wife. But in the conduct of retributive 
 justice in his main plot the Frenchman was 
 the major influence. 
 
 If we look for special cases of imitation that 
 will fully establish our belief that Congreve 
 owes the above features of his method to 
 a study of Moliere, they are easily found. 
 Some devices of exposition have already been 
 mentioned : in The Double Dealer and The 
 Way of the World the hero and his confidant 
 open the action as they do in Le Misanthrope; 
 in Love for Love the hero and his servant, as 
 in Le Depit Amour eux and several of the 
 lighter pieces of Moliere ; in The Old Bachelor 
 
202 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 and The Way of the World the entrance of the 
 women is deferred till the second act on the 
 model of Le Misanthrope. Other featm-es 
 of Congreve's dramatic method strengthen 
 the conclusion. Examine the close of the 
 second act of The Old Bachelor or of the fom"th 
 of The Double Dealer or Love for Love, and 
 then think of the increased briskness of action 
 at the end of the third act of UAvare or Le 
 Tartuffe, and it becomes clear that Congreve 
 adopted Moliere's characteristic method of 
 closing an act. The soliloquies of his second 
 or of his last piece, when compared with those 
 of VEcole des Maris or UEcole des Femmes, 
 reveal another phase of the influence. His 
 familiarity with the great Frenchman af- 
 fected his technique in an even more intimate 
 manner, — it conditioned the working of his 
 imagination. The coffee-house that furnished 
 most of the background for the first act of 
 The Way of the World, the lodgings of a young* 
 gentleman in the first act of Love for Love, — 
 these realistic, commonplace interiors reveal 
 how constantly such places as the room in 
 Orgon's home or the salon in Celimene's 
 hovered before the mind of the young English- 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 203 
 
 man. Certain it is from the foregoing ex- 
 amination that, though Congreve could pro- 
 vide all the material for his plays by his own 
 keen observation of the life in which he moved, 
 he studied Moliere for suggestions, absorbed 
 the Frenchman's manner, and adopted his 
 dramatic method. 
 
 In the treatment of character his indebted- 
 ness is also evident. Nothing can be clearer 
 than the Mrs. Plyant scenes in The Double 
 Dealer} Even the original, Beline, is not 
 so effectively presented. There is nothing 
 sharper or more incisive in UAvare than the 
 scene between Valentine and his father in 
 Love for Love.^ Celimene herself is not so 
 gay and light as Millamant. Most of his 
 characters have so much of this definiteness 
 of presentation and of this dramatic heighten- 
 ing characteristic of Moliere's that Hazlitt 
 declared he would rather see them on the stage 
 than any other figures in English comedy.^ 
 His comic characters resemble Moliere's in 
 another feature. They are not drawn with 
 
 lOp. ciL, ii. 1 (p. 125 ff.); iv. 1 (p. 152 f.). Cf. 
 Les Femmes Savantes, i. 4. 
 
 2 Op. ciL, ii. 1 (p. 226 ff.). 
 
 3 Cf. Hazlitt, Works, viii. 74. 
 
204 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 the complexity of Shakspere's heroes and 
 heroines. Their comic effectiveness is based 
 on some extravagance which is thrown into 
 sharp opposition with the dictates of good 
 taste or good sense. No one can mistake 
 such basal incongruity in Lady Froth or 
 Lady Plyant or Tattle or Foresight. Even 
 Madame Pernelle does not offer a greater 
 contradiction. Of course Congreve was not 
 always at his best. He was never very 
 successful in good characters, and he was often 
 too profuse with his wit ; but his satiric con- 
 ceptions show very clearly that he had studied 
 with profit Moliere's method of character por- 
 trayal no less than he had the other features 
 of that genius's dramatic practice. 
 
 Naturally, this historical account has em- 
 phasized Congreve' s indebtedness to Moliere. 
 But what impresses one most on first reading 
 his comedies is his aptitude for this kind of 
 writing, his genius for the theater. Even 
 a genius, however, is never absolutely original, 
 is affected by his environment profoundly, 
 — indeed, must learn many lessons from his 
 predecessors. It was therefore inevitable 
 that Congreve should become acquainted 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 205 
 
 with previous Restoration comedy, which we 
 have seen was so largely affected by Moliere ; 
 it was certain he would read closely the com- 
 edies of William Wycherley, recognized as 
 the best playwright of the period, and it was 
 all but inevitable that he should turn to 
 Wycherley's well-known source. His native 
 genius for the theater and his innate fine 
 taste would at once detect the superiority of 
 the Frenchman's manner and methods, and 
 the admiration thus begotten in the youthful 
 aspirant for stage honors would necessarily 
 incite him to more enthusiastic study. For 
 it must be remembered that Congreve was 
 not much over twenty-one when he produced 
 his first play, and had hardly entered his 
 thirties when he retired from the stage for 
 good. The wonder is, then, not that he 
 adopted so much from Mohere, but that he 
 showed such striking originality in these 
 creations of his young manhood. For in 
 following a model he was but repeating the 
 practice of Moliere himself, who at the begin- 
 ning of his career imitated the Italians closely 
 and in all his work was influenced by them, 
 — he was but following the example set by the 
 
206 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 greatest genius of his own country, for every 
 student of Shakspere is familiar with the 
 powerful influence Marlowe exerted on the 
 youthful productions of his transcendent suc- 
 cessor. 
 
 It should therefore occasion no surprise to 
 discover that Congreve took very considerable 
 hints from Moliere. One should rather in- 
 quire whether the influence did not go deeper, 
 whether it did not affect Congreve's point of 
 view in dealing with comic material. It 
 may be answered at once that the points of 
 view of the two writers are much alike. Both 
 are largely impersonal in their treatment of 
 hfe. Moliere' s aloofness is tinged with sym- 
 pathy, which appears in so early a character 
 as Arnolphe of UEcole des Femmes and is 
 unmistakable in Alceste of Le Misanthrope. 
 Congreve is impersonal in a colder way. 
 His attitude toward his creations is one of un- 
 obtrusive superiority, a careless indifference 
 coming from a just sense of the perspective 
 of things. But above this cynical attitude 
 of the man of the v/orld with his fme intellect 
 and his fine taste, there appears no higher 
 viewpoint, no broader outlook. He ignores 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 207 
 
 all moral implications of his theme, and is 
 utterly oblivious to the social meaning of 
 his treatment. He knows the narrow field 
 of high society, but he lacks the broad com- 
 prehension of all life characteristic of Moliere, 
 that insight into the springs of action and the 
 deeps of character conspicuous in Le Tartuffe 
 and Le Misanthrope. Despite these differ- 
 ences Congreve is nearer Moliere in his atti- 
 tude toward his material than any other 
 Enghsh writer of comedy, and the student 
 cannot resist the conclusion that it was under 
 his influence that Congreve developed so 
 quickly what was of course an inherent sus- 
 ceptibility and tendency of his nature. 
 
 Congreve was the last man to embody fully 
 the ideals of the courtly circle. Even before 
 he entered the world of high society there 
 had begun in the theater a movement away 
 from the dominance of courtiers and wits. 
 The Revolution of 1688 did more than shatter 
 forever the absolutism of the king in political 
 affairs. The court of William and Mary was 
 an immensely different place from the court 
 of Charles II. The cold and taciturn William 
 with his Dutch favorites and his absorbing 
 
208 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 interest in questions of state had no time for 
 the theater, and his queen, Mary, was of a 
 purity so genuine that even pohtical lam- 
 pooners respected her. There was not only 
 no room for the gallantry that had distin- 
 guished Charles's circle, but scandal and 
 gossip were unfailingly discountenanced by 
 both King and Queen. Moreover, the trans- 
 ference of the royal residence to Hampton 
 Court and its later establishment at Ken- 
 sington removed the royal household entirely 
 from the center of that gay life which the 
 theater had been reflecting for a score of years. 
 Of course the old manner of living and the 
 usual kinds of diversion continued to flourish, 
 but pohtical questions at home and distant 
 campaigns soon began to absorb a good deal 
 of attention from the playhouse. After the 
 Revolution Shadwell complained that 
 
 Our unfrequented Theatre must mourn, 
 'Till the Brave Youths Triumphantly return,^ 
 
 and that the soft men of peace 
 
 eagerly elsewhere in Throngs resort, 
 Crowding for Places in the well-fiU'd Court.^ 
 
 Southerne in 1691 declared, 
 
 1 Shadwell, Works, iv. 214. 2 75^-^^ 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 209 
 
 heroes are the same, 
 A twelvemonth running in pursuit of fame/ 
 
 SO that the ladies, and the dramatists, too, 
 we infer, deeply regretted the ^'thin town.'^ 
 The theater had indeed ceased to be the diver- 
 sion of the leading men, few but fops attend- 
 ing, and they meeting with anything but 
 flattery from the dramatists.^ The women 
 accordingly made their taste more respected 
 than it had been, their complaints becoming 
 more numerous and much more influential 
 than ever before. Southerne omitted a scene 
 in Sir Anthony Love (1691) that Lee might 
 have acted to great advantage, because he 
 did not care to "run the venture of offending 
 the women." ^ Shad well assured the ladies 
 in the prologue to The Scowrers (1693) that 
 
 the Play's so clean, 
 The nicest shall not tax it for Obscene.^ 
 
 The defiant Vanbrugh felt it necessary to 
 reply to the attacks on The Relapse (1696) 
 by averring with brazen disregard for the 
 
 1 Southerne, Works, i. 158. 
 
 2 Cf . Shadwell, Works, iv. 397 f . 
 2 Southerne, Works, i. 156. 
 
 4 ShadweU, Works, iv. 307. 
 
210 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 truth that there was not one woman of real 
 reputation in town but would find it innocent.^ 
 Congreve also had to take account of the 
 ladies,^ and he even went so far as to declare 
 to the Princesse Anne 'Hhat a play may be 
 with industry so disposed (in spite of the 
 Ucentious practice of the modern theatre) 
 as to become sometimes an innocent, and not 
 unprofitable entertainment." ^ It was there- 
 fore perfectly natural that Jeremy Collier's 
 Short View should be acclaimed as a trium- 
 phant condemnation of the rule of gallants 
 and wits in the theater. The respectable 
 middle class, with its bourgeois virtues and 
 morals, which had lived its quiet life in re- 
 tirement all those years since the Restora- 
 tion of Charles II, now boldly invaded the 
 playhouse and demanded that its prejudices 
 be observed. 
 
 All such revolutions are slow. Sir John 
 Vanbrugh, with the instinctive dissent of 
 a realist, revolted from the approaching ref- 
 ormation, declaring that life was not chaste 
 
 1 Cf. Vanbrugh, i. 7. 
 
 2 Cf. epistle dedicatory to The Double Dealer (1694). 
 
 3 Dedication to The Mourning Bride (1697). 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 211 
 
 and manners were not pure, and that he was 
 going to picture conditions as they were. It 
 was thoroughly consistent with this attitude 
 that in all parts of his work he exhibited 
 curiously little study of models, but every- 
 where displayed a full reliance on his native 
 sense of the humorous and the dramatically 
 effective. He apparently made up his plot 
 as he went along, introducing characters as 
 needed. In The Relapse he had Young 
 Fashion personate his brother, Lord Fopping- 
 ton, in the country at the home of Sir Tunbelly 
 Clumsy in order to win the daughter and her 
 fortune, which had already been pledged 
 to Lord Foppington. When the true lord 
 unexpectedly arrived at the Clumsy home, 
 Young Fashion boldly declared his brother 
 an impostor, and Sir Tunbelly accordingly 
 drove the intruder's servants away and locked 
 the lord himself up in a dog-kennel. Of course 
 at this point Vanbrugh had to display some 
 ingenuity in extricating the mistreated fop 
 from so humiliating a situation. He accord- 
 ingly had Lord Foppington mention Sir 
 John Friendly, a neighboring squire, as a 
 friend of his, though the man had not been 
 
212 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 spoken of before in the play and was not to 
 appear after identifying the ill-used dandy. 
 This incident fairly illustrates Vanbrugh's 
 method — the developing of separate situa- 
 tions as the possibilities presented themselves, 
 but without reference to a central theme or 
 a general design. It is unnecessary to re- 
 mark that he did not study Mohere, for it is 
 clear that he paid little attention to the struc- 
 ture of anybody's plays. 
 
 His independence appears in other features 
 of his work. The method of character- 
 drawing that Wycherley employed in imita- 
 tion of MoHere, if he had noticed it at all, 
 would have seemed a waste of time. '^What 
 is the use," he might have exclaimed to a 
 praiser of The Plain Dealer, ^^when just as 
 many funny situations can be developed with- 
 out such study? Whenever I see anything 
 laughable in life I copy it and exaggerate 
 it until it is laughable on the stage. Little 
 inconsistencies or failures to follow probability 
 will be overlooked." His use of contrast, 
 however, such as the opposition between 
 Lord Foppington and Sir Tunbelly in The 
 Relapse, or that between Sir John Brute 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 213 
 
 and his wife in The Provoked Wife, was ob- 
 viously suggested by The Plain Dealer and 
 The Country Wife. His absorbing interest 
 in reality led him to adopt also Wycherley's 
 manner of lingering over scenes while the 
 intrigue sleeps. His comedies abound in 
 passages such as the one describing Lord 
 Foppington's manner of life,^ for he had a keen 
 eye for the ridiculous and took pleasure in 
 presenting it, no matter how long the action 
 had to pause. Yet these passages differ from 
 the similar ones in Wycherley, for the satirical 
 interest is not thrust upon the audience. 
 The acts and words of the characters are 
 allowed to speak for themselves. 
 
 Though Vanbrugh fought against the ref- 
 ormation of the theater, he did not worship 
 with the inner circle of gallants and wits. 
 He liked to take his plot out into the country, 
 on which occasions he would reproduce dialect 
 almost as faithfully as Shadwell copied the 
 cant of Alsatia. But even his town gallants 
 do not fire off similitudes and paradoxes in 
 that brilliant pyrotechnic fashion common 
 
 1 Cf. The Relapse, ii. 1 (p. 43 ff.). 
 
214 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 in Wycherley, Dryden, and Congreve. Al- 
 though Vanbrugh displayed a considerably 
 greater literary gift than Shadwell, his aim 
 was to portray life realistically, without sub- 
 jecting the conversation to the for him un- 
 familiar polish it received at the hands of his 
 distinguished predecessors. In other words, 
 he was not of the exclusive set in high society 
 to which the leaders had belonged — he was 
 not of the coterie. 
 
 Yet Vanbrugh was essentially an English- 
 man of the Restoration. He was in fact 
 closer to the comedy of manners as Etheredge 
 introduced it into England than any other 
 writer of the period. The savage satire that 
 Wycherley indulged in does not appear in his 
 comedies. Lord Foppington, Lady Fanciful, 
 and the Headpiece family are presented with 
 considerably less grace, to be sure, but with 
 much the same detachment that Etheredge 
 used in presenting Sir Fophng Flutter. But 
 Vanbrugh 's presentation of manners, I hardly 
 need add, is completely lacking in the 
 sympathy with life and the insight into 
 character that distinguished Moliere. To 
 use an old figure, his method is the method 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 215 
 
 of the photographer, who reproduces faith- 
 fully but reproduces only the outside. Mo- 
 liere's method is the method of the artist, 
 who transforms what he reproduces so as to 
 omit what is accidental and to reveal what is 
 essential. In this respect Congreve is much 
 closer to Moliere than is Vanbrugh. Con- 
 greve presents his pictures with artistic del- 
 icacy of touch. Vanbrugh paints with a 
 realism that is frequently brutal. But it is 
 not surprising that one who knew nothing 
 of Moliere's genius did not catch the comic 
 spirit of the French master. The only influ- 
 ence of Moliere on Vanbrugh was the indirect 
 influence through previous English comedy. 
 
 Vanbrugh is thus seen to carry on the comedy 
 of manners with a partial loss of the tone of 
 the clique. This divergence from tradition 
 was continued by Farquhar. He hardly be- 
 longs in a discussion of Moliere's influence, 
 since his knowledge of the great Frenchman 
 was slighter even than Vanbrugh' s. His 
 eye was apparently caught by a few scenes 
 as he was turning the pages of Moliere in 
 idle moments, but he really knew nothing 
 directly of the spirit of the Frenchman's 
 
216 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 comedies. Nor was he saturated with the 
 spirit of Restoration comedy. Reared far 
 away from the courtly circle and reaching 
 London when the women and citizens were 
 making their prejudices known, he really 
 marks the close of the period. 
 
 That the influence of the coterie was lessen- 
 ing is seen in every feature of his work. He 
 does not spend all his time in presenting the 
 manners of the fine gentlemen and ladies of 
 London. He often places his scenes in country 
 towns and depicts provincial customs. His 
 chief personages have in them something 
 natural and wholesome that is lacking in the 
 creations of his predecessors. His sparks are 
 not so utterly heartless as Etheredge's, and 
 his fine ladies less frequently give way to 
 animal instinct. Sir Harry Wildair has a 
 regard for others that cannot be matched in 
 Congreve, and Mrs. Sullen retains her vir- 
 tue under trials in which any character in 
 Wycherley or Dryden would have lost hers. 
 More than this, Farquhar follows a differ- 
 ent method of presenting his material. The 
 manners are not described in lengthy passages 
 while the action and characterization are at a 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 217 
 
 standstill, — a method which we found was 
 traceable to Moliere's influence. He is skilful 
 enough, in spite of his scorn of regular struc- 
 ture, to weave the picture of manners into 
 his plot. His figures are kept moving most 
 of the time. He thus advances a step beyond 
 Vanbrugh in leaving the typical comedy of 
 the Restoration. 
 
 He advances beyond Vanbrugh also in the 
 omission of similitudes, paradox, and balance. 
 He makes little effort to be witty. He does 
 not elaborate or polish his style. This quality 
 is not the result of the realistic tendency 
 observable in Vanbrugh. It is rather because 
 he had always been an entire stranger to the 
 forms of metaphysical wit. His style is not 
 highly literary in any sense. It is merely 
 the natural effervescence of a buoyant and 
 sprightly disposition. With him the artificial 
 comedy of the Restoration came to a close, 
 to give place to the sentimental comedy of 
 the eighteenth century with its reflection of 
 a less corrupt but more hypocritical society. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 The characteristics of Restoration comedy 
 must now be clear. The two main currents may 
 be designated comedy of manners and comedy 
 of intrigue. The first in particular reflected 
 with the inevitable exaggeration of the theater 
 the life of the ruling coterie of the period, the 
 various diversions of the heartless gallants 
 and airy coquettes who were always on the 
 lookout for some new conquest, the frivolities 
 and affectations of the fops and precieuses 
 in the park, at the coffee-house, in the bou- 
 doir or the drawing-room, the prejudices and 
 prepossessions of the beau monde, its amused 
 contempt for country knights, rustic hoydens, 
 strait-laced citizens, and miserly aldermen, 
 its admiration for sparkling wit and sprightly 
 repartee, — almost the one serious preoccu- 
 pation of that whole artificial society. The 
 comedy of intrigue endeavored to supply the 
 218 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 219 
 
 lack of well-drawn types and vivid pictures 
 from life by a confusing intricacy of action 
 and a bewildering variety of persons, and to 
 make up for the deficiency of genuine wit by 
 a superfluity of indelicate allusion. 
 
 Such a comedy bore a natural resemblance 
 to the society which gave it birth. That 
 society manifested no profound interest in 
 the momentous issues that hung upon the 
 political struggles of the period. Its only 
 tribute to religion was a persistent effort to 
 escape all the restraints which any form of 
 morality might impose. All its energies 
 were consequently absorbed in leading the 
 dance through a profligate carnival of the 
 senses. It was therefore incapable of the 
 generous romantic interest of Elizabethan 
 England or of the golden age of Spain. It 
 was totally averse to reflecting on the mystery 
 of life or the problems of destiny. It was 
 interested only in itself and in its own su- 
 perficial amusements. It could find pleasure 
 only in a theater that would represent brightly 
 colored pictures of the external aspect of its 
 own mundane existence. It could produce 
 only a comedy of manners which should 
 
220 THE INFLUENCE OF MOLIERE 
 
 restrict itself to the entertainment of a co- 
 terie. 
 
 One may therefore ask whether a product 
 so intimately related to its period was really 
 influenced by Moliere. One may urge that 
 Restoration comedy, though possessing very 
 marked differences from Jacobean comedy 
 of manners, was after all simply the logical 
 and inevitable evolution of the court comedy 
 seen developing under Fletcher and Shirley. 
 It may be admitted at once that the Res- 
 toration would have produced a comedy not 
 much different from the actual product, even 
 had Moliere never lived. ♦ Every period where 
 a society grows up living a life more or less 
 apart from the body of the people and thus 
 fostering an interest in itself, must find ex- 
 pression in some variety of comedy of man- 
 ners if it find expression in the theater at all. 
 But the fact remains that the peculiar variety 
 developed during the Restoration owed a 
 good deal to Moliere. The cases of particular 
 indebtedness discussed in the previous chap- 
 ters have surely made it clear that with a 
 few exceptions the plots best suited to reflect 
 the conditions of the time were either adapted 
 
ON RESTORATION COMEDY 221 
 
 from Moliere or developed under his in- 
 fluence, that the situations most instinct with 
 comic satire derived their effectiveness from 
 the reproduction in some degree of Moliere's 
 spirit, and that the types of character that 
 linger in one's memory may be traced more 
 or less directly to the pages of Moliere. This 
 counts for something. But more important 
 is the truth which I hope the preceding chapters 
 have made clear that Restoration comedy, 
 taken as a type, owed its inception and found 
 its development in an imitation of the comedy 
 of manners of Moliere, in the process battered 
 and twisted and distorted often almost be- 
 yond recognition, but after all an evidence 
 of the influence of that genius whom every 
 Frenchman delights to honor. And the rea- 
 son why this foreign type, not in its tech- 
 nical features, but in its animating spirit, 
 was more influential than Jonson's comedy 
 of humors or Fletcher's court comedy, is that 
 it was more congenial to a society that was 
 less interested in satirical portraiture or 
 romantic exaggeration than it was in its own 
 mundane existence. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 A LIST OF BORROWINGS 
 
 The following list aims to give only the important 
 direct borrowings from Moliere. To trace the indirect 
 indebtedness would be impossible within any reasonable 
 limits. For minor borrowings, such as copied phrases, 
 the reader is referred to the special studies, which are 
 noted in the Bibliography whenever they have come 
 to my notice. Even thus restricted, the notes may be 
 misleading, especially in the treatment of character. 
 For instance, it has been impossible to indicate when 
 a borrowing from Moliere included a whole scene and 
 when only a passage from the scene cited. But of 
 course these and other explanations and qualifications, 
 necessary for exactness, would be out of the question 
 here. The various features of each play discussed in 
 the preceding chapters may be traced by reference to 
 the index. Unless otherwise specified, the dates are 
 the most probable dates of production. 
 
 I hardly need add that the list below is the result 
 of my own research, but I have used previous investi- 
 gations for guidance or suggestion. The direct or 
 indirect source of all lists of borrowings has been Lang- 
 baine (1691), who dehghted to expose plagiarism, and 
 whose wide reading in drama enabled him to detect a 
 great many cases of indebtedness. The first list of 
 borrowings appeared in Jacob (1723), i. 292 ff. An 
 223 
 
224 APPENDIX 
 
 extensive list was drawn up in some detail by Laun 
 and published in Le Molieriste under the title, Les 
 Plagiaires de Moliere en Angleterre (aout, 1880, p. 143 ff . ; 
 novembre, 1880, p. 235 ff.; Janvier, 1881, p. 303 ff.; 
 mai, 1881, p. 52 ff.; aout, 1881, p. 137 ff.). The same 
 material had appeared in the notices and appendices 
 of his translation of Moliere (1875-6). Charlanne 
 (1906), p. 490 ff., made few changes in Laun. Kerby 
 (1907), p. 115 ff., also drew from second-hand sources. 
 As I did not run across Kerby's monograph till Novem- 
 ber, 1909, I was unable to derive any advantage from 
 his work. (The only copy I know of is in the Columbia 
 University Library.) In a few cases I have found hints 
 in the scattered notices that occur in histories of English 
 drama, in dictionaries of old plays, in biographies and 
 editions of Moliere. For the numerous special studies 
 the reader is again referred to the Bibliography, II. 
 
 Amorous Bigot, The, (1690) by Shadwell. The 
 rivalry of father and son is a reminiscence of VAvare. 
 The scenes in which Hernando appears (act iv.) are 
 a reminiscence of the plot of Les Precieuses Ridicules. 
 The relation of Elvire to her mother is a reflection 
 of the motif of UEcole des Maris (probably through 
 The Country Wife). Act. iv. (p. 271 f.) was suggested 
 by UAvare, iii. 6, 7, and Les Femmes Savantes, i. 4. 
 
 Amorous Widow, or the Wanton Wife, The, (1670) 
 by Betterton. (1) The stratagem of Cuningham 
 against Lady Lay cock, chiefly in acts i. and ii., is 
 adapted freely from Les Precieuses Ridicules. (2) 
 
APPENDIX 225 
 
 The second plot, the Brittle action, is adapted from 
 George Dandin (act iii. = George Dandin, i.; act iv. 
 = George Dmidin, ii. ; act v. = George Dandin, iii.), 
 about a third being pretty closely translated, the 
 remainder more or less freely adapted. 
 (1) Merryman = Mascarille {Les Precieuses Ridi- 
 cides) ; Cuningham = La Grange. (2) Sir Peter Pride 
 = M. de Sotenville {George Dandin) ; Lady Pride = 
 Madame de Sotenville ; Lovemore = Clitandre; Bar- 
 naby Brittle = George Dandin ; Clodpole = Lubin; 
 Mrs. Brittle = Angelique ; Damaris = Claudine. Pru- 
 dence is an imitation of Moliere's soubrettes. 
 
 Amphitryon, or the Two Sosias, (1690) by Dryden. 
 
 (1) The play is an adaptation of Amphitryon. 
 
 (2) The Mercury-Phsedra intrigue was suggested by 
 Le Mariage Force: act v. 1 (p. 95 ff.) is adapted 
 from Le Mariage Force, sc. 9. 
 
 Assignation, or Love in a Nunnery, The, (1672) by 
 Dryden. Act iii. 1 (p. 417 f.) is freely adapted from 
 UEtourdi, ii. 11. Act iv. 4 (p. 443 ff.) is freely 
 adapted from Le Tartuffe, ii. 4. Benito is a free 
 adaptation of Lelie (UEtourdi). 
 
 Atheist, or the Second Part of the Soldier's 
 Fortune, The, (1684) by Otway. The conduct of 
 Porcia is a reminiscence of L'Ecole des Femmes, prob- 
 ably through The Country Wife. The recital by 
 Beaugard's father of his hard luck at dice (act iii., p. 
 42) is an alteration of Les Fdcheux, ii. 2. 
 
 Bargain Broken, A. See The Canterbury Guests. 
 Q 
 
226 APPENDIX 
 
 Beaux' Stratagem, The, (1707) by Farquhar. Act 
 iii. 3 (p. 295 ff.) is freely adapted from Le Tartuffe, 
 iv. 5, 6. 
 
 Bury Fair (1689) by Shadwell. Cf. ante, p. 133 ff. 
 Act i. (p. 121 ff.) is freely adapted from Le Misan- 
 thrope, ii. 4. Act i. (p. 124 f.) was suggested by Le 
 Bourgeois Gentilhomme, iii. 4, or possibly bj^ La 
 Comtesse d'Escarbagnas, sc. 2. Act v. (p. 197 f.) 
 was suggested by Le Misanthrope, v. 2. 
 
 Canterbury Guests, or a Bargain Broken, The, 
 (1694) by Ravenscroft. (1) The play reproduces 
 word for word more than half of The Careless Lovers. 
 (2) Act i. 3 was suggested by the character of Sgana- 
 relle in Le Mariage Force. Act ii. 5 is adapted from 
 Le Mariage Force, sc. 2. Act iii. 1 is adapted from 
 Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, iii, 4. Act v. 1 is adapted 
 from Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, ii. 4. Act v. 5 is 
 adapted from Le Mariage Force, sc. 9. 
 
 Careless Lovers, The, (1673) by Ravenscroft. (1) 
 The main action is an adaptation of Monsieur de 
 Pourceaugnac. Act iv. (pp. 41-5) is adapted from 
 Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, ii. 7, 8 ; act iv. (pp. 38- 
 40) was suggested by Les Precieuses Ridicules, sc. 
 9, 13; act ii. (pp. 10-16) is adapted from Le Bourgeois 
 Gentilhomme, iii. 8-10 ; act ii. (p. 17 f.) was suggested 
 by Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, i. 2 ; in act v. (p. 56 f.), 
 the disguise was suggested by Le Medecin malgre lui. 
 (2) A minor action was suggested by An Evening's 
 Love. There are several episodes. 
 
APPENDIX 227 
 
 Cautious Coxcomb, The. See Sir Salomon. 
 
 Cheats of Scapin, The, (1677) by Otway. The play 
 is a translation for the stage of Les Fourberies de 
 Scapin. Acts i., ii., are translated closely. In act 
 iii., scenes 3-5 are omitted ; scenes 7-11 are replaced 
 by new scenes. 
 
 Citizen turned Gentleman, The. See Mamamouchi. 
 
 Comical Revenge, or Love in a Tub, The, (1664) by 
 Etheredge. The subplot was suggested by Le Depit 
 Amoureux. Cf. arite, p. 62 ff. 
 
 Constant Couple, or a Trip to the Jubilee, The, 
 (1699) by Farquhar. Act ii. 5 (p. 165 f.) was sug- 
 gested by Le Medecin malgre lui, i. 5. 
 
 Country Wife, The, (1673) by Wycherley. (1) The 
 play is an adaptation of UEcole des Femmes, modified 
 in acts iv. and v. by UEcole des Maris. Act i. 1 
 (p. 261 ff.) is adapted from UEcole des Femmes, i. 1 ; 
 act iv. 2 (p. 313 f.) is adapted from UEcole des 
 Femmes, ii. 5 ; act iv. 2 ( p. 317 f.) and 4 (p. 333 ff.) 
 were suggested by UEcole des Maris, ii. 3 ; act v. 1 
 (p. 336 ff.) was suggested by UEcole des Maris, iii. 
 1-3. (2) The Sparkish-Alithea subplot was suggested 
 by the relations of Leonor and Ariste in UEcole 
 des Maris: act iii. 2 (p. 296 ff.) was suggested by 
 UEcole des Maris, ii. 9. 
 Pinchwife = Arnolphe {UEcole des Femmes) ; Mrs. 
 
 Pinchwife = Agnes ; Horner = Horace. 
 
 Country Wit, The, (1675) by Crowne. (1) Le Sicilien 
 is adapted for a minor intrigue : act ii. (pp. 48-51) 
 
228 APPENDIX 
 
 is a free adaptation of Le Sicilien, sc. 3, 4 ; act iv. 
 (pp. 88-96) is adapted from Le Sicilien, sc. 9-13. 
 (2) The main plot was suggested by Le Tartuffe: 
 act i. (p. 19 ff.) is freely adapted from Le Tartuffe, 
 ii. 2, with suggestions from Le Tartuffe, i. 5. 
 
 (1) Lord Drybone = Don Pedre {Le Sicilien) ; Betty 
 Frisque = Isidore ; Ramble = Adraste; Merry = Hali. 
 (2) Sir Thomas = Orgon {Le Tartuffe) ; Isabella = 
 Dorine. Lady Faddle was suggested by the Comtesse 
 d'Escarbagnas — e.g., cf. act i. (p. 32 f.) and La Com- 
 tesse d'Escarbagnas, sc. 2, — and by Belise : act ii. (p. 
 37 f.) was suggested by Les Fenunes Savantes, i. 4. 
 
 Cuckold in Conceit, The, (1707) by Vanbrugh. A 
 translation for the stage of Sganarelle, which was never 
 published. 
 
 Curious Impertinent, The. See The Married Beau. 
 
 Damoiselles a la Mode, The, (1667) by Flecknoe. 
 ''This Comedy is taken out of several Excellent 
 Pieces of Moliere. The main plot of the Damoiselles 
 out of his Precieuses Ridicules ; the Counterplot of 
 Sganarelle, out of his Escole des Femmes, and out of 
 the Escole des Marys, the two Naturals." This 
 passage from the preface is given in Lohr, p. 88. 
 The play has not been accessible to me. 
 
 Double Dealer, The, (1694) by Congreve. (1) The 
 plot was suggested by Le Tartuffe. Cf. ante, p. 195 ff. 
 Act V. 1 is freely adapted from Le Tartuffe, iii. 7. 
 
 (2) Act ii. 1 (p. 126 ff.) is adapted from Les Femmes 
 Savantes, i. 4 ; act iii. 3 (the heroic poem) was sug- 
 
APPENDIX 229 
 
 gested by Les Femmes Savantes, iii. 2 (the epigram), 
 with free adaptation from Le Misanthrope, ii. 4. 
 Maskwell = Tartuffe ; Careless = Cleante ; Lord 
 Touchwood = Orgon ; Lady Froth = Philaminte {Les 
 Femmes Savantes) as a learned lady ; Sir Paul and 
 Lady Plyant = Chrysale and Philaminte as man and 
 wife. The conception of Lady Plyant also owes a good 
 deal to Belise. 
 
 Double Discovery, The. See The Spanish Friar. 
 
 Dumb Lady, or the Farrier made Physician, The, 
 (1669) by Lacy. Cf. ante, p. 88 ff. Act i. is closely 
 adapted from Le Medecin malgre lui, i. ; act ii. is 
 closely adapted from Le Medecin malgre lui, ii. ; 
 act iii. is closely adapted from Le Medecin malgre lui, 
 iii. 1-6 ; act iii. (p. 54 ff.) was suggested by Les 
 Fourberies de Scapin, ii. 5 ; act iv. is freely adapted 
 from U Amour Medecin, i. 4, 3, 6 ; act v. is very freely 
 adapted from U Amour Medecin, ii. 2-7, with sug- 
 gestions from Le Medecin malgre lui, iii. 11, 9. 
 
 English Friar, or the Town Sparks, The, (1690) 
 by Crowne. The play is a free adaptation of Le 
 Tartuffe. Act v. (p. 112 ff.) is adapted from Le 
 Tartuffe, iv. 3, 5. 
 
 Father Finical = Tartuffe ; Lady Credulous = Orgon ; 
 Sir Thomas = Elmire (in part) ; Pansy = Elmire (in 
 part). Lord Stately is a reminiscence of La Comtesse 
 d'Escarbagnas. E.g., act i. (pp. 32, 35) was suggested by 
 La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas, sc. 2. Lady Pinchgut is an 
 adaptation of Harpagon in VAvare. Cf. ante, p. 158 f. 
 
230 APPENDIX 
 
 Epsom Wells (1672) by Shadwell. Act iv. (p. 261 ff.) 
 is adapted from Le Medecin malgre lui, i. 1-3. Cuff, 
 Kick, and Clodpate are reminiscences of Acaste, 
 Clitandre, and Alceste in Le Misa7ithrope. 
 
 Evening's Love, or the Mock Astrologer, An, 
 (1668) by Dryden. Act i. 1 (p. 261 f.) is freely 
 adapted from UEcole des Maris, i. 3. Act iii. 1 
 (p. 304 ff.) is adapted from Le Depit Amoureux, ii. 6. 
 Act iv. 2 (p. 334 f.) is adapted from Le Depit Amoureux, 
 i. 2. Act iv. 4 (p. 341 ff.) is freely adapted by com- 
 bination of Le Depit Amoureux, iv. 3 and 4. 
 Aurelia is adapted from. Cathos and Madelon in Les 
 
 Precieuses Ridicules: act iii. 1 (p. 296 f.) was suggested 
 
 by Les Precieuses Ridicides, sc. 6. 
 
 False Count, or a New Way to Play an Old Game, 
 The, (1682) by Behn. The Isabella-Quillon action 
 was suggested by Les Precieuses Ridicules. The only 
 point where Quillon directly imitates Mascarille is in 
 offering to show a wound : act ii. (p. 130 f.) is taken 
 from Les Precieuses Ridicules, sc. 11. 
 
 Farrier made Physician, The. See The Dumb Lady. 
 
 Feigned Innocence, The. See Sir Martin Mar- All. 
 
 Female Virtuosoes, The, (1693) by Wright. (1) 
 The main action is a close adaptation of Les Femmes 
 Savantes. (2) A minor action is spun about Witless: 
 act i. (pp. 5-7) was suggested by Monsieur de Pour- 
 ceaugnac, i. 3 ; act ii. (p. 13 ff.) is translated from Le 
 Malade Imaginaire, ii. 5, 6 (two-thirds) ; act iv. , 
 (p. 34 f.) is adapted from Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, 
 
APPENDIX 231 
 
 ii. 6 ; act iv. (p. 38 ff.) is adapted and expanded from 
 Les Fourberies de Scapin, ii. 6 ; act iv. (p. 39 ff.) 
 was suggested by Le Manage Force, sc. 9 ; act v. 
 (p. 44 ff.) is adapted from Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, 
 iii. 6. 
 
 French Puritan, The. See Tartxiffe. 
 
 Gentleman Dancing Master, The, (1671) by Wych- 
 erley. The conception of Paris owes something 
 to Sganarelle in UEcole des Maris. 
 
 Humorists, The, (1670) by Shadwell. The courting 
 of Theodosia by Crazy, Brisk, and Drybob is a 
 reminiscence of Le Misanthrope, where C^hmene 
 is courted by Acaste, CHtandre, and Oronte. 
 
 Impertinents, The. See The Sullen Lovers. 
 
 It Cannot Be. See Sir Courtly Nice. 
 
 Kind Keeper, The. See Limherham. 
 
 Libertine, The, (1676) by Shadwell. The play is 
 an adaptation of Le Nouveau Festin de Pierre by 
 Rosimond. The only scenes that may have been 
 suggested by Moliere are: act iii. (p. 146 f.. Enter 
 Don Lopez and Don Antonio . . . Enter Don John 
 and Jacomo), from Don Juan, iii. 2 (end), 3 ; and act 
 iii. (p. 147 ff., Enter Leonora, . . . Exeunt), from 
 Don Juan, iv. 6. 
 
 Limberham, or the Kind Keeper, (1678) by Dryden. 
 Mrs. Saintly is a free adaptation of Tartuffe. Brain- 
 sick = Lisandre in Les Fdcheux: act iii. 1 (p. 62) is 
 from Les Fdcheux, i. 3. 
 
232 APPENDIX 
 
 London Cuckolds, The, (1682) by Ravenscroft. 
 Act ii. (p. 22 ff.) was suggested by L'Ecole des Femmes, 
 ii. 5. Wiseacre = Arnolphe ; Peggy = Agnes. 
 
 Love and a Bottle (1698-9) by Farquhar. The con- 
 ception of Mockmode is drawn from Monsieur Jour- 
 dain {e.g., cf. act ii. 2, p. 38 ff., and Le Bourgeois 
 Gentilhomme, ii. 2) and from Monsieur de Pourceau- 
 gnac {e.g., cf. act iii. 2, p. 69 ff., and Monsieur de 
 Pourceaugnac, i. 4). 
 
 Love for Love (1695) by Congreve. (1) The out- 
 line for the plot was suggested by L'Avare. Cf. ante, 
 p. 197 f. (2) Act i. 1 (p. 205 ff.) is adapted from 
 Don Juan, iv. 3 ; act ii. 2 (p. 231 f.) was suggested 
 by Le Misanthrope, iii. 4 ; act iv. 3 (p. 285 f.) was 
 suggested probably by UEtourdi, iii. 4 (opening). 
 Sir Sampson was suggested by Harpagon. 
 
 Love in a Nunnery. See The Assignation. 
 
 Love in a Tub. See The Comical Revenge. 
 
 Love in a Wood, or St. James's Park, (1671) by 
 Wycherley. The use Dapperwit makes of Sir Simon 
 was suggested by the relation of Horace and Arnolphe 
 in UEcole des Femmes. Act iii. 2 (p. 65 ff.) is adapted 
 freely from UEcole des Maris, ii. 3, 4. Act v. 1 
 was suggested by UEcole des Femmes, v. 3. 
 The attitude of Gripe to his daughter and her running 
 
 away with Dapperwit was suggested by the character 
 
 and fate of Sganarelle in UEcole des Maris. 
 'V Love's Contrivance (1703) by Centlivre. The play 
 has a very cleverly constructed intrigue based on Le 
 
APPENDIX 233 
 
 Mededn malgre lui and Le Manage Force, in which 
 appear, with few changes, translations of : Le 
 Manage Force, sc. 1-5, 8 ; Le Medecin malgre lui, 
 i. Suggestions are taken from Sganarelle, sc. 1, 2, 
 and Le Medecin malgre lui, ii. 4. 
 
 Loves of Mars and Venus, The, (pub. 1696) by 
 Motteux. No indebtedness to MoHere in spite of 
 assertion to the contrary. 
 
 Love Triumphant, or Nature will Prevail, (1694) 
 by Dryden. Act i. 1 (p. 397) was suggested by 
 Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, ii. 6. Act v. 1 (p. 458 ff.) 
 was suggested by Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, ii. 8. 
 Sancho is a reminiscence of LeHe in VEtourdi. 
 
 Mamamouchi, or the Citizen turned Gentleman, 
 (1671) by Ravenscroft. Cf. ante, p. 103 £f. 
 
 Man of Mode, or Sir Fopling Flutter, The, (1676) 
 by Etheredge. Act iii. 2 (p. 295 ff.) is adapted from 
 Les Precieuses Ridicules, sc. 9. Act iv. 1 (p. 327 f.) 
 and 2 (p. 338 f.) were suggested by Les Precieuses 
 Ridicules, sc. 9 (another passage in the scene). Cf. 
 ante, p. 136 ff. 
 For the character of Sir FopHng, cf. ante, p. 135 ff. 
 
 Married Beau, or the Curious Impertinent, The, 
 (1694) by Crowne. Act ii. (p. 272 f.) is a reminis- 
 cence of Les Precieuses Ridicules, sc. 9. 
 
 Marriage a la Mode (1672) by Dryden. Melantha 
 is an adaptation from MoUere's several paintings of 
 preciosity. 
 
234 APPENDIX 
 
 Metamorphosis, or the Old Lover Outwitted, The, 
 (1704) by Corey. The play owes nothing to Moliere. 
 Cf. ante, p. 81. 
 
 Miser, The, (1671) by Shadwell. The main plot is 
 almost a translation of UAvare. But about forty 
 per cent of the play is taken up with the added char- 
 acters, Timothy Squeeze, Lettice, Joyce, Rant, and 
 Hazard, in scenes from London low life. Anselme 
 of the original does not appear. His will is executed 
 by his son. The plan proposed by Frosine in UAvare, 
 iv. 1, is carried out in action. 
 
 ^ Mistake, The, (1705) by Vanbrugh. The play is a 
 translation for the stage of Le Depit Amoureux. 
 
 Mock Astrologer, The. See An Evening's Love. 
 Modish Wife, The. See Tom Essence. 
 
 Mulberry Garden, The, (1668) by Sedley. Act i. 
 
 (p. 35 ff.) is adapted from VEcole des Maris, i. 1. 
 
 No borrowing occurs in the remainder of the play. 
 
 Forecast ( = Sganarelle) and Everyoung ( = Ariste) 
 continue through the play. Each has two daughters 
 in place of one ward. 
 
 Nature will Prevail. See Love Triumphant. 
 
 New Way to Play an Old Game, A. See The False 
 Count. 
 
 Old Bachelor, The, (1693) by Congreve. Act ii. 
 (p. 21 ff.) is freely adapted from Les Fourberies de 
 Scapin, ii. 7 (cf. the opening of each), with a sug- 
 gestion from Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, i. 4. Act ii. 
 
APPENDIX 235 
 
 (p. 28 f.) was suggested by Les Femmes Savantes, i. 1. 
 Act iii. 2 (p. 41 f.) is a reminiscence of George Dandin, 
 ii. 1. Act iv. 6 (p. 67 f.) is freely adapted from George 
 Dandin, ii. 8, with a suggestion from UEcole des 
 Maris, ii. 9. 
 
 The conception of Heartwell owes something to 
 Sganarelle : e.g., cf. Le Mariage Force, sc. 1, and The 
 Old Bachelor, i. (p. 15). Araminta and Belinda show 
 reminiscences of Moliere's precieuses. 
 
 Old Lover Outwitted, The. See The Metamorphosis. 
 
 Plain Dealer, The, (1774) by Wycherley. (1) 
 The play is an adaptation of Le Misanthrope: act i. 
 1 (p. 382 ff.) is adapted from Le Misanthrope, i. 1 
 (first half); act ii. 1 (p. 400 ff.) is adapted from Le 
 Misanthrope, ii. 4 ; act iv. 2 is adapted from Le 
 Misanthrope, iii. 1, and v. 4. (2) Act ii. 1 (p. 407 
 fT.) is adapted from La Critique de VEcole des Femmes. 
 Manly = Alceste ; Freeman = Phihnte ; Olivia = 
 
 Celimene ; Eliza = Eliante ; Novel and Plausible = 
 
 Acaste and Clitandre. 
 
 Playhouse to be Let, The, (1663) by Davenant. 
 Act ii. is a translation of Sganarelle, scenes 7, 12, 13, 
 being omitted. Cf. ante, p. 79. 
 
 Psyche (1674) by Shadwell. The opera is an adapta- 
 tion of Psyche: act i. is composed of selected portions 
 of the prologue and Psyche, i. without reference to 
 their order in the original ; in act ii. the first two- 
 thirds is composed of the rest of Psyche, i. and the 
 first intermede ; the last third, of Psyche, ii. con- 
 
236 APPENDIX 
 
 densed ; acts iii.-v. are paraphrased with some 
 shortening from Psyche, iii.-v. 
 
 Relapse, or Virtue in Danger, The, (1696) by 
 Vanbrugh. Act i. 3 is a free adaptation from Le 
 Bourgeois Gentilhomme, ii. 5. Sir Tunbelly and Hoyden 
 are a reflection of Sganarelle and Isabelle in L Ecole 
 des Maris, probably through The Country Wife. 
 
 St. James's Park. See Love in a Wood. 
 
 Scaramouch (1677) by Ravenscroft. (1) The main 
 plot is a close adaptation of Les Fourberies de Scapin. 
 (2) The subplot is a close adaptation of Le Mariage 
 Force. (3) Act i. (pp. 2-5) is adapted from Le 
 Bourgeois Gentilhomme, ii. 2, 3 ; act i. (p. 5 f.) was 
 suggested by Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, ii. 4 (open- 
 ing) ; act ii. (p. 30 ff.) is translated from Le Bourgeois 
 Gentilhomme, ii. 4 (first half). Act iv. (p. 58 ff.) 
 was suggested by Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, ii. 3. 
 
 ScowRERS, The, (1691) by Shadwell. The relation of 
 Eugenia and her governess Priscilla is a reflection of 
 the motif of UEcole des Maris. 
 
 Sir Courtly Nice, or It Cannot Be, (1685) by Crowne. 
 
 Act V. (p. 340 f.) was suggested by Les Precieuses 
 
 Ridicules, sc. 9. Act v. (p. 342 ff.) was suggested by 
 
 Les Femmes Savantes, i. 4. 
 
 Lord Bellguard is a reminiscence of Orgon in Le 
 Tartuffe. 
 
 Sir Fopling Flutter. See The Man of Mode. 
 
APPENDIX 237 
 
 Sir Martin Mar-All, or the Feigned Innocence, 
 (1667) by Dryden. (1) The play is an adaptation 
 of UEtourdi. Acts iii. (largely), iv., v., are adapted 
 from UEtourdi, ii., iii., iv. Acts i., ii., are adapted 
 from Quinault's L'Amant Indiscret, i., iv. (2) Act v. 
 (p. 73 ff.) and a subplot are apparently original with 
 Dryden. 
 
 Sir Patient Fancy (1678) by Behn. (1) The Witt- 
 more-Fancy and Lodwick-lsabella actions are 
 adapted from Le Malade Imaginaire. (2) The Le- 
 ander-Lucretia action is developed from hints in Mon- 
 sieur de Pourceaugnac, with adaptation (v. pp. 89-96) 
 of U Amour Medecin, ii. 2-5. (3) The adaptation as 
 a whole is ingeniously managed to produce a comedy 
 of intrigue. There is not much paraphrase. 
 
 Sir Salomon, or the Cautious Coxcomb, (1669-70) 
 by Caryll. The Sir Salomon action is a close adap- 
 tation of UEcole des Femmes. The Wary action is 
 constructed as an obverse to it. 
 Sir Salomon = Sganarelle ; Ralph and AHce = Alain 
 
 and Georgette; Betty = Agnes; Peregreen = Horace. 
 
 Wary = Chrysalde. Julia (his daughter), Mr. Single 
 
 (Sir Salomon's son), and Sir Arthur Add el are added. 
 
 Soldier's Fortune, The, (1681) by Otway. The 
 basis of the main intrigue is UEcole des Maris: act 
 ii. (p. 394 ff.) is adapted from UEcole des Maris, ii. 
 2; act ii. (pp. 406-9) is adapted from UEcole des 
 Maris, ii. 2, 6 ; act iii. (pp. 417-420) was suggested 
 by UEcole des Maris, ii. 3 ; act iv. (p. 421 ff.) was 
 
238 APPENDIX 
 
 suggested by UEcole des Maris, ii. 4, 5. Act ii. 
 (pp. 390-4) was suggested by Sganarelle, sc. 9, with 
 use of UEcole des Maris, ii. 4, 7 (end). 
 Sir Davy Dunce = Sganarelle ; Lady Dunce = Isabelle ; 
 Fourbin = Scapin {Les Fourheries de Scapin) . 
 
 Spanish Friar, or the Double Discovery, The, 
 (1681) by Dryden. Act. i. 2 (p. 430 ff.) is freely 
 adapted from UEcole des Femmes, i. 4. Act iv. 1 
 (p. 473 f.) is adapted from Le Medecin malgre lui, ii. 5. 
 
 Squire of Alsatia, The, (1688) by Shadwell. The 
 basis of the play is UEcole des Maris. Act iv. 
 (p. 73) is adapted from UAvare, i. 5. 
 Sir WiUiam Belfond is a reminiscence of Harpagon 
 
 in UAvare. The conception also owes something to 
 
 Sganarelle of UEcole des Maris. Sir Edward = Ariste ; 
 
 Belfond Senior and Junior = Isabelle and Leonor. 
 
 Squire Trelooby (1704) by Congreve, Walsh, and 
 Vanbrugh. This adaptation of Monsieur de Pour- 
 ceaugnac is not extant. 
 
 Stage Beaux tossed in a Blanket, The, (pub. 1704) 
 by Brown. Act i. is translated with few changes from 
 La Critique de VEcole des Femmes, sc. 1-5, with a 
 suggestion from scene 7. Act iv. (pp. 56-9) is adapted 
 from Le Tartuffe, iv. 5, iii. 3 (praise of lady), and 
 iv. 6. 
 
 Stock Jobbers, The. See The Volunteers. 
 
 Sullen Lovers, or the Impertinents, The, (1668) 
 by Shadwell. The main points in the plot were sug- 
 
APPENDIX ' 239 
 
 gested by Le Misanthrope. Act i. contains the fol- 
 lowing adapted scenes: Le Misanthrope, i. 1, 2; iii. 
 1 ; Les Fdcheux, i. 3. Act ii. contains : Les Fdcheux, 
 ii. 3 ; iii. 3. Act iii. contains : Les Fdcheux, ii. 2. 
 Act iv. contains : Les Fdcheux, iii. 4 ; Le Misan- 
 thrope, ii. 4. 
 
 Stanford = Alceste, weakened to a mere grumbler ; 
 Celimene suggested Emilia, a second Alceste. Lovel 
 = Philinte ; Carolina = Eliante ; Ninnj'- = Oronte ; 
 Lady Vaine = Arsinoe. Woodcock is a combination 
 of Lisandre and Ormin in Les Fdcheux; Huffe is a 
 combination of Dorante and Alcippe ; Sir Positive 
 At-All is a combination of Lisandre and Alcandre in Les 
 Fdcheux, and of Acaste in Le Misanthrope, and of 
 Pancrace (cf. act iv., p. 87 f,, and Le Mariage Force^ 
 sc. 4). 
 
 Tartuffe, or the French Puritan, (1670) by Med- 
 bourne. The play is a translation for the stage of 
 Le Tartuffe. The only scenes omitted are iv. 8 (last 
 half), V. 2, V. 4 (last half), v. 7 (last half). For slight 
 changes in plot, see ante, p. 85 ff. 
 
 Tom Essence, or the Modish Wife, (1677) by Rawlins.' 
 (1) The basis of the play is Sganarelle, probably in 
 Davenant's translation, followed pretty closely in the 
 Essence action. (2) The lover of Celie and the girl 
 he has married, merely mentioned in Sganarelle, are 
 developed, with the addition of a servant, Laurence, 
 not mentioned at all, to furnish a second (Loveall- 
 Luce) action. (3) A third (Moneylove) action is 
 developed by giving the man corresponding to Gorgi- 
 
240 APPENDIX 
 
 bus a young wife, who has a gallant, Stanley, who at 
 one point (ii., pp. 16-18) assumes the disguise of a 
 doctor under the influence of some of Mohere's 
 doctor scenes. 
 
 Town Sparks, The. See The English Friar. 
 
 Trip to the Jubilee, A. See The Constant Couple. 
 
 Two SosiAs, The. See Amphitryon. 
 
 Twin Rivals, The, (1702) by Farquhar. Act iii. 1 
 (p. 52 f.) was suggested by Le Medecin malgre lid, 
 iii. 2. Act V. 4 (p. 105 ff.) is freely adapted from 
 Le Tartuffe, iv. 5, 6. 
 
 Virtue in Danger. See The Relapse. 
 
 Virtuoso, The, (1676) by Shadwell. The treatment 
 of Clarinda and Miranda shows influence from 
 UEcole des Maris. Sir Formal, Sir Samuel, and Snarl 
 are reminiscences of Acaste, Chtandre, and Alceste 
 in Le Misanthrope. 
 
 Volunteers, or the Stock Jobbers, The, (pub. 1693) 
 by Shadwell. Teresia owes something to Cathos 
 and Madelon in Les Precieuses Ridicules. Mrs. 
 Hackwell is a reminiscence of SganareUe in UEcole 
 des Maris. 
 
 Wanton Wife, The. See The Amorous Widow. 
 
 Way of the World, The, (1700) by Congreve. Cf. 
 ante, p. 198 f. Waitwell's disguise was suggested 
 by the plot of Les Precieuses Ridicules. 
 Foible is influenced in conception by Moliere's sou- 
 
APPENDIX 241 
 
 brettes {e.g., Toinette or Lisette). Mrs. Fainall is 
 a variation of the motif of L'Ecole des Maris. 
 
 Woman Captain, The, (1680) by Shadwell. Act i. 
 (pp. 357 ff.) was suggested by L'Avare, iii. 1. The 
 conduct of Mrs. Gripe is a reflection of the UEcole des 
 Maris motif. Gripe is a reminiscence of Harpagon 
 in L'Avare. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 I. TEXTS 
 
 The following list aims to give the full titles of the 
 books cited in the preceding pages. Where more than 
 one edition is given, it is because of introductory matter 
 having some bearing on the subject. In such cases the 
 edition to which reference is made in the notes is always 
 specified. 
 
 Behn, Mrs. Aphra, The Plays, Histories, and Novels of 
 the ingenious . . . , with Life and Memoirs. Com- 
 plete in Six Volumes. London, 1871. 
 
 Betterton, Thomas, The Amorous Widow: or, the 
 Wanton Wife. A Comedy. As it is Performed by 
 Her Majesty's Servants. Written by the late Famous 
 Mr. Thomas Betterton. Now first Printed from the 
 Original Copy. London : Printed in the Year 1710. 
 
 [Brown, Thomas], The Stage- Beaux toss'd in a Blanket : 
 or, Hypocrisie Alamode; Exposed in a True Picture 
 
 of Jerry A Pretending Scourge to the English Stage. 
 
 A Comedy with a Prologue on Occasional Conformity; 
 being a full Explanation of the Poussin Doctor's Book; 
 and an Epilogue on the Reformers. Spoken at the 
 Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. London, Printed, and 
 Sold by J. Nutt, near Stationers-Hall, 1704. 
 243 
 
244 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 [Caryll, John], Sir Salomon; or, the Cautious Coxcomb, 
 a Comedy. Acted By Their Majesties Servants. By 
 Mr. Caryl. London, Printed for H, Herringman, 
 and Sold by Jacob Tonson, at the Judges-Head in 
 Chancery-Lane near Fleetstreet, 169L 
 
 Centlivre, Mrs. [Susanna], The Dramatic Works of 
 the Celebrated Mrs. Centlivre, with A New Account 
 of her Life. Complete in Three Volumes. London, 
 1872. 
 
 CoNGREVE, William, The Comedies of, with an in- 
 troduction by G. S. Street. In two volumes. London, 
 1895. [In English Classics, edited by W. E. Henley.] 
 
 CoNGREVE, William, [The Complete Plays of.] Edited 
 by Alex[ander] Charles Ewald. New York, — . [In 
 The Mermaid Series.] Quotations are from this 
 edition. 
 
 [Corey, John], The Metamorphosis: or, the Old Lover 
 Out-witted. A Farce. As it is now Acted at the New 
 Theatre in Lincolns-Inn-Fields. Written Originally 
 by the Famous Moliere. London : Printed for Ber- 
 nard Lintott at the Middle-Temple Gate in Fleet- 
 street. 1704. 
 
 Crowne, John, The Dramatic Works of, with prefatory 
 memoir and notes. Edinburgh and London, 1873-4. 
 [In Dramatists of the Restoration, edited by James 
 Maidment and W. H. Logan.] 
 
 D'Avenant, Sir William, The Dramatic Works of, 
 with prefatory memoir and notes. Edinburgh and 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 245 
 
 London, 1872-4. [In Dramatists of the Restoration, 
 edited by James Maidment and W. H. Logan.] 
 
 DoDSLEY, Robert, A Select Collection of Old English 
 Plays. Originally published by Robert Dodsley in the 
 year 1744. Fourth Edition, now first chronologically 
 arranged, revised and enlarged with the notes of all the 
 commentators, and new notes by W. Carew Hazlitt. 
 Volume the fifteenth. London, 1876. [Contains 
 The Adventures of Five Hours, by Tuke, and Historia 
 Histrionica, by Wright.] 
 
 The Dramatic Works of Wycherley, Congreve, Vanbrugh, 
 and Farquhar, With Biographical and Critical Notices 
 by Leigh Hunt. A New Edition. London and New 
 York, 1875. 
 
 Dryden, John, Essays of, Selected and edited by W. P. 
 Ker. [In two volumes.] Oxford, 1900. 
 
 Dryden, John, The Works of, illustrated with notes, 
 historical, critical, and explanatory, and a life of the 
 author, by Sir Walter Scott, Bart. Revised and corrected 
 by George Saintsbury. Edinburgh, 1882-1893. 
 
 Durfey, Thomas, The Fond Husband: or, the Plotting 
 Sisters. A Comedy as it is acted at the Theatre-Royal 
 in Drury Lane. Written by Tho. Durfey, Gent. 
 London, 1735. 
 
 Etheredge, Sir George, The Works of, Plays and 
 Poems. Edited, with critical notes and introduction, 
 by A. Wilson Verity. London, 1888. 
 
 Farquhar, George, The Dramatic Works of, edited 
 
246 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 with a life and notes by Alex[ander] Charles Ewald. 
 In two volumes. London, 1892. 
 
 FouRNEL, Victor, Les Contemporains de Moliere. 
 Recueil de comedies, rares ou peu connues, jouees de 
 1650 a 1680, avec Vhistoire de chaque theatre, des notes 
 et notices biographiques, bibliographiques et critiques. 
 Paris, 1863-6. 
 
 Lacy, John, The Dramatic Works of, with prefatory 
 memoir and notes. Edinburgh and London, 1875. 
 [In Dramatists of the Restoration, edited by James 
 Maidment and W. H. Logan.] 
 
 Medbourne, M[atthew], Tartuffe: or the French 
 Puritan. A Comedy, Lately Acted at the Theatre 
 Royal. Written in French by Moliere; and rendered 
 into English with Much Addition and Advantage, By 
 M. Medbourne, Servant to his Royal Highness. Lon- 
 don : Printed by H. L. and R. B. for James Magnus 
 at the Posthouse in Russel-street near the Piazza in 
 Covent Garden, 1670. 
 
 Moliere, (Euvres completes de. Oxford, 1900. [Re- 
 produces the Despois-Mesnard text in a single 
 volume.] 
 
 Moliere, GEuvres de. Nouvelle edition revue sur les plus 
 anciennes impressions et augmentee des variantes, de 
 notices, de notes, d'un lexique des mots et locutions 
 remarquables, de portraits, de facsimile, etc. Par 
 MM. Eugene Despois et Paul Mesnard. Paris, 1873- 
 1900. [Dans la Collection des Grands Ecrivains 
 de la France.] 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 247 
 
 MoTTEUx [Pierre Antoine], The Loves of Mars & 
 Venus. A Play set to Music, As it is Acted at the 
 New Theatre, in Little Lincolns Inn-Fields. By His 
 Majesty's Servants. Written by Mr. Motteux. Lon- 
 don, Printed, and are to be sold at the New Theatre, 
 m Little Lincolns-Inn-Fields. 1696. 
 
 Otway, Thomas, [The Best Plays of.] With an In- 
 troduction and Notes, by The Hon. Roden Noel. Lon- 
 don and New York, — . [In The Mermaid Series.] 
 
 Otway, Thomas, The Works of, consisting of his Plays, 
 Poems, and Letters. With a Sketch of his Life, en- 
 larged from that written by Dr. Johnson. In two 
 volumes. London, 1812. Quotations are from this 
 edition. 
 
 Otway, Thomas, The Works of, in three volumes. With 
 Notes, Critical and Explanatory, and a Life of the 
 Author, By Thomas Thornton, Esq. London, 1813. 
 
 Ravenscroft, Edward, The Canterbury Guests; or, 
 a Bargain Broken. A Comedy. Acted at The Theatre- 
 Royal. Written by Mr. . . . , London, Printed for 
 Daniel Brown at the Bible without Temple-Barr ; 
 and John Walthoe, at his Shop in Vine-Court, 
 Middle-Temple, 1695. 
 
 Ravenscroft, Edward, The Careless Lovers : A Comedy 
 Acted at the Duke's Theatre. Written by Edward 
 Ravenscrofts, Gent. London, Printed for WiUiam 
 Cademan, at the Popes Head in the Lower Walk 
 in the New Exchange, 1673. 
 
248 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Ravenscroft, Edward, The Citizen turned Gentleman : 
 a Comedy. Acted at the Duke's Theatre. By Edw. 
 Ravenscroft. Gent. London, Printed for Thomas 
 Dring, at the White-Lyon next Chancery-Lane end 
 in Fleetstreet, 1672. Quotations are from this edition. 
 
 Ravenscroft, Edward, The London Cuckolds. A 
 Comedy; As it is Acted at The Duke's Theatre. By 
 Edward Ravenscroft, Gent. London, Printed for Jos. 
 Hindmarsh at the Sign of the Black-Bull near the 
 Royal-Exchange in Cornhill, Anno Dom., 1682. 
 
 Ravenscroft, Edward, Mamamouchi, or the Citizen 
 turned Gentleman: a Comedy Acted at the Duke's Thea- 
 tre. By Edw. Ravenscroft. Gent. London, Printed for 
 Thomas Dring, at the Corner of Chancery-Lane, over 
 against the Inner Temple Gate in Fleetstreet, 1675. 
 
 Ravenscroft, Edward, Scaramouch a Philosopher, 
 Harlequin a School-Boy, Bravo, Merchant, and Magi- 
 cian. A Comedy After the Italian manner. Acted at 
 the Theatre-Royal. Written by Mr. . . . Printed for 
 Robert Sollers at the Flying Horse in St. Pauls 
 Church-yard, 1677. 
 
 [Rawlins, Thomas], Tom Essence: or. The Modish 
 Wife. A Comedy. As it is Acted at the Duke's 
 Theatre. Licensed, Novemh. the Uh. 1676. Roger 
 L' Estrange. London, Printed by T. M. for W. 
 Cademan, at the Popes-Head in the Lower Walk 
 of the New-Exchange in the Strand, 1677. 
 
 Sedley, Sir Charles, Bart., The Works of the Hon- 
 ourable, In Prose and Verse. In Two Volumes. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 249 
 
 Containing the Translations of VirgiVs Pastorals, the 
 Battle and Government of Bees, &c. With his Speeches, 
 Political Pieces, Poems, Songs and Plays, the greatest 
 Part never printed before, . . . With Memoirs of 
 the Author's Life, Written by an Eminent Hand. 
 London, 1778. 
 
 Shad WELL, Thomas, [The Best Plays of.] Edited, with 
 an Introduction and Notes, by George Saintsbury. 
 
 London and New York, . [In The Mermaid 
 
 Series] 
 
 Shad WELL, Thomas, Esq., The Dramatick Works of; 
 In four volumes. London, 1720. Quotations are 
 from this edition. 
 
 Southerne, Thomas, Esq., Plays written by . . . 
 Now first collected. With An Account of the Life and 
 Writings of the Author. London, 1774. 
 
 [Tomkis, Thomas], Albumazar. A Comedy presented 
 before the Kings Maiesty at Cambridge. By the 
 Gentlemen of Trinity Colledge. Newly revised and 
 corrected by a speciall Hand. London, Printed by 
 Nicholas Okes, 1634. 
 
 TuKE, Sir Samuel, The Adventures of Five Hours. See 
 Dodsley. 
 
 Vanbrugh, Sir John, Edited by W[illiam] C. Ward. 
 In two volumes. London, 1893. Quotations are from 
 this edition. 
 
 Vanbrugh, Sir John, [The Select Plays of.] Edited, 
 with an Introduction and Notes, by A. E. H. Swaen. 
 
250 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 London and New York, 1896. [In The Mermaid 
 Series.] 
 
 Wright, Thomas, The Female Vertuoso's. A Comedy: 
 As it is Acted at the Queen's Theatre, By their Majesties 
 Servants. Written by Mr. . . . London, Printed 
 by J. Wilde, for R. Vincent, in Cliffords-Inn-lane, 
 Fleet-street, 1693. 
 
 Wycherley, William, [The Complete Plays of.] 
 Edited with Introduction and Notes by W. C. Ward. 
 London and New York, — . [In The Mermaid Series.] 
 Quotations are from this edition. 
 
 II. GENERAL WORKS AND SPECIAL 
 STUDIES 
 
 This bibliography does not embrace all the works 
 consulted in the preparation of the preceding chapters, 
 but only those bearing on some phase of the subject 
 as there treated, chiefly for the purpose of giving full 
 titles of books referred to in the notes. Very few titles 
 for Moliere have been included, since the bibliography 
 by Currier and Gay will indicate what has been at my 
 disposal. I have tried to make the titles exact, but 
 not always complete. As in the first section, date and 
 place of pubhcation have been reduced to a uniform 
 style. 
 
 Albrecht, L., Dryden's "Sir Martin Mar-alV^ in 
 Bezug auf seine Quellen. [Dissertation, Rostock] 
 Rostock, 1906. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 251 
 
 Archer, William, The Comedies of Congreve. [In 
 The Forum, vol. xliii. New York, 1910.] 
 
 [Baker, David Erskine], The Companion to the Play- 
 house: or. An Historical Account of all the Dramatic 
 Writers {and their Works) that have appeared in Great 
 Britain and Ireland, from the Commencement of our 
 Theatrical Exhibitions, down to the Present Year 1764. 
 Composed in the Form of a Dictionary, For the more 
 readily turning to any particular Author, or Perform- 
 ance. In Two Volumes. London : Printed for T. 
 Becket and P. A. Dehondt, in the Strand ; C. Hen- 
 derson, at the Royal Exchange ; and T. Davies, 
 in Russel-Street, Covent-Garden. 1764. 
 
 Bartoli, Adolfo, Scenari inediti delta commedia del- 
 Varte. Contributo alia storia del teatro popolare italiano. 
 Firenze, 1880. [In Raccolta di opere inedite o rare di 
 ogni secolo delta letteratura italiana.] 
 
 Beljamb, Alexandre, Le Public et les hommes de lettres 
 en Angleterre au dix-huitieme siecle 1660-1744 (Dryden- 
 Addison-Pope). Ouvrage couronne par V Academic 
 frangaise. Deuxieme edition augmentee d'un index. 
 Paris, 1897. 
 
 Belloni, Antonio, II Seicento. Milano, . [In 
 
 Storia letteraria d'ltalia scritta da una societd di 
 professori.] 
 
 Bennewitz, Alexander, Congreve und Moliere. Lit- 
 erar-Historische Untersuchung. Leipzig, 1890. 
 
 Bennewitz, Alexander, Moliere's Einfluss auf Con- 
 greve. [Dissertation, Leipzig] Leipzig, 1889. 
 
252 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 BoBERTAG, Felix, Zu John Dryden. [In Englische 
 Studien. Organ fur englische Philologie unter Mithe- 
 rucksichtigung des englischen Unterrichtes auf hoheren 
 Schulen. Herausgegeben von Dr. Eugen Kolbing. 
 IV Band. Heilbronn, 1881.] 
 
 Brunetiere, F[erdinand], Les Epoques de la comedie 
 de Moliere. [Dans la Revue de deux mondes. Ixxvi ® 
 annee — cinquieme periode. Tome trent-et-unieme. 
 Paris, 1906.] 
 
 BuRGHCLERE, WiNiFRED, Lady, George Villiers, Second 
 Duke of Buckingham. 1628-1687. A Study in the 
 History of the Restoration. With portraits and illus- 
 trations. London, 1903. 
 
 [Burnet, Gilbert, Bishop of Salisbury], Some 
 Passages of the Life and Death of the Right Honourable 
 John, Earl of Rochester. Reprinted in facsimile from 
 the Edition of 1680. With an Introductory Preface 
 by Lord Ronald Gower. London, 1875. 
 
 Canfield, Dorothea Frances, Corneille and Racine 
 in England. A Study of the English Translations of 
 the two Corneilles and Racine, with especial Reference 
 to their Presentation on the English Stage. [Disserta- 
 tion, Columbia] New York, 1904. 
 
 Chase, Lewis Nathaniel, The English Heroic Play. 
 [Dissertation, Columbia] New York, 1903. 
 
 Charlanne, Louis, Ulnfluence frangaise en Angleterre 
 an xvii ^ siecle. La vie sociale — la vie litteraire. 
 Etude sur les relations socialcs et litteraires de la 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 253 
 
 France et de VAngleterre surtout dans la seconde 
 moitie du XVII ^ siecle. Paris, 1906. 
 
 Chatfield-Taylor, H[obart] C[hatfield], Moliere, 
 a Biography. With an introduction by Thomas 
 Frederick Crane. Illustrations by JoB. New York, 
 1906. 
 
 Gibber, Collet, An Apology for the Life of, written 
 by himself. A New Edition with Notes and Supple- 
 ment by Robert W. Lowe. With twenty-six mezzotint 
 portraits by R. B. Parkes, and eighteen etchings by 
 Adolphe Lalauze. In two volumes. London, 1889. 
 
 Collins, George Stuart, Dryden's Dramatic Theory 
 and Praxis. [Dissertation, Leipzig] Leipzig-Reud- 
 nitz, 1892. 
 
 Collins, John Churton, Essays and Studies. Lon- 
 don, 1895. 
 
 CoRRADiNO, CoRRADO, II Seccntismo e VAdone del cava- 
 lier Marino. Consider azione critiche. Torino, 1880. 
 
 CouRTHOPE, W[illiam] J[ohn], A History of English 
 Poetry. Vol. IV. Development and Decline of the 
 Poetic Drama: Influence of the Court and the People. 
 London, 1903. 
 
 Crull, Franz, Thomas ShadwelVs {John OzelVs) und 
 Henry Fielding's Comoedien "The Miser'' in ihrem 
 Verhdltnis unter einander und zu ihrer gemeinsamen 
 Quelle. [Dissertation, Rostock] Rostock, 1899. 
 
 Cunningham, Peter, The Story of Nell Gwyn and the 
 Sayings of Charles II. Related and collected by 
 
254 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Peter Cunningham, with the author's latest corrections, 
 portraits and all the original illustrations. Edited, 
 with introduction, additional notes, and a life of the 
 author, by Henry B. Wheatley. London, 1896. [In 
 Memoir Library.] 
 
 CuKRiER and Gay, Catalogue of the Moliere Collection 
 in Harvard College Library. Acquired chiefly from 
 the library of the late Ferdinand Bocher. Compiled 
 by Thomas Franklin Currier and Ernest Lewis Gay. 
 Cambridge, Mass. 1906. [No. 57 in Bibliograph- 
 ical Contributions, edited by William Coolidge Lane.] 
 
 Dametz, Max, John Vanbrughs Leben und Werke. 
 Wien und Leipzig, 1898. [In Wiener Beitrage zur 
 englischen Philologie. . . . Herausgegeben von Dr. 
 J. Schipper. VII Band.] 
 
 Dekker, Thomas, The GidVs Horn-book, edited by E. 
 B. McKerrow. London, 1904. [In The King's 
 Library, edited by Professor Gollancz.] 
 
 [Dennis, John], A Defence of Sir Fopling Flutter, a 
 Comedy written by Sir George Etheridge. In which 
 defence is shewn. That Sir Fopling, that merry Knight, 
 was rightly composed by the Knight his Father, to 
 ansv)er the Ends of Comedy; and that he has been bar- 
 barously and scurrilously attacked by the Knight his 
 Brother, in the Q5th Spectator. By which it appears. 
 That the latter Knight knows nothing of the Nature of 
 Comedy. London : Printed for T. Warner, at the 
 Black Boy in Pater-noster Row. 1722. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 255 
 
 Dennis, [John], Some Remarkable Passages of the Life 
 of Mr. Wycherley. [In] A New Collection of Mis- 
 cellanies in Prose and Verse, [by Richardson Pack]. 
 London ; Printed for E. Curll, in the Strand. 1725. 
 
 Despois, Eugene, Le Theatre frangais sous Louis 
 XIV. Quatrieme edition. Paris, 1894. 
 
 DiBDiN, [Charles], A Complete History of the English 
 Stage. Introduced by a comparative and compre- 
 hensive review of the Asiatic, the Grecian, the Roman, 
 the Spanish, the Italian, the Portugese, the German, 
 the French, and Other Theatres, and involving Biographi- 
 cal Tracts and Anecdotes, instructive and amusing, 
 concerning a prodigious number of Authors, Composers, 
 Painters, Actors, Singers, and Patrons of Dramatic 
 Productions in all countries. The whole written with 
 the assistance of interesting documents, collected in 
 the course of five and thirty years. London, [1800]. 
 
 Dictionary of National Biography. Edited by LesHe 
 Stephen and Sidney Lee. London, 1885-1904. 
 
 DoRAN, [John], "Their Majesties Servants^* Annals of 
 the English Stage from Thomas Betterton to Edmund 
 Kean. Edited and Revised by Robert W. Lowe. With 
 fifty copperplate portraits and eighty wood engravings. In 
 three volumes. London, 1888. 
 
 Downes,"John, Roscius Anglicanus, or, an Historical 
 Review of the Stage From 1660 to 1706. A Facsimile 
 Reprint of the Rare Original of 1708. With an His- 
 torical Preface by Joseph Knight. London, 1886. 
 
256 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Elton, Oliver, The Augustan Ages. New York, 1899. 
 [In Periods of European Literature, edited by Pro- 
 fessor Saintsbury.] 
 
 Erichsen, Asmus, Thomas ShadwelVs Komodie ''The 
 Sullen Lovers'' in ihrem Verhdltnis zu Moliere's "Le 
 Misanthrope'' und '' Les Fdcheux." [Dissertation, 
 Kiel] Flensburg, 1906. 
 
 Ferchlandt, Hans, Moliere's Misanthrop und seine 
 englische Nachahmungen. [Dissertation, Halle] Halle, 
 1907. 
 
 Fischer, R[udolf], Thomas Middleton. Eine liter- 
 arhistorische Skizze. [In Festschrift zum viii. allge- 
 meinen deutschen Neuphilologentage in Wien Pfingsten 
 1898. Verfasst von Mitgliedern der Osterreichischen 
 Universitdten and des wiener neupholologischen Vereins. 
 Herausgegeben von J. Schipper. Wien und Leipzig, 
 1898.] 
 
 Fitzgerald, Percy [Hethrington], A New History 
 of the English Stage from the Restoration to the Liberty 
 of the Theatres, in Connection with the Patent Houses, 
 From Original Papers in the Lord Chamberlain's 
 Office, the State Paper Office, and other Sources. In 
 two volumes. London, 1882. 
 
 Flamini, Francesco, U Cinquecento. Milano, . 
 
 [In Storia letteraria d' Italia scritta da una societd di 
 professori.] 
 
 Fleay, Frederick Gard, A Chronicle History of the 
 London Stage (1559-1642). London, 1890. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 257 
 
 FouRNEL, Victor, Le Thedtre au XVII ^ siecle. La 
 \Comedie. Paris, 1892. 
 
 Garnett, R[ichard], The Age of Dryden. London, 
 1903. [In Handbooks of English Literature, edited by- 
 Professor Hales.] , 
 
 [Genest, John], Some Account of the English Stage, 
 from the Restoration in 1660 to 1830. In ten volumes. 
 Bath, 1832. 
 
 [GiLDON, Charles], The Life of Mr. Thomas Betterton, 
 The Late Eminent Tragedian. Wherein The Action 
 and Utterance of the Stage, Bar, and Pulpit, are dis- 
 tinctly considered. With the Judgment of the late 
 Ingenious Monsieur de St. Evremond, upon the Italian 
 and French Music and Opera's; in a Letter to the 
 Duke of Buckingham. To which is added, The Amor- 
 ous Widow, or the Wanton Wife. A Comedy. Written 
 by Mr. Betterton. Now first printed from the Original 
 Copy. London : Printed for Robert Gosling, at 
 the Mitre, near the Inner-Temple Gate in Fleet- 
 street. 1710. 
 
 [GiLDON, Charles], The Lives and Characters of the 
 English Dramatic Poets. Also An Exact Account of 
 all the Plays that were ever yet Printed in the English 
 Tongue; their Double Titles, the Places where Acted, 
 the Dates ivhen Printed, and the Persons to whom Ded- 
 icated; loith Remarks and Observations on most of 
 the said Plays. First begun by Mr. Langbain, im- 
 proved and continued down to this Time, by a Careful 
 Hand. London : Printed for Tho. Leigh at the 
 
258 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Peacock against St. Dunstan's-Church, and William 
 Turner at the White Horse, without Temple-Bar. 
 [1699.] 
 
 GossE, Edmund, A History of Eighteenth Century 
 Literature (1660-1780). London, 1889. 
 
 GossE, Edmund, Life of William Congreve. London, 
 1888. 
 
 GossE, Edmund W[illiam], Seventeenth Century Studies. 
 A Contribution to the History of English Poetry. Lon- 
 don, 1883. 
 
 Grisy, A[mbroise] de, Etude sur Thomas Otway. Paris, 
 
 1868. 
 
 Grisy, A[mbroise] de, Histoire de la comedie anglaise 
 au dix-septieme siecle (1672-1707). Paris, 1878. 
 
 Grosse, Wilhelm, John Crowne's Komodien und bur- 
 leske Dichtung. [Dissertation, Leipzig] Lucka, 1903. 
 
 Hallbauer, 0., George Farquhar^s life and works. 
 Beilage zum Program des herzoglichen Gymnasiums 
 zu Holzminden. Holzminden, 1880. 
 
 Hartmann, Carl, Einfluss Moliere's auf Dryden's 
 Komisch-Dramatische Dichtungen. [Dissertation, Leip- 
 zig] Leipzig, 1885. 
 
 Harvey-Jellie, W., Les Sources du theatre anglais a 
 Vepoque de la Restauration. [Dissertation, Paris] 
 Paris, 1906. 
 
 Hatcher, Orie Latham, John Fletcher. A Study in 
 Dramatic Method. [Dissertation, Chicago] Chicago, 
 1905. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 259 
 
 Hazlitt, William, The Collected Works of. Edited by 
 A. R. Waller and Arnold Glover, with an introduction 
 by W. E. Henley. London and New York, 1902-4. 
 
 Hettner, Hermann, Geschichte der englischen Literatur 
 von der Wiederherstellung des Konigthums bis in die 
 zweite Hdlfte des achzehnten Jahrhunderts. 1660- 
 1770. Funfte verbesserte Auflage. Braunschweig, 
 1894. 
 
 HoHRMANN, Friedrich, Das Verhdltniss Susanna Cent- 
 livre^s zu Moliere und Regnard. [In Zeitschrift fur 
 vergleichende Litter atur geschichte. Herausgegeben von 
 Dr. Max Koch. Vierzehnter Band. Berhn, 1901.] 
 
 HoLZHAUSEN, P[aul], Drydcn's Heroisches Drama. 
 [In Englische Studien, xiii., xv., xvi. Heilbronn, 1889, 
 und Leipzig, 1891, 1892.] 
 
 HuszAR, GuiLLAUME, MoUcrc et VEspagne. Paris, 
 1907. [II. in Etudes critiques de litterature comparee.] 
 
 [Hutchinson], Lucy [Apsley], Memoirs of the Life of 
 Colonel Hutchinson. Governor of Nottingham, by 
 his Widow Lucy. Edited from the original manu- 
 script by the Rev. Julius Hutchinson. To which are 
 added the letters of Colonel Hutchinson and other papers. 
 Revised with additional notes by C. H. Firth. With 
 ten etched portraits of eminent personages. In two 
 volumes. London, 1885. 
 
 [Jacob, Giles], The Poetical Register: or, the Lives and 
 Characters of all the English Poets. With an Account 
 of their Writings. Adorned with curious Sculptures 
 engraven by the best Masters. [In two volumes.] 
 
260 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 London : Printed, and Sold by A. Bettesworth, 
 W. Taylor, and J. Batley, in Paternoster Row; 
 . . . 1723. 
 
 Johnson, Samuel, Lives of the English Poets, edited by 
 George Birbeck Hill, . . . with brief memoir of Dr. 
 Birbeck Hill, by his nephew, Harold Spencer Scott. 
 In three volumes. Oxford, 1905. 
 
 Kerby, W. Moseley, Moliere and the Restoration 
 Comedy in England. [Dissertation, Rennes] [Pri- 
 vately printed, 1907.] 
 
 Klette, Johannes, William Wycherley's Leben und 
 dramatische Werke. [Dissertation, Miinster] Mtinster, 
 1883. 
 
 Krause, Hugo, Wycherley und seine franzosische 
 Quellen. [Dissertation, Halle] Halle, 1883. 
 
 Lamb, Charles, The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, 
 edited by E. V. Lucas. New York and London, 
 1903-1905. 
 
 Langbaine, Gerard, An Account of the English Dra- 
 matick Poets. Or, Some Observations And Remarks 
 On the Lives and Writings, of all those that have Pub- 
 lished either Comedies, Tragedies, Tragi-Comedies, 
 Pastorals, Masques, Interludes, Farces, or Opera^s in 
 the English Tongue. Oxford, Printed by L. L. for 
 George West, and Henry Clements. An. Dom. 
 1691. 
 
 Lanson, Gustave, Moliere et la farce. [Dans la Revue 
 de Paris. Huitieme ann^e. Tome troisieme. Mai 
 -juin 1901.] 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 261 
 
 Larroumet, Gustave, La Comedie de Moliere. 
 UAuteur et le milieu. Sixieme edition. Paris, 1903. 
 
 Laun, Henri van, The Dramatic Works of Moliere 
 rendered into English. With a prefatory memoir, 
 introductory notices, appendices and notes. Edin- 
 burgh, 1875-6. 
 
 Lavisse, Ernest, Histoire de France depuis les origines 
 jiLsqu'd la Revolution. P^iiblie avec la collaboration 
 de M. Bayet, Bloch, . . . Tome septieme. I^ 
 Louis XIV. La Fronde. Le Roi. Colbert. (1643- 
 1685) par E. Lavisse. Paris, 1906. II. Louis 
 XIV. La Religion. Les Lettres et les arts. La 
 Guerre. (1643-1685) par E. Lavisse. Paris, 1906. 
 
 The Life and Times of that Excellent and Renowned 
 Actor Thomas Betterton, Of the Duke's and United 
 Companies, at the Theatres in Portugal Street, Dorset 
 Gardens, Drury Lane, &c., during the latter half of 
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 By the Author and Editor of the Lives of ''Mrs. Abing- 
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262 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
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268 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 WtJLLENWEBER, Albert, Mts. Ceutlwre's Lustspiel 
 "Love's Contrivance ' ' und seine Quellen. [Dissertation, 
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INDEX 
 
 Adventures of Five Hours, 60, 
 
 103. 
 Albumazar, 82. 
 Alchemist, 25, 43. 
 Amants Magnifiques, 11. 
 Amour Medecin, 89, 90. 
 Amphitryon, Dryden's, 85, 87, 
 
 157 f., 173 f. 
 Amphitryon, Moli^re's, 23, 173. 
 Aristophanes, 6. 
 Audience of Moli^re, 22, 
 Audiences, pre-Restoration, 
 
 46 ff. 
 Restoration, 52 ff . 
 Avare, 13, 97, 105, 122, 129, 
 
 130, 145, 158 f., 166 f., 
 
 197 f., 202, 203. 
 
 Bartholomew Fair, 26, 43. 
 
 Behn, Aphra, 108, 192 f . 
 
 Belle Plaideuse, 15. 
 
 Boileau, 8. 
 
 Boisrobert, 15. 
 
 Borrowing, forms of, 83 ff., 
 
 133 ff., 162 ff. 
 Bourgeois Gentilhomme, 13, 104, 
 
 105. 
 Brown, Thomas, 82. 
 Bury Fair, 133 ff. 
 
 Caryll, John, 80 f., 96. 
 Centlivre, Susanna, 97. 
 Charles I, influence on the 
 
 drama, 59 f. 
 Cheats of Scapin, 85. 
 Gibber, CoUey, 139. 
 City Politics, 165 f. 
 
 Collier, Jeremy, 82, 210. 
 Comedies of Moli^re, classi- 
 fication of, 9 ff. 
 Comedy and tragedy, dis- 
 tinction between, 4 ff. 
 Comedy before Moli^re, 13 ff. 
 Comedy of humors, 32, 34 f. 
 Comedy of intrigue, 10, 14, 
 
 32 f., 100 ff. 
 Comedy of manners, 33. 
 before and after Restoration, 
 
 38 ff. 
 before Restoration, 33 ff. 
 in Restoration, 192 ff. 
 Comedy of manners and 
 
 character, 12 ff., 109 f. 
 Comedy, nearness of, to facts 
 
 of life, 4 ff. 
 Comedy, Plautine conception 
 
 of, 25 f . 
 Comedy, Restoration, ll,32f., 
 192 ff., 218 ff. 
 after the Revolution, 207 ff. 
 characters in, 133 ff. 
 dialogue of, 161 ff. 
 differences from previous 
 
 English comedy, 38 ff. 
 intrigue of, 102 ff., 11 Iff. 
 spirit of, 43 ff. 
 subject-matter of, 40 ff. 
 Comedy, Spanish, 5, 14, 
 32 f., 60,84, 101 f., 167 f., 
 190 f. 
 Comic and humorous, differ- 
 ence between, 3. 
 Comic, definition of the, 2 f. 
 Comic spirit of Moli^re, 23 ff. 
 
 269 
 
270 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Commedia delV arte, 5, 14, 20, 
 
 100 f., 102, 151, 162, 190. 
 Comtesse d'Escarbagnas, 13. 
 Congreve, William, 38, 45, 
 
 83,98, 109, 113, 119, 128f., 
 
 163 ff., 185 £f., 194 ff., 210, 
 
 215, 216. 
 Corey, John, 81. 
 Corneille, Pierre, 15. 
 Corneille, Thomas, 14. 
 Country Wife, 73, 75, 112, 120, 
 
 155 f., 201, 213. 
 Country Wit, 76, 146, 193. 
 Critique de I'Ecole des Femmes, 
 
 82, 181. 
 Crowne, John, 60, 76, 95, 119, 
 
 131,139, 142, 146f.,158f., 
 
 165 ff., 193. 
 
 Davenant, Sir William, 59, 
 
 64, 79 f., 85. 
 Denouement in Moli^re, 17. 
 Dipit Amour eux, 10, 63, 119, 
 
 140, 168, 172, 201. 
 Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin, 15. 
 Don Garde, 11. 
 Don Juan, 83, 114. 
 Double Dealer, 119, 195 ff., 
 
 200, 201, 202, 203. 
 Drama, divisions of, 4, 31 f. 
 Dryden, John, 31, 32, 36, 43, 
 
 62, 76 ff., 88, 95, 98, 109, 
 
 111, 112,115, 141 f., 157 f., 
 170 ff., 180, 182, 189, 216. 
 
 Dumb Lady, 88 ff. 
 
 Durfey, Thomas, 81, 108, 192 f. 
 
 Echegaray, 4, 84. 
 
 Ecole des Femmes, 12, 18, 81, 
 
 112, 120, 155, 202, 206. 
 Ecole des Maris, 12, 83, 111, 
 
 140, 156, 202. 
 English Friar, 95, 147, 158 f. 
 Epsom Wells, 117, 194. 
 Essay of Dramatic Poesy, 98. 
 
 Etheredge, Sir George, 36, 
 
 39, 61, 62 ff., 119, 123, 
 128, 135 ff., 177, 178 ff., 186, 
 214, 216. 
 
 Etourdi, 10, 77, 102. 
 Evening's Love, 77, 171 f. 
 
 Fdcheux, 121. 
 Farce, French, 5, 13 f., 24. 
 Farquhar, George, 215 ff. 
 Femmes Savantes, 13, 18, 25, 
 
 110, 122, 130, 189. 
 Fletcher, John, 16, 33, 37, 39, 
 
 40, 45, 46, 50, 51, 59, 102, 
 108, 220, 221. 
 
 Fourberies de Scapin, 10, 103. 
 
 Gaiety of Moli^re, 23. 
 Galerie du Palais, 15. 
 Gentleman Dancing Master, 
 72,74,75, 148, 156, 168 f. 
 
 Hauptmann, Gerhardt, 4, 84. 
 Hotel de RambouiUet, 19, 21. 
 Humorous and comic, distinc- 
 tion between, 3. 
 
 Ibsen, 4, 118. 
 
 Jonson, Ben, 15, 24, 25f., 32, 
 34, 36, 41, 43, 46, 47, 59, 
 153, 221. 
 
 Lacy, John, 88 ff., 101, 133. 
 Larivey, Pierre de, 14. 
 Limberhara, 109, 141 f. 
 Lope de Vega, 5, 98, 101, 108. 
 Louis XIV, 7, 11, 18, 20 ff., 30. 
 Love for Love, 83, 119, 129, 164, 
 
 187 f., 197 f., 200, 201, 202, 
 
 203. 
 Love in a Tub, 62 ff., 71, 75, 
 
 79, 162 f. 
 Love in a Wood, 69, 71, 73, 75, 
 
 125 ff., 147, 183 f. 
 Love Triumphant, 95. 
 
INDEX 
 
 271 
 
 Maiden Queen, 172 f. 
 
 Malade Imaginaire, 24, 118. 
 
 Mamamouchi, 103 ff. 
 
 Marriage d, la Mode, 77, 157. 
 
 Married Beau, 193. 
 
 Medbourne, Matthew, 85 ff., 
 96, 131. 
 
 Medecin malgre lui, 10, 23, 89, 
 90, 91, 92, 101, 147 f. 
 
 Melicerte, 11. 
 
 Menander, 4f. 
 
 Menteur, 10, 15. 
 
 Metamorphosis, 81. 
 
 Middleton, Thomas, 36, 38, 
 39, 41, 45. 
 
 Midsummer Night's Dream, 6, 
 17. 
 
 Miracle play, 5. 
 
 Misanthrope, 13, 23, 29, 97, 
 109, 110, 111, 116, 119, 
 120, 122, 127, 128, 148, 
 152, 154, 164 f., 183, 198 f., 
 201, 202, 206 
 
 Miser, 76, 97. 
 
 Mistake, 85. 
 
 Moli^re, attitude of Restora- 
 tion playwrights toward, 
 83ff.,103, 107, 118, 123ff., 
 129 f., 131 f., 159 f., 169 ff. 
 character-drawing of, 143 ff. 
 classification of comedies of, 
 
 9ff., 109 f. 
 comic spirit of, 23 ff . 
 dialogue of, 162 ff. 
 French characteristics of, 
 
 16 ff. 
 gaiety of, 23 f . 
 influence of, on Congreve, 
 113, 121, 128 f., 163 ff., 
 194 ff. 
 influence of, on Crowne, 
 142, 146 f., 158 f., 165 ff., 
 169, 193. 
 influence of, on Dryden, 
 76 ff., lllf., 141 f., 157 f. 
 
 influence of, on Etheredge, 
 
 62, 63, 64 f., 66 ff., 117f., 
 
 123 ff., 180 ff. 
 influence of, on Farquhar, 
 
 215 f. 
 influence of, on Lacy, 88 ff. 
 influence of, on Love in a 
 
 Tub, 63, 64. 
 influence of, on Love in a 
 
 Wood, 69 ff. 
 influence of, on Shadwell, 
 
 115ff. 
 influence of, on Vanbrugh, 
 
 212. 
 influence of, on Wycherley, 
 
 68 ff., 73ff., 112f., 120 f., 
 
 125ff.,142f.,147f., 155ff., 
 
 168f., 183ff. 
 interest in life, 6. 
 keen observation, 8 f . 
 plot-structure of, 109 ff. 
 satire of, 17, 67, 74. 
 sketch of life of, 6ff. 
 use of contrast, 140 f . 
 view of life, 27 ff. 
 Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, 
 
 10, 95, 104, 105, 107. 
 Mulberry Garden, 71, 83. 
 
 New Comedy of Greece, 4f., 
 100. 
 
 Old Bachelor, 109, 119, 121, 
 
 195, 201 f. 
 Otway, Thomas, 85, 103. 
 
 Pluin Dealer, 44, 73, 74, 75, 
 112 f., 120, 127, 148, 183, 
 213. 
 
 Plautus, 100, 101, 190. 
 
 Playhouse to be Let, 79. 
 
 Precieuses Ridicules, 12, 62, 
 68, 73, 80, 105, 107, 113, 
 128, 133, 135, 137 f., 162, 
 176, 181. 
 
272 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Princesse d' Elide, 11. 
 Provoked Wife, 2r3. 
 Psyche, 11. 
 
 Racine, Jean, 4, 114. 
 Ravenscroft, Edward, 87 f., 
 
 103 ff., 133. 
 Regnard, 26. 
 Rehearsal, 77. 
 Relapse, 44, 209 f., 211 f. 
 Restoration Comedy. See 
 
 Comedy, Restoration. 
 Restoration, moral tone of, 
 
 53 ff. 
 Rotrou, 14, 84. 
 
 Scarron, 14, 84. 
 
 Scowrers, 209. 
 
 Scribe, 26, 122. 
 
 Secentismo, 175 f., 178, 186, 
 
 189. 
 Sedley, Sir Charles, 71, 83. 
 Sganarelle, 12, 80, 172. 
 Shadwell, Thomas, 32, 76, 
 
 115 ff., 133, 194, 208, 209. 
 Shakspere, 4, 16, 24, 25, 31, 
 
 149 ff., 206. 
 She Would if She Could, 65, 
 
 67, 71, 75, 123 ff., 132, 
 
 179 f. 
 Shirley, James, 37, 42, 45, 51, 
 
 59, 220. 
 Short View, Collier's, 82, 210. 
 Sicilien, 11. 
 
 Sir Anthony Love, 209. 
 Sir Barnahy Whig, 81. 
 Sir Courtly Nice, 60, 119, 147. 
 Sir Fopling Flutter, 62, 135 ff. 
 Sir Martin Mar- All, 77. 
 Sir Patient Fancy, 108. 
 Sir Salomon, 81. 
 
 Southerne, Thomas, 208 f . 
 Squire of Alsatia, 194. 
 Stage-Beaux tossed in a Blan- 
 ket, 82. 
 Sullen Lovers, 76, 116. 
 
 Tartuffe, Medbourne's, 85 ff. 
 
 Moli^re's, 13, 24, 28, 82, 95, 
 
 109, 110, 118, 119, 120, 
 
 130, 145, 146 f., 150, 154, 
 
 158, 172, 181, 195 ff., 202. 
 
 Tempest, 17. 
 
 Terence, 100. 
 
 Tomkis, Thomas, 82. 
 
 Tragedy and comedy, differ- 
 ence between, 4 ff. 
 
 Tuke, Sir Samuel, 59 f., 103. 
 
 Unities, 39 f., 114 ff. 
 
 Vanbrugh, Sir John, 85, 139, 
 
 209 ff., 217. 
 Virtuoso, 117. 
 Visionnaires, 15. 
 Volunteers, 117. 
 
 Way of the World, 113, 119, 
 189, 198 f., 200, 201, 202. 
 
 Wild Gallant, 62, 64. 
 
 Wit in Restoration Comedy, 
 170 ff. 
 
 Wright, Thomas, 96. 
 
 Wycherley, William, 34, 39, 
 45, 61, 68 ff., 109, 112 f., 
 120 f., 125 ff., 128, 142 f., 
 147 f., 155 ff.. 168 f., 177, 
 182 ff., 186, 205, 212, 214, 
 216. 
 
 Zelinde, 8. 
 
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