Four Restoration Marriage PlaysMarriage and its discontents lie at the heart of Restoration comedy. In all four of the great plays gathered here, a married woman confronts her would-be seducer. Each dramatist, however, totally reinterprets the situation. Thomas Otway's The Soldier's Fortune converts adultery into political revenge. Nathaniel Lee's The Princess of Cleves offers a potent and perplexing portrait of a libertine in action at the sixteenth-century French court. John Dryden's Amphitryon, set in ancient Thebes, retells the story in which Jupiter lures the virtuous Alcmena into cuckolding her husband by a stratagem that throws into doubt the very nature of human identity. Thomas Southerne's The Wives' Excuse reinvents, for the new circumstances of the 1690s, the familiar Restoration plot of a wife spurred towards infidelity by her partner's failings. All of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. |
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Contents
Acknowledgements | ix |
Note on the Texts | l |
The Critical Inheritance | lvi |
I | 2 |
THE PRINCESS OF CLEVES | 89 |
AMPHITRYON OR THE TWO SOSIAS | 102 |
by John Dryden | 172 |
THE WIVES excuse or CUCKOLDS MAKE THEMSELVES | 255 |
Explanatory Notes | 337 |
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Common terms and phrases
ALCMENA AMPHITRYON BEAUGARD Bellamore BLOODY BONES Bromia CELIA Chartres comedy confess COURTALL COURTINE cuckold damned dear devil Dryden ELIANOR English Enter excuse Exeunt Exit faith favour fellow fool FOURBIN FRIENDALL Friendall's gentleman give GRIPUS hast heart heaven honour husband Irene John Dryden Jupiter kiss LADY DUNCE Lee's lord LOVEMORE lover madam MARGUERITE married matter means MERCURY murder NEMOURS never night on't Otway PHAEDRA Phoebus play pleasure POLTROT poor Pray Prince of Cleves Princess of Cleves prithee Restoration Restoration Comedy Rochester rogue RUFFLE SAINT-ANDRÉ scene sexual SIGHTLY Sir Davy Dunce Sir Davy's SIR JOLLY Sir Jolly Jumble sirrah soldier song SOSIA soul Southerne's speak SPRINGAME sure swear SYLVIA TEAZALL tell thee there's things Thomas Southerne thou art TOURNON town twas Vermin Vidame WELLVILE Whig whore wife WILDING WILDING'S FOOTMAN WITWOUD wives woman women