Comedy of manners is a type of sophisticated comic drama concerned with the manners and behavior of a certain social group. It is particularly associated with the English Restoration period (1660-1700) (see Restoration). During this period, the comedy of manners used elegant, witty dialogue to satirize the conduct of upper-class society. Some of these satires implied a toleration for immorality, but the ideal behind them was self-knowledge. Characters in the comedy of manners were ridiculed for deceiving themselves or trying to deceive others. The most common characters included the old woman trying to appear young, and the jealous old man married to a young wife. The ideal characters were worldly, intelligent, and undeceived.
The comedy of manners originated during the mid 1600’s, largely in the plays of Molière in France and Sir George Etherege in England. In English drama, the form was perfected in the comedies of William Congreve, whose The Way of the World (1700) is often called the finest example of the form. In the works of William Wycherley, the tone was coarser and the humor more robust. Successful comedies of manners were also written in England by Sir John Vanbrugh, George Farquhar, Oliver Goldsmith, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan in the late 1600’s and 1700’s. Oscar Wilde wrote outstanding examples of the form in the late 1800’s. During the 1900’s, Noël Coward was the leading author of comedies of manners in the English-speaking theater.
See also Congreve, William; Coward, Noël; Etherege, Sir George; Farquhar, George; Molière; Sheridan, Richard Brinsley; Vanbrugh, Sir John; Wilde, Oscar; Wycherley, William.
