WILLIAM CONGREVE

Sep 29, 2026

William Congreve by Bonamy Dobrée presents a critical portrait of Congreve as a central figure in Restoration comedy. The text highlights his “consummate mastery of language,” absurd comic character invention, and especially the refined wit exchanged by lovers. It contrasts Congreve with peers such as Etherege and Wycherley, emphasizing an underlying maturity and intellectual fastidiousness that allows him to mock the standards of his age while indulging contemporary tastes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages50

Reading Time1 h 17 min

AccessFree to download

Bibliographical Series of Supplements to ‘British Book News’ on Writers and Their Work

William Congreve

wR1TERS AND THE1R WOR累：NO.164WilliamCongreveby BONAMY DOBRÉEPublished for The British Counciland the National Book Leagueby Longmans,Green &Co. 3366 D6 38137 Dobree Willlam Congreve Digitized by the Internet Archivein 2022 with funding fromKahle/Austin Foundation https://archive.org/details/williamcongreve0000unse_x1p5 Williamongreve by BONAMY DOBRÉE Published for the British Counciland the National Book Leagueby Longmans,Green &Co Three shillings and sixpence net 'What plays!What wit!'Byron's tribute to Congreve was a fitting one:the consummate mastery of language,wonderfully absurd comiccharacters,and especially the exquisite wit and gaiety of the lovers'exchanges,mark his plays as some of the greatest comedies in the Englishlanguage.But if Congreve represents the flowering of Restorationcomedy,he also stands apart from his fellow playwrights;contrastedwith Etherege's amorality and Wycherley's wit,his ‘sound andcapacious mind'invests his incomparable plays with an underlyingmaturity and intellectual fastidiousness;he mocks the standards of hisage in the guise of indulging its tastes. Professor Dobrée is an authority on the later seventeenth and earliereighteenth centuries.His books include Restoration Comedy(I92s),Restoration Tragedy(I929),English Literature in the Early EighteenthCentury (I959),and an essay on John Dryden in the present series.Heedited the plays in The Works of John Vanbrugh (I927),The Comedies ofCongreve and The Mourning Bride,etc.(World's Classics,I925 and I928),also Five Restoration Tragedies and Five Heroic Plays(World Classics,I928 and I96o).He is the author of a biography of Alexander Pope(I9so)and biographies of Etherege and Vanbrugh may be found in his Essaysin Biography(I92s).Further biographies are contained in Three EighteenthCentury Figures(I962).He also edited the poems of Dryden and of Popein the Everyman Series. # Bibliographical Seriesof Supplements to ‘British Book News'on Writers and Their Work GENERAL EDITORGeoffrey Bullough WILLIAM CONGREVE from a portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller amongthe Kit-Cat Club collection in the NationalPortrait Gallery.

FAQs

How does the text describe Congreve’s mastery as a playwright?

It credits Congreve with consummate mastery of language and an ability to create wonderfully absurd comic characters, especially through witty exchanges between lovers.

How is Congreve positioned relative to other Restoration playwrights?

The text says Congreve stands apart from his fellow playwrights: unlike Etherege’s amorality and Wycherley’s wit, his work carries underlying maturity and intellectual fastidiousness.

Who is Bonamy Dobrée and what is his expertise?

Professor Dobrée is described as an authority on the later seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, with major books on Restoration comedy and related literary studies.

Sep 29, 2026

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