Restoration Comedy is a style of comedy, from King Charles II's reign. In England, the Comedy of Manners is represented by the plays of William Wycherley, George Etherege, William Congreve, Aphra Behn, and George Farquhar. Read more about Restoration Comedy and the Comedy of Manners.
1. Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Comedy
by Scott McMillin (Editor). W.W. Norton & Company. From the publisher: "The First Edition of this acclaimed classroom text presents five distinguished comedies from an especially exciting and innovative period in English theater and society: William Wycherley's 'The Country Wife," George Etherege's 'The Man of Mode,' William Congreve's 'The Way of the World,' Richard Steele's 'The Conscious Lovers,' and Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 'School for Scandal.'"
2. Restoration and the Eighteenth Century
by Martin Price. Oxford University Press. From the publisher: "The authors represented in this volume include Congreve ('The Way of the World'), Gay ('The Beggar's Opera'), Dryden ('Absalom and Achitophel' and 'MacFlecknoe'), Swift, Pope, Boswell, and Samuel Johnson."3. Tricksters & Estates: On the Ideology of Restoration Comedy
by J. Douglas Canfield. University Press of Kentucky. From the publisher: "By juxtaposing the comedies of such lesser-known playwrights as Orrery, Lacy, and Rawlins with those of more familiar figures like Behn, Wycherley, and Dryden, the author invites a greater appreciation than has previously been possible of the meaning and function of Restoration comedy. This intelligent and wide-ranging study promises to become a standard work in its field."4. Female Playwrights of the Restoration: Five Comedies
by Paddy Lyons. Tuttle Publishing. From the publisher: "Aphra Behn was the first woman to earn her living by writing for the theater, and was ranked by Defoe alongside Rochester and Milton as one of the 'great wits' of her century."5. Restoration Comedy
by David Womersley. Blackwell Publishing. From the publisher: "Featuring plays by Wycherley and Congreve, 'Restoration Comedy' gives readers a flavour of the bawdy and satirical comedies performed in the sophisticated theatres of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries."6. The Broadview Anthology of Restoration and Early Eighteenth-Century Drama
by by J. Douglas Canfield (Editor). Broadview Press. From the publisher: "The core canonical plays from the era--from Dryden's 'All for Love' and Behn's 'The Rover' to Congreve's 'The Way of the World' and Sheridan's 'School for Scandal'--are all here, but so are a remarkably wide range of non-canonical works. There are many more plays by women than in any previous general anthology of drama of the period."7. Meridian Anthology of Restoration and Eighteenth Century
by Katharine M. Rogers. DIANE Publishing Company. From the publisher: "Women playwrights of the Restoration and eighteenth century were bawdy and proper, apologetic and defiant, often derided and occasionally praised. The seven women represented in this groundbreaking anthology - the only collection of Restoration and eighteenth-century plays devoted exclusively to women - had but one thing in common: the desire to ignore convention and write for the stage."8. Acting in Restoration Comedy
by Simon Callow. Applause Theatre Book Publishers. From the publisher: "With the text as his inspiration, he shapes an actor's sensibility, coaching his performance in the conventions of the age, including the politics and manners of props, the choreography of asides, the truth and burlesque of emotion, the flamboyant egotism of the age, the life of the costume, and the audience in performance."