Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1976 A Study of Family Relationships in the Restoration Comedy of Manners. Susan Marcia Flierl Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Flierl, Susan Marcia, "A Study of Family Relationships in the Restoration Comedy of Manners." (1976). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 2919. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/2919 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. 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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 76-25,262 FLIERL, Susan Marcia, 1946- A STUDY OF FAMILY RaATIONSHIPS IN THE RESTORATION COMEDY OF MANNERS. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1976 Theater Xerox University MicrofilmsAnn , Arbor, Michigan 48106 © 1976 SUSAN MARCIA FLIERL ALL RIGHTS RESERVED A STUDY OF FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS IN THE RESTORATION COMEDY OF MANNERS A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech by Susan Marcia Flierl B.A., William Smith College, 1966 M.A., New York University, 1968 May, 1976 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Bill Harbin, Chairman of my committee, for his long-distance efforts to help me bring this long project to a close. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................. ii ABSTRACT........................................... v INTRODUCTION..................................................... vii CHAPTER I. BACKGROUND............................................... 1 Descent of the Comedy of Manners Characteristics of the Comedy of Manners Social Background Intellectual Background Changes in Society and Comedy Criticism of the Comedy of Manners The Dramatists Sir George Etherege William Wycherley William Congreve John Vanbrugh George Farquhar Colley Cibber Sir Richard Steele II. YOUNG WOMEN............................................... 35 III. YOUNG M E N ................................................. 75 IV. SIBLINGS.................................................. 99 V. SENTIMENTALISM........................................... 124 Background Siblings Young Women and their Parents Young Men and their Parents Summary iii CHAPTER VI. CONCLUSION.............................................. 160 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................... 169 Plays Selected Sources VITA............................................................ 175 iv ABSTRACT An examination of family relationships in the Restoration comedy of manners reveals conflict and bitterness. The Restoration comic world, influenced by a court milieu of skepticism, libertinism, and naturalism, is essentially a selfish one; the characters' pursuit of full realization of their egoistic natures takes precedence over all else, including loyalty to family members. Furthermore, the rebellion of Charles II1s court against Puritan and middle-class values en­ couraged the dramatists, themselves aristocrats writing for a court audience, to question the conventionally accepted family structure— a structure which often disintegrates in Restoration comedy. The playwrights depict families as lacking cohesion; relatives are not supportive of one another, and hostilities flare. Family disintegration appears in the relationships between young women and their parents or guardians, young men and their parents or guardians, and siblings. The heroine rebels against her parent's determining her mate, a decision which is often based on purely monetary considerations. As a foil to the witty and charming young girl, the parental figure is prudish in a libertine age and would repress the heroine's natural instincts. The older generation is always outwitted by the heroine, who not only wins the man of her choice, but ends up with enough money to continue to enjoy her aristo­ cratic life style. Similarly, the young man in the Restoration comedy of manners confronts his elders and attempts to achieve freedom. His main opponent in the play is often a parent or guardian who threatens v him with financial deprivation if he does not adhere to the parent's or guardian's wishes. The siblings portrayed frequently lack contact with one another during the play. (The Restoration comedy of manners emphasizes social, rather than familial, spheres.) In plays where there is interaction between siblings, they provide a constant source of irritation to each other. In the specific case of the elder and younger brothers, no evidence of generosity exists; the elder brother who inherits an estate allows his younger sibling to suffer poverty. As the seventeenth century draws to a close, there is a shift from a comedy of selfishness to a drama of unselfishness. The rise in power of the bourgeoisie, the attacks on the morality of the Restor­ ation comedy of manners, and the severing of close ties between court and theatre, all influence the shape of the new drama. Sentimentality infiltrates the comedy, and love and supportiveness begin to manifest themselves in family relationships. As the libertine and free existence loses attractiveness for hero and heroine alike, they now value family ties. The heroine is able to wed the right man without alienating her parent or guardian. Parents, in turn, care more about their daughter's happiness than finances. The now sober hero bears love and respect for his parent, who is no longer depicted as a ridiculous fool merely because he is aged. Should a son cause his father pain, he suffers remorse and repentance. Siblings, rather than ignoring each other or interacting only with conflict, serve drama­ tically to reinforce each other's virtuous traits. In sentimental comedy, harmony replaces the earlier depiction of family relationships as indifferent, bitter, or openly hostile. vi INTRODUCTION "The Restoration comedy of manners" is the specific label applied to a body of witty, elegant and rather risque dramatic liter­ ature which developed after the restitution of the monarchy in England in 1660. Its basic pattern was established by writers such as Sir George Etherege in the 1660's, and the genre reached its peak in the works of William Congreve in the 1690's. Around the turn of the century, the Restoration comedy of manners began to undergo erosion with transitional dramatists like George Farquhar, whose works display the influence of the growing movement towards sentimentalism. As the so-called "sentimental comedy" of such authors as Colley Cibber and Sir Richard Steele began to flourish in the eighteenth century, the comedy of manners faded away. As John Loftis points out, although to the historian "Restoration" refers to the period between 1660 and 1685 or 1688, to the drama student it refers to the tradition "established in the 1660's, weakening after 1700, and displaced in the 1730's."1 The numerous studies of Restoration comedy have generally emphasized one of the following topics: the relationship of the 2 3 4 5 comedies to society; the immorality, or amorality, or morality g of the plays; or, their function as a social corrective. More specifically, the focus