(1695) is the third of Congreve’s comedies, following close on the heels of

(1693), whose humor proved uncomfortably sharp to late seventeenth-century audiences (it was not a success). Hoping to broaden his pallet, Congreve’s third comedy moved out of the claustrophobic setting of a single room and placed all of London on stage; besides the fashionable drawing rooms of the

, it is also highly topical, name-dropping scandalous locales such as

and

(one a haunt of highwaymen, and the other an infamous inn). Congreve also invokes the world beyond Europe through the character of Ben Sampson, who speaks of Antegoa (Antigua) and Ligorn (Leghorn) as so many fashionable addresses. Because of this, the play feels not only…

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Citation: Grasso, Joshua. "Love For Love". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 December 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3838, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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