Sentimental Comedy

TEZPUR UNIVERSITY
ASSIGNMENT
COURSE TITLE: ENGLISH DRAMA II: Jacobean to 18th century

COURSE CODE: EG215
Submitted by: JYOTISHMOI BORA (EGB17007)

SENTIMENTAL COMEDY:
18th century sentimental comedy was a reaction to the comedy of manners. The basic
presumption on which it grew was that the man was good but was capable of doing wrong or
could be misled. It was an answer to the immoral restoration English drama.
The sentimental comedies’ roots can be traced back to 18th century tragedy which had a touch
of morality which was similar to sentimental comedy. Sentimental comedy appeals to our
feelings and emotions of sorrow, pity, and compassionate sympathy. These were mainly aimed
at producing tears rather than laughter as in other comic plays. The characters of these plays
were overly virtuous and their problems were also easily solved which got green signal from the
audiences as it depicted the true nature of human hardship. In these plays the author aims at
the innate goodness of people. In the end the protagonist who had been led astray finds the
path of righteousness through morality. The protagonist is of utmost virtues and antagonists
are morally degraded person. The plays had mostly middle-class protagonists who became
victorious by defeating all the odds in the path of morality. Plot of these plays were basically
domestic trials of the middle class people. These plays had love scenes. Their domestic
afflictions were put up giving it an emotional stress which was aimed to produce pity and
suspense prior to the happy ending in the minds of the spectators. For many socioeconomic
conditions of that time the lovers are in the beginning portrayed separately and at the end they
are united after the discovery of identity of the lover. The plots were mysterious and verse
were not use to create a more close and realistic feel. It was believed by the playwrights that a
rhyme would seclude the true meaning of the words and the truth will get vanished. Though
comedy they were more intended to produce tears to the audience rather than laughter. They
thought that laughter forbade the sympathy and thought of the audience.
There were many factors that gave birth to this genre. The restoration drama was leading
people astray. The sexually explicit behavior of the restoration drama was demoralizing the
audience. The leading cause of moral corruption was that the restoration comedy was
supporting the vice instead of criticizing it. So the sentimentalist took the responsibility to
damage that was caused by the restoration comedy. They concentrated on instructing through
their plays rather than delight.
Sir Richard Steel is considered the pioneer of this genre. His The Conscious Lovers (1722) is one
of the most successful plays in this genre. He was an Irish playwright often criticized for being a
hypocrite. He was also a co-founder of the magazine The spectator.
Some more great works and playwrights are- Love's Last Shift by Colley Cibber (1696), The
Constant Couple by George Farquhar (1699), and The Lying Lover by Richard Steele (1703), The
Tender Husband by Richard Steele (1705), The Conscious Lovers by Richard Steele (1722), The
Foundling by Edward Moore (1748) ,The School for Lovers by William Whitehead (1762) etc.
ANTI SENTIMENTAL COMEDY:
This genre was a severe reaction towards the Sentimental comedy. Anti- sentimental comedy is
also popularly known as comedy of manners. The name itself suggests that it satirized the
manners and mannerisms of the society. The plot in the genre are often dedicated to the witty
dialogues, and sharp social commentary. Here the plot is usually about a scandal and centers
around it. For the historical significance of this genre we can look back to the romans, for
example Horace’s satires. Though the genre actually developed in the restoration period but
William Shakespeare’s Much ado about nothing is considered the first play of this genre in
England.
The writers who were primary to bring the revival of true comedy in 18th Century were Henry
Fielding, Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Sheridan. .Oliver goldsmith was the primary figure in this
genre.in his essay, an ‘Essay on the theatre’ or ‘A comparison between laughing and sentimental
comedy’. He criticizes the sentimental comedy. Hi argues that the true function of the comedy
was to depict the follies and vices of the society and men and women in a humorous way to
rectify them by laughter. Richard Brinsley Sheridan was also among those who criticized the
sentimental comedy. Thus the new genre of Anti-sentimental comedy took us again to the old
form of comedy.
The plays in this genre satirized the middle upper class people. The playwrights mainly targeted
the shallow outward decorum that was maintained by the so called “upper class’ people but
they immensely lacked inner truthfulness and basic morality. Lust, greed, materialistic nature of
people, gossips and rumors, hypocritical nature and false pretentiousness of the people were
exhibited with a touch of humor in these plays. The dramatists also touched areas such as
marriage, love, adultery, fortune hunting etc.in these plays that were so much abundant in the
society of 18th century. They relied on high comedy and minimal use of the physical action.
More emphasis was given on the witty dialogues. The use of stock characters gave more depth
to the characters, they were such as hypocrite, schemer, fool, jealous husband, and interfering
old parents etc.
Some major playwrights and their works in this genre are- William Wycherley (The Country
Wife, 1675) and William Congreve (The Way of the World, 1700). In the late 18th century Oliver
Goldsmith (She Stoops to Conquer, 1773) and Richard Brinsley Sheridan (The Rivals, 1775; The
School for Scandal, 1777) . These are said to be the ones who revived the genre again in 18th
century and the name Anti-Sentimental comedy became popular. Later Oscar wild also
experimented with this genre in Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being
Earnest (1895).
This genre reappeared in the 20th century in the works of British dramatists Noël Coward (Hay
Fever, 1925) and Somerset Maugham.

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TEZPUR UNIVERSITY

COURSE TITLE: ENGLISH DRAMA II: Jacobean to 18th century

Submitted by: JYOTISHMOI BORA (EGB17007)

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