In English literature, the term comedy of manners (also anti-sentimental comedy) describes a genre of realistic, satirical

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

that questions and comments upon the

manners Etiquette ( /ˈɛtikɛt, -kɪt/) can be defined as a set of norms of personal behavior in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviors that accord with the conventions and n ...

and social conventions of a greatly sophisticated, artificial society. The satire of fashion, manners, and outlook on life of the social classes, is realised with

stock characters A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Th ...

, such as the braggart soldier of

Ancient Greek comedy Ancient Greek comedy () was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece; the others being tragedy and the satyr play. Greek comedy was distinguished from tragedy by its happy endings and use of comically ex ...

, and the fop and the

rake Rake may refer to: Common meanings * Rake (tool), a horticultural implement, a long-handled tool with tines * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (poker), the commission taken by the house when hosting a poker game ...

of English Restoration comedy. The clever plot of a comedy of manners (usually a scandal) is secondary to the social commentary thematically presented through the witty dialogue of the characters, e.g. ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde, the last of his four drawing-room plays, following ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' (1892), ''A Woman of No Importance'' (1893) and ''An Ideal Husban ...

'' (1895), by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, which satirises the sexual hypocrisies of

Victorian morality Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of the middle class in 19th-century Britain, the Victorian era. Victorian values emerged in all social classes and reached all facets of Victorian living. The values of the period—which ...

. The comedy-of-manners genre originated in the

New Comedy Ancient Greek comedy () was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece; the others being tragedy and the satyr play. Greek comedy was distinguished from tragedy by its happy endings and use of comically ...

period (325–260 BC) of

Classical Greece Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (the 5th and 4th centuries BC) in ancient Greece,The "Classical Age" is "the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C." ( Thomas R. Mar ...

(510–323 BC), and is known from fragments of works by the playwright

Menander Menander (; ; c. 342/341 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek scriptwriter and the best-known representative of Athenian Ancient Greek comedy, New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His record at the Cit ...

, whose style of writing, elaborate plots, and stock characters were imitated by Roman playwrights, such as

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...

and

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a playwright during the Roman Republic. He was the author of six Roman comedy, comedies based on Greek comedy, Greek originals by Menander or Apollodorus of Carystus. A ...

, whose comedies were known to and staged during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

. In the 17th century, the comedy of manners is best realised in the plays of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

, such as '' The School for Wives'' (1662), '' The Imposter'' (1664), and ''

The Misanthrope ''The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover'' (; ) is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal (rue Saint-Honoré), Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris by ...

'' (1666), which satirise the hypocrisies and pretensions of the ''

ancien régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

'' that ruled France from the late 15th century to the 18th century. In the early 18th century,

William Congreve William Congreve (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) was an English playwright, satirist, poet, and Whig politician. He spent most of his career between London and Dublin, and was noted for his highly polished style of writing, being regard ...

's play ''

The Way of the World ''The Way of the World'' is a play written by the English playwright William Congreve. It premiered in early March 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded as one of the best works of Restoration comedy ev ...

'' (1700) became popular among the public for its strong depiction of the comedy of manners genre.

Early examples

The comedy of manners has been employed by Roman satirists since as early as the first century BC.

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

's Satire 1.9 is a prominent example, in which the persona is unable to express his wish for his companion to leave, but instead subtly implies so through wit.

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Much Ado about Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

'' might be considered the first comedy of manners In

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, but the genre really flourished during the Restoration period (1660–1710). Restoration comedy, which was influenced by

Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...

comedy of humours The comedy of humours is a genre of dramatic comedy that focuses on a character or range of characters, each of whom exhibits overriding traits or ' humours' that dominate their personality, desires and conduct. This comic technique may be found ...

, made fun of affected wit and acquired follies of the time. The masterpieces of the genre were the plays of

William Wycherley William Wycherley ( ; April 16411 January 1716) was an English Army officer and playwright best known for writing the plays '' The Country Wife'' and ''The Plain Dealer''. Early life Wycherley was born at Clive near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, ...

(''

The Country Wife ''The Country Wife'' is a Restoration comedy written by William Wycherley and first performed in 1675. A product of the tolerant early Restoration period, the play reflects an aristocratic and anti-Puritan ideology, and was controversial fo ...

'', 1675) and

(''

'', 1700). In the late 18th century

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish poet, novelist, playwright, and hack writer. A prolific author of various literature, he is regarded among the most versatile writers of the Georgian e ...

('' She Stoops to Conquer'', 1773) and

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and I ...

(''

The Rivals ''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 List of Maverick ...

'', 1775; '' The School for Scandal'', 1777) revived the form.

More recent examples

The tradition of elaborate, artificial plotting, and epigrammatic dialogue was carried on by the Irish playwright

in ''

Lady Windermere's Fan ''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London. The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is ...

'' (1892) and ''

'' (1895). In the 20th century, the comedy of manners reappeared in the plays of the British dramatists

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

(''

Hay Fever Allergic rhinitis, of which the seasonal type is called hay fever, is a type of rhinitis, inflammation in the nose that occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. It is classified as a Allergy, type I hypersensitivity re ...

'', 1925) and Somerset Maugham. Other early twentieth-century examples of comedies of manners include

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'' (later adapted into the musical ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

''),

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author. He is best known for his novels, particularly '' A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910) and '' A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous shor ...

's '' A Room with a View'', and the

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a British Aca ...

stories of

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

. The term ''

comedy of menace Comedy of menace is the body of plays written by David Campton, Nigel Dennis, N. F. Simpson, and Harold Pinter. The term was coined by drama critic Irving Wardle, who borrowed it from the subtitle of Campton's play '' The Lunatic View: A Comedy ...

'', which British drama critic Irving Wardle based on the subtitle of ''The Lunatic View: A Comedy of Menace'' (1958), by

David Campton David Campton (2 May 1924 – 9 September 2006) was a prolific British dramatist who wrote plays for the stage, radio, and cinema for thirty-five years. Biography Campton was born in Leicester, in 1924. He was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School ...

, is a jocular play-on-words derived from the "comedy of manners" (''menace'' being ''manners'' pronounced with a somewhat Judeo-English accent).Susan Hollis Merritt, ''Pinter in Play: Critical Strategies and the Plays of Harold Pinter'' (Durham & London, 1990: Duke UP, 1995) 5, 9–10, 225–28, 240. Harold Pinter's play ''

The Homecoming ''The Homecoming'' is a two-act play written in 1964 and published in 1965 by Harold Pinter. Its premières in London (1965) and New York (1967) were both directed by Sir Peter Hall. The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony Award ...

'' has been described as a mid-twentieth-century "comedy of manners". Other more recent examples include

Kazuo Ishiguro is a Japanese-born English novelist, screenwriter, musician, and short-story writer. He is one of the most critically acclaimed contemporary fiction authors writing in English, having been awarded several major literary prizes, including the 2 ...

's '' The Remains of the Day'', Barbara Pym's '' Excellent Women'', Douglas Carter Beane's '' As Bees in Honey Drown'', ''

The Country Club The Country Club, located in Brookline, Massachusetts, is the oldest golf-oriented country club in the United States. (The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, was the first country club for any sport.) It holds an important place in ...

'', and '' The Little Dog Laughed''. In ''

Boston Marriage A "Boston marriage" was, historically, the cohabitation of two women who were independent of financial support from a man. The term is said to have been in use in New England in the late 19th–early 20th century. Some of these relationships were ...

'' (1999),

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...

chronicles a sexual relationship between two women, one of whom has her eye on yet another young woman (who never appears, but who is the target of a seduction scheme). Periodically, the two women make their serving woman the butt of haughty jokes, serving to point up the satire on class. Though displaying the verbal dexterity one associates with both the playwright and the genre, the patina of wit occasionally erupts into shocking crudity. Comedies of manners have been a staple of British film and television. The ''Carry On'' films are a direct descendant of the comedy of manners style, and elements of the style can be found in

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' and ''

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the sin ...

''. Television series by David Croft in collaboration with Jimmy Perry (''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

'') and with

Jeremy Lloyd John Jeremy Lloyd (22 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an English writer, screenwriter, author, poet and actor. He was the co-writer of several successful British sitcoms, including '' Are You Being Served?'' and '' 'Allo 'Allo!''. Early ...

(''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British television sitcom that was broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was created and written by David Croft (TV producer), David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. Croft also served as executive producer and television directo ...

'') might also be considered examples of the genre. Television series such as '' George and Mildred'', ''

Absolutely Fabulous ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (often shortened to ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom created and written by Jennifer Saunders, which premiered in 1992. It is based on the 1990 '' French and Saunders'' sketch " Modern Mother and Daughter", cr ...

'', '' The Young Ones'', ''

Keeping Up Appearances ''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle-class social climber, Hyacinth Bucket ( Patricia Ro ...

'', and ''

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a British surreal comedy horror series that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives ...

'' also contain many elements of the genre. Though less common as a genre in American television, series such as ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Casey, and David Lee (scr ...

'', ''

King of the Hill ''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels that initially aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, with four more episodes airing in First-run syndicati ...

'', ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 28, 2006, to April 14, 2010. It is based on the Colombian telenovela ''Yo soy Betty, la fea' ...

'', ''

Soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

'', and ''

The Nanny ''The Nanny'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish wikt:fashionista, fashionista from Flushing, Queens, who becomes the nanny of three children ...

'' are also comedies of manners.

Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He is known for his dry wit, portrayals of awkward social situations, and brutally honest takes on everyday life. He has received two Prim ...

's ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...

'' has also been described as a comedy of manners.

References

External links

David Campton
''Samuel French London'' (archived 4 November 2007). {{Authority control Drama Comedy genres Satire

Early examples

More recent examples

See also

References

External links