Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Theaters were banned during the Interregnum under the reign of Oliver Cromwell as the Protector. Charles II returned as the King in 1660 and one of his first moves after becoming the king was to reopen the theaters and grant a letter patent to the theater owners and managers to handle the theatres again. During the same time, George Etherege began his career as a playwright. His first play to be performed was The Comical Revenge, or Love in the Tub. The Comical Revenge was performed at the Duke’s Theatre in 1664. Lord Buckhurst was among the audience and he was impressed by Etherege’s comic work. The Comical Revenge was written in partly rhymed heroic verse like a tragedy but it was a comedy with certain new and fresh scenes and perspectives. Lord Buckhurst, who later became the Earl of Dorset, became a friend of George Etherege. While Etherege enjoyed substantial success with his very first drama, he was not sure of his skills as a dramatist and he took four more years to present his second drama, She Would If She Could, in 1668. Meanwhile, he gained a reputation as a poet and became a poetic Beau. He became friends with Lord Rochester and Charles Sidley. Soon he gained further fame and became closer to the king and was announced as one of the king’s wits. George Etherege was very friendly and genteel in behavior and often his colleagues and collaborators used to call him ‘genteel George’ and ‘easy Etherege.’ "She Would If She Could" was again a comedy full of action, wit, and spirit. However, it was considered frivolous, immoral, and vulgar by the then-English public. The play takes the audience into a dreamy fantasy world where the only serious work of life is to flirt. While the comedy made many laugh, some people were agitated. Etherege himself was leading an unprincipled and frivolous lifestyle along with the Earl of Rochester. It was a comedy with no incongruous romantic verse and hence attained unity of tone in the play. Etherege wasn’t very serious about his career as a playwright and he took eight more years to present his third play which was titled The Man of Mode in the year 1676. The subtitle of the play was Sir Fopling Flutter.
The Man of Mode or Sir Fopling Flutter became an instant hit and proved to be the best comedy of George Etherege. It is still considered the best comedy of the restoration period before the works of William Congreve began to appear. One of the major reasons for the success of this play was the fact that many of the characters of the play were based on real-life people of that time. The subtitle of the play, Sir Fopling Flutter is one of the main characters of the play and this character was based on Beau Hewit, the reigning exquisite. The hero of the drama is Dorimant and this character was based on the earl of Rochester. Another character in the play is Medley who was based on George Etherege himself. That is, Etherege caricatured himself too along with some of his friends in this play. There is a minor character of a drunken shoemaker in the drama which was also based on a real-life shoemaker in London at that time. John Wilmot, the earl of Rochester, and George Etherege were very close friends. Both lived their life in excesses as libertines. Etherege and Wilmot both had a daughter by the unmarried actress Elizabeth Barry. The play got successful and famous because of its wit and charm.
Summary of The Man of Mode or Sir Fopling Flutter
The drama is based on the theme of the restoration of order in love and marriage. The two main characters are Dorimant and Harriet around whom the story revolves. They are deeply in love. However, before Dorimant meets Harriet and falls in love with her, he is already flirting with a lady Mrs. Loveit. Dorimant is trying to get rid of Mrs. Loveit but he is not clear about his intentions and keeps fooling her. Mrs. Loveit is deeply in love with Dorimant but her unrequited love only brings her scorn and ridicule. Having long since lost interest in her, Dorimant continues to lead her on, giving her hope but leaving her in despair. On the other hand, Harriet’s mother Mrs. Woodwille also doesn’t like Dorimant as he has got bad fame. She is totally against Harriet meeting Dorimant ever and opposes her. Mrs. Woodville arranges Harriet’s marriage to Bellaire. Bellaire on the other hand doesn’t want to marry Harriet as he is in love with Emilia. However, his father threatens him of disinheriting him from his fortunes if he doesn’t marry Harriet. Bellaire and Harriet meet and they pretend to like each other while both of them confess to each other that they wish to marry someone else.
Bellaire comes to know that his father is in love with Emilia and wishes to marry her. His father doesn’t know that Bellaire and Emilia are in love. As Bellaire's father pressurizes Emilia, Bellaire and Emilia elope and secretly marry against their parent’s wishes. Harriet and Dorimant help them through their battle of wits and in the end, everybody accepts the marriage of Bellaire and Emilia. The wits and tricks of Harriet and Dorimant remind the audience of Shakespeare’s Beatrice and Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing, from 1598.
Mrs. Loveit offers an element of tragedy to the play as she is defenseless against the cruel acts and words of Dorimant. In the end, she loses any hope of being with Dorimant as he succeeds in gaining Harriet’s love. Mrs. Loveit says, "There's nothing but falsehood and impertinence in this world. All men are villains or fools," as she leaves the stage. Everyone offers good wishes to the new couple of Bellaire and Emilia as Bellaire’s father accepts their marriage. Dorimant proposes to Harriet who happily accepts him while her mother is now in no mood of resisting their love. The drama ends as all the characters, except Mrs. Loveit are happy in life and in love. Sir Fopling Flutter is also the main character whom Dorimant uses to fool Mrs. Loveit by establishing that she is flirting with Sir Fopling Flutter so that he may accuse her of disloyalty and get rid of her. Etherege presented Sir Fopling Flutter as a comedy character with eccentric mannerisms. It was one of the first dramas depicting comedy of manner. The Man of Mode is the drama in which George Etherege pioneered comedy of intrigue and comedy of manner. William Congreve further mastered this art in his dramas.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.
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