This magisterial work forms a close critical study of all the surviving plays first written and professionally premiered in England between 1660 and 1700. Hughes's readable volume analyses many texts, often in detail and for the first time, and also places them within the range of contemporary theatrical output, with its diversity of outlook and constant shifts in fashion and subject. The Country-Wife and The Man of Mode are treated not as typical `Restoration Comedies' but as almost unique plays. Hughes also presents innovative work on the politcal, intellectual, and social background of the corpus, with extensive discussion of its treatment of women and the contribution of women dramatists.
