Originally composed and published in 1981, this second book makes up two volumes of the plays of George Colman the Younger. Versatile, industrious, talented, Goerge Colman the Younger (1762-1836) followed Sheridan as England's most popular playwright. He wrote not only monologues, farces, pantomimes, comic operas, and straight comedies, but also hybrid three-act anticipations of melodrama.

Originally composed and published in 1981, this second book makes up two volumes of the plays of George Colman the Younger. Versatile, industrious, talented, Goerge Colman the Younger (1762-1836) followed Sheridan as England's most popular playwright. He wrote not only monologues, farces, pantomimes, comic operas, and straight comedies, but also hybrid three-act anticipations of melodrama.

Originally composed and published in 1981, this second book makes up two volumes of the plays of George Colman the Younger. Versatile, industrious, talented, Goerge Colman the Younger (1762-1836) followed Sheridan as England's most popular playwright. He wrote not only monologues, farces, pantomimes, comic operas, and straight comedies, but also hybrid three-act anticipations of melodrama.

Originally composed and published in 1981, this second book makes up two volumes of the plays of George Colman the Younger. Versatile, industrious, talented, Goerge Colman the Younger (1762-1836) followed Sheridan as England's most popular playwright. He wrote not only monologues, farces, pantomimes, comic operas, and straight comedies, but also hybrid three-act anticipations of melodrama.

The Rivals and Polly Honeycombe revolve around young women who wish the world would conform to novelistic convention. Unlike most eighteenth-century heroines keen on novel reading, however, Lydia Languish and Polly Honeycombe are neither deluded nor in any real danger. Rather, they inhabit a world in which everyone is engaged in some sort of quixotic performance; the more appealing characters are just willing to admit it. Both farcical and wise, these plays teasingly celebrate the perennial appeal of fiction, while never letting us forget how much it relies upon the everyday rituals of performance. The introduction to this Broadview edition explores the interrelations between print and performance in the eighteenth century, including a detailed and well-illustrated account of what it was like to go to the theatre. Appendices include material on the original casts, the often dubious reputation of novel reading and circulating libraries, Sheridan's high-profile elopement with Elizabeth Linley (which made him a celebrity before he ever staged a word), and the narrative possibilities conjured up by setting The Rivals in the resort city of Bath.

The Modern Husband * The Clandestine Marriage * She Stoops to Conquer * Wild Oats This edition brings together four eighteenth-century comedies that illustrate the full variety of the century's drama. Fielding's The Modern Husband , written before the 1737 Licensing Act that restricted political and social comment, depicts wife-pandering and widespread social corruption. In Garrick and Colman's The Clandestine Marriage two lovers marry in defiance of parental wishes and rue the consequences. She Stoops to Conquer explores the comic and not-so-comic consequences of mistaken identity, and in Wild Oats, the 'strolling player' Rover is a beacon of hope at a time of unrest. Part of the Oxford English Drama series, this edition has modern-spelling texts, critical introduction, wide-ranging annotation and an informative bibliography. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.