This volume investigates the stylistic conventions, thematic preoccupations, and social functions of English comedy written during the Restoration period. Dennis Davison, an established scholar in the field of seventeenth-century literature, provides a critical framework for understanding how these plays reflected the shifting moral and political landscape of post-Commonwealth England. By analyzing specific texts and performance contexts, the author argues that these works represent a distinct evolution in dramatic form that prioritized wit, social satire, and urban sophistication.

Scholars and students frequently utilize this text as a foundational introduction to the specific tropes and social critiques inherent in Restoration comedy. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which assumes a baseline familiarity with seventeenth-century English history and dramatic terminology.