William Congreve and His Works

William Congreve is one of the known English poets and dramatists of the Restoration period. William Congreve was born on January 24, 1670 in Bardsey, West Yorkshire, England. He studied at Trinity College in Dublin where he met Jonathan Swift. Congreve had a strong attraction towards drama, poetry, literature and the fashionable life that also engulfed the other writer of this age. He wrote comic plays, including The Old Bachelor (1693), Love for Love (1695) and The Way of the World (1700). The Old Bachelor is a perfect amalgamation of farce, satire, and Jonsonian comdedy of hurmours which gives an impression of the combination of the Elizabethan and Restoration dramatic framewrok. The witty dialogue and new twist to marriage by the inclusion of lust and amorous elements in the play reflect the obsession of restoration dramatists to mock the middle class and prevailing customs. Love for Love is a new addition to his work without much diversion and focus on the Jonsonian comedy of humours rather comedy of manners. In the play, the protogonist searches new methods to avoid his creditors and to bring back the fortune he has lost. Another main agenda of his efforts to win the love of his mistress. Besides, Love for Love is called the most satirical plays of Congreve.
Congreve coined another famous phrase in Love for Love (1695).
"O fie, miss, you must not kiss and tell."The Way of the World contains almost all the standard situations of the restoration period such as the witty dialogue, amorousness, lust, mockery of social structure, adulteries, and all the usual tension between desire and reputation. His plays could be categorized showing unscrupulous selfishness and the cruel dishonesties vogued at both the social and family levels.