This course charts a dominant motif of British stage comedy from the Restoration—when all hell broke loose with the return of the monarchy in 1660, the introduction of the actress, and the emergence of professional women playwrights—until the present day. We’ll look at work by men and women celebrated for their always witty but often controversial representations of the sexual/romantic escapades of their contemporaries. Prepare to be disturbed as well as amused. One issue we’ll want to consider: Why did men’s work become canonical while their female colleagues, equally successful in their own day, were disappeared from the story?
