Oxford Drama Library

1 total work

Four Restoration Marriage Plays

by Thomas Otway, Nathaniel Lee, John Dryden, and Thomas Southerne

Published 1 June 1995

Marriage and its discontents lie at the heart of Restoration comedy. In each of the plays collected here, a married woman confronts her would-be seducer. Each dramatist, however, totally reinterprets that situation. Rich, inventive and diverse, these plays demonstrate the vigour with which the institution of marriage was examined in the post-1660 playhouses. The plays include "The Soldier's Fortune", by Thomas Otway; "The Princess of Cleves", by Nathaniel Lee; "Amphitryon", by John Dryden; and "The Wives' Excuse", by Thomas Southerne.