William Congreve, Love For Love

Joshua Grasso (East Central University)

Ed. by Nicholas Seager, University of Keele
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1695

Places

Ireland, Republic of (Eire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Love for Love

(1695) is the third of Congreve’s comedies, following close on the heels of

The Double Dealer

(1693), whose humor proved uncomfortably sharp to late seventeenth-century audiences (it was not a success). Hoping to broaden his pallet, Congreve’s third comedy moved out of the claustrophobic setting of a single room and placed all of London on stage; besides the fashionable drawing rooms of the

beau monde

, it is also highly topical, name-dropping scandalous locales such as

Knightsbridge

and

World’s-End

(one a haunt of highwaymen, and the other an infamous inn). Congreve also invokes the world beyond Europe through the character of Ben Sampson, who speaks of Antegoa (Antigua) and Ligorn (Leghorn) as so many fashionable addresses. Because of this, the play feels not only…

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2141 words

Citation: Grasso, Joshua. "Love For Love". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 December 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3838, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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