A student reads *The Country Wife* and argues that Horner — the protagonist who feigns impotence to gain sexual access to married women — is the play's villain, and that the comedy condemns his behavior. Based on Restoration comedy's conventions, what is wrong with this reading?
ANothing — Restoration comedy does have a clear moral framework that ultimately condemns predatory behavior
BThe genre would classify Horner as a failed wit because his scheme is unnecessarily complex
CRestoration comedy rewards genuine wit and social intelligence with audience admiration, even when morally compromised — Horner's audacity is part of what the comedy celebrates, not condemns
DThe comedy condemns the wives rather than Horner, so the moral target is simply misidentified
This is the genre's essential moral complexity. Restoration comedy does not offer straightforward moral judgment — the characters we admire (genuine wits) are often duplicitous. Horner's scheme is clever; the comedy depends on admiring its audacity even while recognizing its predatory character. A reading that makes him simply a villain flattens the genre's deliberate ambiguity into a more comfortable but inaccurate moral frame.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
Why is the 'Proviso Scene' in Congreve's *The Way of the World* — where Mirabell and Millamant negotiate the terms of their marriage — considered unusual for 17th-century drama?
AIt is the first instance of a legally binding marriage contract appearing in English theatre
BMillamant is depicted as equally witty and self-possessed as the hero, negotiating from a position of equivalence rather than submission or romantic sentiment
CThe scene satirizes the institution of marriage so explicitly that it was censored in contemporary performances
DCongreve uses the scene to condemn the Restoration aristocracy's cynicism about love and emotion
In most 17th-century drama, the heroine is the prize to be won by the hero. The Proviso Scene is unusual because Millamant matches Mirabell in wit, holds her own in the linguistic contest, and negotiates from a position that acknowledges her independence. Within Restoration comedy's value system, wit is the standard of worth — and a witty woman earns the same respect as a witty man.
Question 3 True / False
Restoration comedy emerged in a specific historical context — the reopening of theatres after Puritan Commonwealth rule — and its libertine tone was partly a deliberate repudiation of Puritan moral codes.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
The court of Charles II, returned from France in 1660, was ostentatiously libertine as a political statement against the Puritan Commonwealth that had closed the theatres. Restoration comedy reflects this: wit and sexual sophistication are coded as aristocratic virtues, while earnestness and moral prudishness are coded as bourgeois or Puritan failures. The genre's tone is historically produced, not accidental.
Question 4 True / False
Restoration comedy's satire is primarily directed at the aristocratic rakes and morally compromised protagonists — the genre ultimately endorses bourgeois values of sincerity and moral rectitude as the standard against which wit falls short.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
The satire runs the other direction. Restoration comedy mocks bourgeois prudishness and celebrates aristocratic wit. The genre's comic victims are the would-be wits — country squires, aging rakes, social climbers — who want sophistication but cannot carry it off. Characters who are earnest, sincere, or sexually naive are the genre's targets, not its moral heroes. The genuine wits' ethical compromises are features, not failings, within the genre's own value system.
Question 5 Short Answer
What does Restoration comedy reveal about the relationship between social intelligence and moral virtue in the world it depicts?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Restoration comedy systematically decouples social intelligence (wit) from moral virtue. In the world these plays depict, genuine wit — the ability to see through pretension, outmaneuver rivals with language, and navigate social codes with sophistication — is itself a form of value, regardless of ethical content. Characters who possess it are admirable even when their behavior is duplicitous or predatory. Characters who lack it are ridiculous even when sincere. The genre insists that social intelligence is its own kind of achievement, forcing audiences to admire characters they cannot exactly approve of.
This moral complexity is the genre's essential feature, not a flaw or accident. It reflects the specific social world these plays inhabited — a court culture where appearing to know the rules mattered more than sincerity, and where wit was the currency of status. Reading Restoration comedy through a simple moral lens misses what the genre is doing, because the genre itself refuses to offer the consolations of clear moral judgment.