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In English literature, the termcomedy of manners (alsoanti-sentimental comedy) describes a genre of realistic, satiricalcomedy that questions and comments upon themanners andsocial conventions of a greatly sophisticated, artificial society.[1] The satire of fashion, manners, and outlook on life of the social classes, is realised withstock characters, such as thebraggart soldier ofAncient Greek comedy, and thefop and therake of EnglishRestoration comedy.[2] The clever plot of a comedy of manners (usually a scandal) is secondary to the social commentary thematically presented through the witty dialogue of the characters, e.g.The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), byOscar Wilde, which satirises the sexual hypocrisies ofVictorian morality.
The comedy-of-manners genre originated in theNew Comedy period (325–260 BC) ofClassical Greece (510–323 BC), and is known from fragments of works by the playwrightMenander, whose style of writing, elaborate plots, and stock characters were imitated byRoman playwrights, such asPlautus andTerence, whose comedies were known to and staged during theRenaissance. In the 17th century, the comedy of manners is best realised in the plays ofMolière, such asThe School for Wives (1662),The Imposter (1664), andThe Misanthrope (1666), which satirise the hypocrisies and pretensions of theancien régime that ruled France from the late 15th century to the 18th century. In the early 18th century,William Congreve's playThe Way of the World (1700) became popular among the public for its strong depiction of the comedy of manners genre.
The comedy of manners has been employed by Roman satirists since as early as the first century BC.Horace'sSatire 1.9 is a prominent example, in which the persona is unable to express his wish for his companion to leave, but instead subtly implies so through wit.
William Shakespeare'sMuch Ado about Nothing might be considered the first comedy of manners InEngland, but the genre really flourished during theRestoration period (1660–1710).Restoration comedy, which was influenced byBen Jonson'scomedy of humours, made fun of affected wit and acquired follies of the time. The masterpieces of the genre were the plays ofWilliam Wycherley (The Country Wife, 1675) andWilliam Congreve (The Way of the World, 1700). In the late 18th centuryOliver Goldsmith (She Stoops to Conquer, 1773) andRichard Brinsley Sheridan (The Rivals, 1775;The School for Scandal, 1777) revived the form.
The tradition of elaborate, artificial plotting, and epigrammatic dialogue was carried on by the Irish playwrightOscar Wilde inLady Windermere's Fan (1892) andThe Importance of Being Earnest (1895). In the 20th century, the comedy of manners reappeared in the plays of the British dramatistsNoël Coward (Hay Fever, 1925) andSomerset Maugham. Other early twentieth-century examples of comedies of manners includeGeorge Bernard Shaw's 1913 playPygmalion (later adapted into the musicalMy Fair Lady),E. M. Forster'sA Room with a View, and theJeeves and Wooster stories ofP. G. Wodehouse.
The termcomedy of menace, which British drama criticIrving Wardle based on the subtitle ofThe Lunatic View: A Comedy of Menace (1958), byDavid Campton, is a jocular play-on-words derived from the "comedy of manners" (menace beingmanners pronounced with a somewhatJudeo-English accent).[3] Harold Pinter's playThe Homecoming has been described as a mid-twentieth-century "comedy of manners".[3]
Other more recent examples includeKazuo Ishiguro'sThe Remains of the Day,Barbara Pym'sExcellent Women,Douglas Carter Beane'sAs Bees in Honey Drown,The Country Club, andThe Little Dog Laughed. InBoston Marriage (1999),David Mamet chronicles a sexual relationship between two women, one of whom has her eye on yet another young woman (who never appears, but who is the target of a seduction scheme). Periodically, the two women make their serving woman the butt of haughty jokes, serving to point up the satire on class. Though displaying the verbal dexterity one associates with both the playwright and the genre, the patina of wit occasionally erupts into shocking crudity.
Comedies of manners have been a staple of British film and television. TheCarry On films are a direct descendant of the comedy of manners style, and elements of the style can be found inThe Beatles' filmsA Hard Day's Night andHelp!. Television series byDavid Croft in collaboration withJimmy Perry (Dad's Army) and withJeremy Lloyd (Are You Being Served?) might also be considered examples of the genre. Television series such asGeorge and Mildred,Absolutely Fabulous,The Young Ones,Keeping Up Appearances, andThe League of Gentlemen also contain many elements of the genre. Though less common as a genre in American television, series such asFrasier,King of the Hill,Ugly Betty,Soap, andThe Nanny are also comedies of manners.Larry David'sCurb Your Enthusiasm has also been described as a comedy of manners.[4][5]
