George Etherege

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George Etherege
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Sir George Etherege (1635?, Maidenhead, Berkshire–c. 10 May 1692, Paris [1]) was an English dramatist. He wrote the plays The Comical Revenge or, Love in a Tub in 1664, She Would if She Could in 1668, and The Man of Mode or, Sir Fopling Flutter in 1676.
Early life
George Etherege was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, around 1635, to George Etherege and Mary Powney, as the eldest of six children.[1] Educated at Lord Williams's School where a school building was later named after him, he was also rumored to have been educated at Cambridge as well; [2] however, John Dennis assures that to his certain knowledge he understood neither Greek nor Latin, thus raising doubts that he could hardly have been there.[3] He served as apprentice to a lawyer and later studied law at Clement's Inn, London, one of the Inns of Chancery.[2] He probably travelled abroad to France with his father who stayed with the exiled queen Henrietta Maria. It is possible that he witnessed in Paris the performances of some of Molière's earliest comedies; and he is thought, from an allusion in one of his plays, to have been personally acquainted with Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy.
Success on the stage
Soon after the Restoration in 1660 he composed his comedy of The Comical Revenge or Love in a Tub, which introduced him to Lord Buckhurst, afterwards the earl of Dorset. This was performed at the Duke's theatre in 1664, and a few copies were printed in the same year. It is partly in rhymed heroic verse, like the stilted tragedies of the Howards and Killigrew, but it contains comic scenes that are exceedingly bright and fresh. The sparring between Sir Frederick and the Widow introduced a style of wit hitherto unknown upon the English stage.
The success of this play was very great, but Etherege waited four years before he repeated his experiment. Meanwhile he gained the highest reputation as a poetical beau, and moved in the circle of Sir Charles Sedley, Lord Rochester and the other noble wits of the day. His temperament is best known by the names his contemporaries gave him, of "gentle George" and "easy Etheredge." In 1668 he brought out She would if she could, a comedy full of action, wit and spirit, although by some thought to be frivolous and immoral. But in this play Etherege first shows himself a new power in literature. We move in an airy and fantastic world, where flirtation is the only serious business of life. At this time Etherege was living a life no less frivolous and unprincipled than those of his Courtals and Freemans.