ABSTRACT
The Restoration comic dramatists utilize a double comic standard, it is possible for their finer sort of affected characters to be uniformly intelligent and gracious, and so more lovable and more capable of arousing friendly laughter than nearly all corresponding affected characters in Jean Baptiste Poquelin Moliere’s comedy. Occasional arguments, it is true, have been suggested in support of the influence of English dramatic tradition on Restoration comedy. The continued satisfaction of critics of Restoration comedy in sweeping assertions as to its origins has probably resulted from the conventional absorption of these critics in one conspicuous problem which such comedy suggests. Unfortunately, the mood of Jeremy Collier’s contemporary outbursts against “the immorality and profaneness” of Restoration comedy has been an all too dominant mood in much of the later criticism of this drama. It is the unfailing identification mark of all Restoration comedy, and clearly serves to distinguish the type from all related forms.
