Critics, Values, and Restoration ComedySouthern Illinois University Press, 1982 - 177 pages Granting that literature delights, Harwood addresses the moral questions that have been hotly debated by critics for the 300 years since Restoration comedy flourished: “In what way does literature teach? How do beliefs about its effects on audiences shape critics’ responses to and judgment of literature?”
Harwood begins with a survey of the “major rhetorical strategies by which many critics transform themselves, at least momentarily and perhaps unconsciously, into moralists when they deal with restoration comedy.”
Then he places various moral responses in a broader critical context by analyzing ways in which critics have traditionally handled aesthetic problems, which inevitably entail an ethical assessment of literature.
Third, he analyzes the moral dimensions of four controversial Restoration comedies: William Wycherley’s Country Wife; Edward Ravenscroft’s London Cuckolds; Thomas Otway’s Souldiers Fortune; and Thomas Shadwell’s Squire of Alsatia. |
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... sexual relations in the comedies : ... Many of those comedies which take delight in a triumphant cuckold- ing are making an indirect comment on an important social theme . Defiant adultery proclaims the cause of free - choice in sexual ...
... Sexual 1. sexually aggressive acts of a criminal nature 2. unlawful sexual practices 3. nonconsensual sex acts 4. incest 5. sexually perverse behavior 6. adultery 7. illegal sexual activities 8. socially disapproved sexual behavior 9.
... sexual desires 32. provides outlet for otherwise frustrated sexual drives 33. releases strong sexual urges without harming others 34. pleasure 35. provides discharge of " antisocial " sexual appetites 36. assists consummation of legitimate ...