Comedy of Manners Man

William Wycherley was considered rather lewd when The Country Wife was first performed, for scandalous things in the play such as the China scene. As a playwright, Wycherley wrote many plays typical of the time period, in the style of Restoration Theatre and specifically the comedy of manners. The point of the comedy of manners was to poke fun at society's rigid moral structure, and if done successfully, audiences should have left theatres having laughed at themselves as well. Wycherley wrote in this style very efficiently by creating archetype characters with different but distinctive personalities symbolic of society's standards in the period. These would have been easily recognized by their word choice, and more importantly, the asides spoken about the characters by the other characters. Below is a link for a new contemporary film called "Boogie Woogie" It is described as a modern day comedy of manners, which fits, as the plot centers around a group of people searching for love and playing each other's emotions like pieces in a game. Another feature of the comedy of manners plays is the theme that in order to find true love, one must expect a miracle or break the rules laid forth by society. This idea can also be seen in the trailer for the movie.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SzNnR6OElw


Boogie Woogie - Official Trailer. YouTube/Boogie Woogie. Web. 8 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SzNnR6OElw>.