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Derek Hughes, English Drama, J 660-1 700. Oxford University Press, 1995.
English Drama, 1660-1700 is "a critical study of all surviving plays which were premiered in England between 1600 and 1700." The first chapter provides a context of social attitudes and philosophical ideas of the period which influenced the drama; subsequent chapters, which divide the period into five time frames and the plays by genre, provide critical discussion of plays within that context. Additionally, several motifs which persist throughout the period are discussed whenever they appear. Emphasis is placed as well on discussion of plays which influenced specific other plays or the developments of the drama in general.
Each chapter subsequent to the first begins with a brief discussion of social attitudes or ideas which characterize the majority of the plays of the time; joy at restored order in 1660 changes to concern about the nature of power in 1668; comedy darkens and begins to criticize the unfaithful male at the same time as the political crisis develops in 1676; questions concerning...