The Designs of Carolean Comedy

The Tempest, Marriage A-la-Mode, The Spanish Fryar, and other plays are examined as consumer products offering a variety of potentially satisfying images of the world at a time when social and personal values were confused, precarious, and heterogeneous. Many of the comedies permit the viewer to enjoy forbidden, glamorous behavior without feeling guilty.

The Tempest, Marriage A-la-Mode, The Spanish Fryar, and other plays are examined as consumer products offering a variety of potentially satisfying images of the world at a time when social and personal values were confused, precarious, and heterogeneous. Many of the comedies permit the viewer to enjoy forbidden, glamorous behavior without feeling guilty.

Eric Rothstein is Edgar W. Lacy Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Frances M. Kavenik is Assistant Professor of English and Director of the ACCESS Program at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.