Congreve, William

(1670-1729)

   Congreve, the most prominent writer of Restoration comedies, was born at Bardsey, near Leeds, and educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He abandoned law for literature. His first comedy, The Old Bachelor (1693) established him as a dramatist, and in the opinion of Dryden, Congreve was the equal of Shakespeare. His comedy Double Dealer (1693) met with some opposition and some ladies were scandalized; Queen Mary, however, came to see it. Jeremy Collier, a clergyman, in his pamphlet, A View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage, accused Congreve and others of licentiousness. Congreve seems to have lost heart; his health suffered, and his literary output dried up. His body lay in state in the Jerusalem Chamber of Westminster Abbey, and Henrietta, Duchess of Marlborough, erected a monument to him in the South Aisle of Westminster Abbey with an inscription of her own writing. Some of his other publications: Love for Love, 1695 (comedy). The Mourning Bride, 1697 (tragedy). Incognita 1692 (novel). Semele, 1707 (opera). Some of his poems: "A Nymph and a Swain," "False Though She Be," "Jack Frenchman's Defeat," "The Way of the World."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition, 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Antholog y of English Poetry. Vol. I: Spenser to Crabbe. John Wain, ed. Oxford University Press, 1990. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Westminster Abbey Official Guide (no date).