Sir George Etherege (1635? - c. May 10, 1692 [1]) was an English dramatist. He wrote the plays The Comical Revenge or, Love in a Tub in 1664, She Would if She Could in 1668, and The Man of Mode or, Sir Fopling Flutter in 1676. Events February 10 - The Académie française in Paris is expanded to become a national academy for the artistic elite. ... May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ... Events February 13 - Massacre of Glencoe March 1 - The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony with the charging of three women with witchcraft. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001... A dramatist is an author of dramatic compositions, usually plays. ... Events March 12 - New Jersey becomes a colony of England. ... // Events January - The Triple Alliance of 1668 is formed. ... Events January 29 - Feodor III becomes Tsar of Russia First measurement of the speed of light, by Ole Rømer Bacons Rebellion Russo-Turkish Wars commence. ...

He was born in Maidenhead around 1635. Rumour has it that he was educated at Cambridge but Dennis assures us that to his certain knowledge he understood neither Greek nor Latin. He served as apprentice to a lawyer and later studied law at Clement's Inn, one of the Inns of Chancery. Probably travelled abroad to France with his father who staid with the exiled queen Henrietta Maria. It is possible that he witnessed in Paris the performances of some of Molière's earliest comedies; and he is thought, from an allusion in one of his plays, to have been personally acquainted with Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy. It has been suggested that History of the Latin language be merged into this article or section. ... The Inns of Chancery were buildings which housed associations of lawyers in London from the late Middle Ages to the 19th century. ... The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city, with the skyscrapers of La Défense business district 5 km/ 3 mi behind. ... Molière, engraved frontispiece to his Works. ... Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy (April 13, 1618 - April 9, 1693), commonly known as Bussy-Rabutin, was a French memoir-writer. ...

His tastes were those of a fine gentleman, and he indulged freely in pleasure. Soon after the Restoration in 1660 he composed his comedy of The Comical Revenge or Love in a Tub, which introduced him to Lord Buckhurst, afterwards the earl of Dorset. This was performed at the Duke's theatre in 1664, and a few copies were printed in the same year. It is partly in rhymed heroic verse, like the stilted tragedies of the Howards and Killigrews, but it contains comic scenes that are exceedingly bright and fresh. The sparring between Sir Frederick and the Widow introduced a style of wit hitherto unknown upon the English stage. Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset (24 January 1638- 29 January 1706) was an English poet and courtier, son of Richard Sackville, 5th Earl of Dorset (1622-1677). ... Dorset (pronounced Dorsit, sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire) is a county in the southwest of England, on the English Channel coast. ... Events March 12 - New Jersey becomes a colony of England. ...

The success of this play was very great, but Etheredge waited four years before he repeated his experiment. Meanwhile he gained the highest reputation as a poetical beau, and moved in the circle of Sir Charles Sedley, Lord Rochester and the other noble wits of the day. In 1668 he brought out She would if she could, a comedy in many respects admirable, full of action, wit and spirit, although to the last degree frivolous and immoral. But in this play Etheredge first shows himself a new power in literature; he has nothing of the rudeness of his predecessors or the grossness of his contemporaries. We move in an airy and fantastic world, where flirtation is the only serious business of life. At this time Etheredge was living a life no less frivolous and unprincipled than those of his Courtals and Freemans. Sir Charles Sedley (c. ... John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (April 1, 1647 - July 26, 1680) was an English nobleman, a friend of King Charles II of England, and the writer of much satirical and bawdy poetry. ... // Events January - The Triple Alliance of 1668 is formed. ...

His wealth and wit, the distinction and charm of his manners,won Etheredge the general worship of society, and his temperament is best known by the names his contemporaries gave him, of "gentle George" and "easy Etheredge." Rochester upbraided him for inattention to literature; and at last, after a silence of eight years, he came forward with one more play, unfortunately his last. The Man of Mode or Sir Fopling Flutter, indisputably the best comedy of intrigue written in England before the days of Congreve, was acted and printed in 1676, and enjoyed an unbounded success. Besides the merit of its plot and wit, it had the personal charm of being supposed to satirize, or at least to paint, persons well known in London. Sir Fopling Flutter was a portrait of Beau Hewit, the reigning exquisite of the hour; in Dorimant the poet drew the Earl of Rochester, and in Medley a portrait of himself (or, equally plausible, of his fellow playwright and wit Sir Charles Sedley); while even the drunken shoemaker was a real character, who made his fortune from being thus brought into public notice. William Congreve (January 24, 1670 – January 19, 1729) was an English playwright and poet. ...

After this brilliant success Etheredge retired from literature; his gallantries and his gambling in a few years deprived him of his fortune, and he looked about for a rich match. He was knighted before 1680, and gained the hand and the money of a rich widow. In March 1685 was appointed resident minister in the imperial German court at Regensburg. After three and a half-year's residence and after the Glorious Revolution, he left for Paris to join James II in exile. His manuscript despatches are preserved in the British Museum, where they were discovered and described by Gosse in 1881; and edited in editions by Sybil Rosenfeld and Frederic Bracher. They add very largely to our knowledge of Etheredge's career. He died in Paris, probably in 1691, for Narcissus Luttrell notes in February 1692 that Sir George Etherege, the late King James' ambassador to Vienna, had died recently in Paris. Regensburg (English formerly Ratisbon, Latin Ratisbona) is a city (population 150,212 in 2004) in Bavaria, south-east Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. ... The centre of the museum was redeveloped in 2000 to become the Great Court, with a tessellated glass roof by Foster and Partners surrounding the original Reading Room. ... 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Narcissus Luttrell (1657–1732) was an English historian, diarist, and bibliographer. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Slovenian: Dunaj, Croatian and Serbian: Beč Romanian: Viena, Hungarian: Bécs, Czech: Vídeň, Slovak: Viedeň, Romany Vidnya, Russian: Вена) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ...

Etheredge holds a distinguished place in English literature as one of the "big five" of Restoration Comedy. In a dull and heavy age, he inaugurated a period of genuine wit and sprightliness. He invented the comedy of intrigue, and led the way for the masterpieces of Congreve and Sheridan. Before his time the manner of Ben Jonson had prevailed in comedy, and traditional humours and typical eccentricities, instead of real characters, had crowded the comic stage. Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Sheridan (October 30, 1751 – July 7, 1816) was an Irish playwright and Whig statesman. ... Benjamin Jonson (circa June 11, 1572 – August 6, 1637) was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. ...

Etheredge's portraits of fops and beaux are considered the best of their kind. His wit is sparkling and frivolous, his style picturesque. Etheredge is noted for his indelicate touches of dress, furniture and scene; he vividly draws the fine airs of London gentlemen and ladies live, perhaps better than Congreve; but he has less insight and less energy than Congreve. His biography was first written in detail by Edmund Gosse in Seventeenth Century Studies (1883). Edmund William Gosse (September 21, 1849 - May 16, 1928) was an English poet, author and critic, the son of Philip Henry Gosse. ...

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...