The Man Of Mode
by John Barnard, George Etherege

Name: The Man Of Mode
Brand: John Barnard
SKU: 9780713681932
Rating: 3.12 (941 reviews)

The Man Of Mode Book Cover — The Man Of Mode Cover

Highlights

British

What readers are saying

Readers have mixed feelings about the play, finding it both amusing and confusing at times. Many appreciate its witty dialogue and restoration comedy style, while others express frustration with the complex plot and character dynamics. Some feel that the humor may not resonate with everyone, particularly those unfamiliar with the genre.

Witty dialogue and one-linersAmusing restoration comedyEngaging literary analysisConfusing plot dynamicsCharacters can be frustrating

Synopsis

Verbal brilliance, urbane sophistication and sexual conquest are the measures of success for the fashionable set who watched themselves being represented on the Restoration stage.

Yet idealization and satire, as this edition of Etherege's masterpiece shows, are flip sides of the same coin, and the play betrays deep anxieties about ridicule and social failure.

Any London beau would emulate Dorimant, the unconscionable rake who loves 'em and leaves 'em, but he would also secretly fear that he in fact resembled Sir Fopling Flutter, the model of all Restoration fops, in his vanity and affectation.

The women fare no better, being offered for identification Dorimant's discarded mistress Loveit, scheming for revenge, or the beautiful but hard-headed Harriet, who dares Dorimant to woo her in the country, for 'I know all beyond Hyde Park is a desert to you and that no gallantry can draw you farther'.