George Farquhar

It attests to Farquhar's stature as a man that he composed this warm-hearted and vibrant play while he was dying. Like The Recruiting Officer, the play is set in a provincial town and its plot is slight: Aimwell and Archer, two impecunious London gentlemen, arrive in Lichfield looking for an heiress to marry. Aimwell, posing as his elder brother, falls in love with his 'prey' Dorinda and confesses his imposture to her; his 'man-servant' Archer arouses the wistful interest of the unhappily married Mrs Sullen. The introduction to this edition discusses the play for its theatrical merits and argues that it dramatises the ills of marriage in early modern England, shown by Farquhar to be more injurious to the wife than to the husband, and calls for a reform of the divorce laws.

Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price A classic Restoration-era comedy about the sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, as they go about their task of recruiting soldiers in the town of Shrewsbury. George Farquhar's play The Recruiting Officer was first staged at Drury Lane in 1706. It was an immediate hit and went on to become one of the most frequently performed plays of the 18th century. This edition in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series is edited and introduced by Simon Trussler.

Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price George Farquhar's immortal comedy about two young gentlemen with a misguided plan to get enrich themselves at the expense of a series of young heiresses. A pair of London gentlemen, Archer and Aimwell, pose as a Lord and his servant in order to procure one handsome dowry to split between them. While Aimwell, the 'lord', works on the affections of Lady Bountiful's daughter Dorinda, his 'servant' Archer makes his bid for her son's wife. George Farquhar's play The Beaux Stratagem was first produced at the Theatre Royal, London, in 1707. This edition, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is edited and introduced by Simon Trussler.

Since its first appearance in 1706, The Recruiting Officer has remained a scathing satire of military recruitment. George Farquhar knew the subject well, since he had been involved himself in the tricks and intimidation that enlisted recruits for Queen Anne's army in the War of Spanish Succession from 1703-1705. In Farquhar's play, two recruiting officers compete for recruits in the same locale. Recruiting in those years required more than patriotism and the lure of glory: it relied on bribery, alcohol, and the whole armory of deceit. Farquhar's play makes connections explicit, further setting off their dramatic power by linking recruiting tactics to the rites of courtship. His satire is intensified by his much-admired portrayals of the characters and situations of rural life; Farquhar brought the men and women of field and village truly to the stage.

Farquhar's last two plays, The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' Stratagem, have been called 'the last worthwhile comedies of the Restoration tradition'. Written during Farquhar's stint in Shrewsbury as part of a recruiting mission in 1704-5, The Recruiting Officer is a buoyant, whimsical piece stocked by a fairly conventional cast of characters: the rake-hero and his spirited lady (who dons breeches in the course of the action), his sober friend and the heroine's serious friend, the buffoon/coxcomb and his ill-fated amorous or heroic ventures. What makes the play entertaining is Farquhar's light, humane touch; what makes it original is his depiction of a real-life provincial town and the impact that ongoing warfare (in this case the War of the Spanish Succession) had on its civilian society.

A scholarly edition of works by George Farquhar. The edition presents an authoritative text, together with an introduction, commentary notes, and scholarly apparatus.

George Farquhar was the most popular, and perhaps the best playwright of his time. The Irish-born actor and military officer arrived in London before he was twenty, captivated audiences with his lively, good-natured comedy, philandered with the leading actresses and female playwrights, married a widow with children, and wrote, besides the eight plays, many poems, letters, prologues and epilogues, an epic, and a miscellany, before his untimely death in 1707, not yet thirty. Shirley Strum Kenny has provided the first scholarly edition of the works since Stonehill's in 1730, in a reliable old-spelling text. She has added to the canon materials not printed since the beginning of the eighteenth century, some of which have never before been identified as Farquhar's. Each play has an introduction describing its sources and composition, theatrical and publication history, influence, and textual problems. The introductions to the non-dramatic works contain similar information, and relate the works to the contemporary events which occasioned them. Questions of authorship for newly-identified works, and possible or doubtful attributions are carefully considered.