CONGREVE, WILLIAM (1670-1729). A bril liant English dramatist. De was horn at Bardsey, Yorkshire. and educated at Kilkenny, and at Trinity College, Dublin. lie re turned to England. and was entered at the _Mid dle Temple, hut did not take kindly to law. His first publication was a novel, entitled Incognita, really a dramatic intrigue put into narrative. llis first play, The Old Bachelor, was produced at Drury Lane in January, 1693, and its suc cess was remarkable. In November lie brought out 7'1+e Double-Dealer, which was a compara tive failure; but his comedy, Lore for Lore. per formed in 1695, was a great success, and brought to its author money and fame. The Mourning Bride, a blank-verse tragedy. was acted in 1697. lts success exceeded even that of his comedies, but it has long since been forgotten. Three years after, he produced a comedy. entitled The Way of the World, which failed completely, and disgusted him with the theatre. In other re spects Congreve was a fortunate man. He held various offices, which together yielded him an income of £1200. Congreve affected to despise his theatrical triumphs, and cultivated the man ners of the fine gentleman—an eccentricity which laid him open to rebuke when he was visited by Voltaire. in his later days he was afflicted with
gout and blindness. He died in London, 1729, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. As a comic dramatist Congreve has been variously estimated. He was gross. but his age was gross. His plots are intricate, but they were so intond ed. His world is composed of wives, gallants, and husbands—and the husbands are hoodwinked. The characters have no heart, no generosity, but they play their parts brilliantly. 'Indeed, the wit of Congreve•s dialogue is unsurpassed in our later drama. Famous essays on Congreve and the art he represents are: Hazlitt, Lectures on English Poets and English Comic Writers (London. 1846) ; Lamb. "On the Artificial Com edy of the Last Century," in Essays of Elia (London. 1S75) ; Leigh Hunt, critical notice, prefixed to The Dramatic Works of Wycherley, rongrere, etc.. which lie edited; Macaulay, re view of Hunt, entitled Comic Dramatists or Leigh Hunt (London, 1848) : and Swinburne, article on Congreve in Encyclopedia Britannica. Consult: C'ongreve's Comedies, ed. Ewald (Lon don. 1887) : id., ed. Street (London, 1895) : and Gosse, Life of Conga-ere (London, 1SSS).