Books › Love for Love
Love for Love
First published 1969 · 249 pages
A lively, verbally polished farce where romantic and financial desperation spark a chaotic cascade of witty deceptions.
What it feels like
Reading this Restoration comedy feels like stepping into a whirlwind of sharp banter and theatrical scheming. The pace is brisk and lively, driven by the desperate, farcical lengths to which characters will go to secure both their fortunes and their lovers. It is a world where financial ruin and the marriage mart collide, sparking a chaotic cascade of feigned madness and clever provocations. The mood is distinctly playful and lighthearted, anchored by a wry, humorous tone that delights in exposing the absurdities of courtship and inheritance. With its highly polished, witty dialogue, the play offers a delightfully chaotic emotional arc that resolves in satisfying reunions. It is perfect for readers who love classic dramatic works filled with elaborate ruses and sparkling verbal sparring.
- Mood
- lively
- playful
- chaotic
- lighthearted
- Tone
- wry
- humorous
- theatrical
- witty
- farcical
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- romantic scheming · feigned madness · financial desperation · the marriage mart · family inheritance
- The writing
- Verbally polished and theatrically witty, characterized by sharp dialogue and farcical exchanges.
- The arc
- Moves from desperate financial and romantic entanglement through chaotic deception to a satisfying, witty resolution.
- Who it's for
- Readers who delight in classic Restoration comedies, sharp banter, and elaborate romantic schemes.
Content notes
- adultery
- financial distress
- feigned madness
About the book
Valentine, Sir Sampson's dissolute eldest son, finds himself at a standstill; the only way out of his financial difficulties is to give in to his father's pressure to renounce his right of inheritance. While this suggestion immediately increases the chances of his bluff younger brother Ben on the marriage mart, Valentine's own chances with his beloved Angelica would proportionally decrease. To avoid having to sign the renunciation Valentine puts on an 'antic disposition' and pretends to be mad. Angelica, seeing through him, provokes him back into sanity by pretending to agree to marry his father. Valentine recovers, the lovers reunite, and Ben, too, has meanwhile found the girl of his heart.
More successful in its day than The Way of the World, which is now accounted Congreve's best play, Love for Love (1695) is a comical farce manifesting the verbal polish and the theatrical wit that audiences so enjoy in Congreve.
Description from Open Library.
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