Comedy of manners is a satirical, comedic genre of drama that explores the social and cultural norms and behaviors of its time. The genre was most popular in what became known as the Restoration comedy period (1660-1710), utilizing predominantly archetypical, or stock, characters. By maintaining these characters within rigid social conventions, playwrights exposed flaws and foolishness in the unspoken rules that govern society.

During the Interregnum period, all art was banned except that which related to distinctly Christian religious worship, and, in the Restoration, a boom of sexually explicit and “pagan” art developed. Throughout the Restoration period, plays like William Congreve’s The Way of the World, George Etherege’s The Man of Mode, and William Wycherley’s The Country Wife dominated the stage with antics of upper-class characters making fools of themselves. As the Restoration progressed, Jeremy Collier’s 1698 pamphlet, “Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage,” objected to the nature of English comedic drama, arguing for the need for greater moral displays and less profanity or lewdness.

Congreve’s The Way of the World is a good example of this shift, which carried over into later 18th-century works, such as The School for Scandal.