The Restoration period in England refers to a change that took place in the English monarchy in 1660, when King Charles II returned to England after the Second English Civil War. A new political landscape emerged in this period which brought with it new aesthetic forms, most notably the Restoration comedy. It marked a more liberated attitude towards art and culture, all encouraged by Charles, who loved sexually explicit language. Additionally, this marked the first time in English theater history that women were allowed to act, and actresses like Nell Gwynn (mistress to the king himself), Elizabeth Barry, Anne Bracegirdle and others became London celebrities.
Before the emergence of Restoration comedies, theater had been banned by the Puritan regime for 18 years. The comedies and plays that emerged in the Restoration marked a pendulum swing in the other direction; theater became a popular art form again, and the subject matter of the plays staged was often of an immoral sort, focusing on such topics as sex, drinking, gambling, and other pleasure-oriented activities. Theaters were filled with diverse audiences eager for a good laugh and to soak up some satirical human truths. As Diane Maybank writes for the British Library, "The aristocratic upper classes may have laid claim to Restoration comedy, but by the end of the century, the audience had diversified considerably. Graded seat prices and seating zones resulted in a sense of class ownership of parts of the playhouse auditorium. Actors enjoyed exploiting the divisions by ‘playing’ to different parts of the house."
Marriage à la Mode by John Dryden is a quintessential Restoration comedy. Others include The Mulberry-Garden by Charles Sedley, The Rover by Aphra Behn (one of the first female playwrights), The Old Bachelor by William Congreve, and The Busie Body by Susannah Centlivre.
