{"product_id":"2026200017277-secondhand-the-complete-plays-of-william-congreve","title":"The Complete Plays Of William Congreve","description":"\u003cp\u003eEdition: First Edition Thus\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: Damaged\u003cbr\u003ePages: Yellowed\u003cbr\u003eMarkings: Previous owner\u003cbr\u003eCondition remarks: DJ is damaged with multiple tears to spine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the glittering heart of the Restoration stage stands William Congreve, a playwright whose razor-sharp wit and mastery of comic intrigue made him the undisputed sovereign of late 17th-century English drama. The Complete Plays of William Congreve, edited by the distinguished scholar Herbert Davis, presents all five of Congreve's theatrical masterworks — The Old Bachelor, The Double Dealer, Love for Love, The Mourning Bride, and the incomparable The Way of the World — in a single, authoritative volume. Together, they chronicle a world of aristocratic excess, romantic conquest, and social manoeuvring, rendered in prose of extraordinary elegance and comic precision.\n\nUnder Herbert Davis's meticulous editorial guidance, this collection stands as an essential scholarly resource, illuminating Congreve's place within the Curtain Playwrights series and situating his work within the broader tradition of English comedy of manners. Congreve's language crackles with irony and verbal dexterity, his characters locked in perpetual battles of wit where love and money are equally coveted prizes. For lovers of the theatre, students of literature, and admirers of language at its most brilliantly playful, this volume poses a question that has captivated readers for three centuries: in a world built on deception, can anyone truly win The Way of the World?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49210277363931,"sku":"2026200017277-SECONDHAND","price":30.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/ca7c39ec-0713-4df5-b4ea-cf5127bbc961.png?v=1788268592","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200017277-secondhand-the-complete-plays-of-william-congreve","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}