=1. William Wycherley (1640–1715).= The productive period of Wycherley’s life was brief but fruitful. He produced four plays in five years: _Love in a Wood_ (1672), _The Gentleman Dancing Master_ (1673), _The Country Wife_ (1675), and _The Plain Dealer_ (1677). He was a man of good family, and he was at Court, where he seems to have been no better than the average courtier of his time. His contemporaries call his plays “manly.” By this they probably refer to a boisterous indecency that riots through his comedies, in which nearly every person is a fool, and every clever man a rogue and a rake. He is much coarser in the grain than Congreve, and cannot keep his work at such a high level. Yet he shows much wit in handling dialogue, and has a sharp, though distorted, vision for human weaknesses. =2. George Etheredge (1635–91).= Not much is known regarding the life of Etheredge; but he appears to have been a courtier, and to have served abroad. If all stories about him are true, he had an ample share of the popular vices. He is said to have been killed by tumbling downstairs while drunk. His three plays are _The Comical Revenge, or Love in a Tub_ (1664), _She Would if She Could_ (1668), and _The Man of Mode_ (1676). They are more uneven than Wycherley’s, and at their worst are grosser; but they are clever, and can be lively and amusing. =3. Sir John Vanbrugh (1666–1726).= Vanbrugh’s career, though much of it is obscure, seems to have been a varied one, for at different times he was a soldier, a herald, and an architect. His best three comedies are _The Relapse_ (1697), _The Provoked Wife_ (1698), and _The Confederacy_ (1705). In the general opinion Vanbrugh is held to be a good second to Congreve, but his plays are exceedingly unequal. His wit is rather more genial than is common at this time, and sometimes his touch is firm and sure. =4. Thomas Shadwell (1640–92).= Dryden’s abuse of Shadwell has given the latter a notoriety that he scarcely deserves. Little is known about his life except that he was created Poet Laureate at the deposition of Dryden in 1688. He wrote many plays, some of which were popular in their day. The best three are _The Sullen Lovers_ (1668), _The Squire of Alsatia_ (1688), and _Bury Fair_ (1689). Shadwell is coarse without being clever to atone for it. His characters are often wooden and unreal, but he has the knack of laying his hand on good material. His _Squire of Alsatia_ is full of interesting information about the life of the time, and Scott drew largely upon it for _The Fortunes of Nigel_. =5. George Farquhar (1678–1707).= He had an adventurous career, was in turn a clergyman, an actor, and a soldier, and died when he was thirty years old. The pathos of his early death has given him a fame of its own. He wrote seven plays, the best of which are the last two, viz., _The Recruiting Officer_ (1706) and _The Beaux’ Stratagem_ (1707).