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Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence in Coward's Private Lives
Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence in a performance of Coward's Private Lives (1930).
comedy of manners
narrative genre
comedy of manners, witty, cerebral form of dramatic comedy that depicts and often satirizes the manners and affectations of a contemporary society. A comedy of manners is concerned with social usage and the question of whether or not characters meet certain social standards. Often the governing social standard is morally trivial but exacting. The plot of such a comedy, usually concerned with an illicit love affair or similarly scandalous matter, is subordinate to the play’s brittle atmosphere, witty dialogue, and pungent commentary on human foibles. The comedy of manners, which was usually written by sophisticated authors for members of their ...(100 of 405 words)