The plays are fully annotated for the modern reader and are accompanied by six illustrations. The close relationship between theater and society during the period continues to be the focus of ÒContexts.Ó The editor offers contemporary discussions of the following topics: ÒOn Wit, Humour, and Laughter: 1660Ð1775,Ó ÒThe Collier Controversy: 1698,Ó ÒSteele and Dennis: On The Man of Mode and The Conscious Lovers,Ó and ÒStages, Actors, and Audiences.Ó ÒCriticismÓ has been revised to reflect approaches in scholarly interpretations. Two seminal essays from the First Edition have been retained_Charles LambÕs appreciation of the periodÕs comedy and L. C. KnightsÕs condemnation of it. New essays by Jocelyn Powell, Harriet Hawkins, Elin Diamond, Martin Price, and Laura Brown have been added.