The Witlings and the Woman Hater

Abstract

This Broadview edition pairs two of Frances Burney's linked comedies. They both present the character of Lady Smatter, a femme savante whose lineage may be traced back to Moliere; they both centre on the misfortunes of the elle figure, the dispossessed heiress and wife who appears frequently in Burney's fiction; and they both criticize a culture of misogyny that breeds suspicion and resentment. The Witlings, lighter and more comic, derives from late seventeenth-century conventions; The Woman-Hater, more melodramatic, both expresses and warns against the excessive sensibility of romanticism. Together, these two plays constitute a miniature history of English drama from the Restoration to the French Revolution and beyond. This edition contains a valuable selection of appendices, including: Burney's Epilogue to Gerilda; letters and diary entries; contemporary writings on comedy; and Burney's cast-list for The Woman-Hater.