1. When Charles II became King in 1660, it marked the beginning of the Restoration. From 1642 onward for eighteen years, the theaters of England remained nominally closed. No actor or spectator was safe, especially during the early days of the Puritan rule. Least of all was there any inspiration for dramatists. The tragic dramas of this period were made up of heroic plays and written in heroic couplet– a form of metre perfected by John Dryden.

2. In 1660 the Stuart dynasty was restored to the throne of England. Charles II, the king, had been in France during the greater part of the Protectorate, together with many of the royalist party, all of whom were familiar with Paris and its fashions. Thus it was natural, upon the return of the court, that French influence should be felt, particularly in the theater.

3.  Appearance of women on the English stage  Disappearance of national types (French and Spanish stories, plots and characters were re-introduced in English theater)  Persistence of the Elizabethan plays (From the time of the Restoration actors and managers, also dramatists, were good royalists; and new pieces, or refurbished old ones, were likely to acquire a political slant. The Puritans were satirized, the monarch and his wishes were flattered, and the royal order thoroughly supported by the people of the stage.)  Parody of heroic drama  Heroic plays written in heroic couplets and comedies in blank verse

4.  John Dryden (1631--1700) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made Poet Laureate in 1668. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.

5.  The Couquest of Granada (1670)  Aurengzebe (1676) deals with the struggle for empire in India his last rhymed play containing finest speeches  He wrote comedy, in blank verse 1. Marriage-a-la-Mode (1672) is his first comedy. 2. All for Love (or The World Well Lost, 1678) based on Shakespeare’s ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ is written in blank verse.

6. Thomas Otway ’s ‘Don Carlos’(rhymed verse), ‘The Orphan’ & ‘Venice Preserved’ both in blank verse are his famous plays. In ‘Venice Preserved’, a young nobleman, Jaffier, marries the daughter of a noble Piruli and asks him for money, but is insulted. He joins a plot against the state of Venice, but later kills himself after knowing that his wife went mad and died.

7. This new kind of drama is hard and bright, witty and heartless. Sir George Etherege’s ‘The Man of Mode’ gives the picture immoral manners of the society at that time. William Wycherley is a satirical dramatist best known for his ‘The Country Wife’, and ‘The Plain Dealer’. William Congreve was a better dramatist than the above two. His ‘The Old Bachelor’, ‘The Double Dealer’, and ‘Love for Love’ depict amusing and foolish characters in their clever and interesting speeches. His master piece ‘The Way of the World’ is finer than other play of the time.

8. Oliver Goldsmith’s ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ is a play in which a private house is mistaken for a hotel. Richard Sheridan ‘s ‘ The Rivals’ presents Mrs. Malaprop who mixes up long words and talks a lot of funny nonsense. His ‘The School for Scandal’ entertained a large audience in which three characters “strike a character dead at every word”. His third play ‘The Critic’ satirizes drama and literary criticism.