The Old Bachelour

play by Congreve

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July 1, 2026

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The Old Bachelor is a 1693 comedy of manners by William Congreve. The play satirizes the societal norms of its time, particularly concerning love and marriage, through witty dialogue and a focus on the "war of the sexes." It was Congreve's first play and achieved significant success, though his later work, The Way of the World, is often considered his masterpiece.12

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William Congreve
Literary career
…Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, of The Old Bachelour, written, he said, in 1690 to amuse himself during convalescence. Warmly heralded by Dryden, who declared that he had never read so brilliant a first play, though it needed to be given “the fashionable Cutt of the Town,” it was an enormous…
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…Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, of The Old Bachelour, written, he said, in 1690 to amuse himself during convalescence. Warmly heralded by Dryden, who declared that he had never read so brilliant a first play, though it needed to be given “the fashionable Cutt of the Town,” it was an enormous…
Read More