It attests to Farquhar's stature as a man that he composed this
warm-hearted and vibrant play while he was dying. Like The Recruiting
Officer, the play is set in a provincial town and its plot is slight:
Aimwell and Archer, two impecunious London gentlemen, arrive in
Lichfield looking for an heiress to marry. Aimwell, posing as his elder
brother, falls in love with his 'prey' Dorinda and confesses his
imposture to her; his 'man-servant' Archer arouses the wistful interest
of the unhappily married Mrs Sullen. The introduction to this edition
discusses the play for its theatrical merits and argues that it
dramatises the ills of marriage in early modern England, shown by
Farquhar to be more injurious to the wife than to the husband, and
calls for a reform of the divorce laws.

Ann Blake is Honorary Fellow at the School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia