Comediettas and Farces

In Short

This volume is a collection of farces written for the amateur stage in the 19th century. Through rapid-fire dialogue and escalating absurdities, the plays explore the anxieties of courtship, money, and domestic life. Whether it is two men discovering they are unknowingly sharing the same room and the same fiancée, or characters leaping into elaborate lies to secure a marriage, the humor relies on the sheer momentum of human folly. These pieces remain vital for their structural precision and their ability to capture the delightful, breathless silliness of the human condition.

The Story

The collection opens with the quintessential farce, "Box and Cox," where a manipulative landlady rents the same room to two different men—one who works by night and the other by day. They are perfectly content with this arrangement until a freak schedule change forces them to meet, leading to the revelation that they are both unwittingly engaged to the same formidable woman, Penelope Ann. From this collision of identities, the book moves through various domestic skirmishes. In "Pepperpot’s Little Pets," characters grapple with the volatile tempers of those around them, while "Express!" and "Taken from the French" continue the theme of social maneuvering.

As the collection progresses, the stakes of these misunderstandings shift from mere residential confusion to elaborate romantic gambits. In "After a Storm Comes a Calm," a young woman named Julia navigates the pressure to marry, caught between her pride and her lingering affection for a man she once snubbed. She eventually orchestrates a playful ruse involving her sister, Josephine, to trick their aunt into consenting to their respective marriages. Similarly, in "Declined—With Thanks," the plot centers on a young man named Skruff who arrives expecting to inherit a fortune, only to find himself entangled in the romantic schemes of others. Throughout these narratives, characters constantly find themselves in "little pets"—fits of pique or sudden, irrational anger—that threaten to derail their happiness.

The resolution in these plays is rarely found through wisdom, but rather through the exhaustion of the characters’ own schemes. In the final play, Skruff’s mercenary ambitions are dismantled by the very people he hoped to manipulate. The characters, having exhausted their capacity for deception, often land in their preferred outcomes almost by accident, or through the simple, blunt intervention of a relative who refuses to play along with the nonsense. The arcs consistently move from a state of controlled chaos—where a character believes they have the upper hand—to a total breakdown of their plans, followed by a frantic, often humorous scramble to restore order. By the final page, the "declined" suitor is sent packing, and the young lovers find themselves united, not because they were clever, but because the farce has finally run its course.

How It Unfolds

The setup of the lie Each story begins with a character establishing a precarious, often dishonest, foundation for their daily life. Whether it is a landlady double-renting a room or a suitor pretending to be someone he is not, the initial beat is always a secret kept from the other players.

The inevitable collision Inevitably, the secret is exposed through a sudden, unavoidable encounter. The characters are forced to share space or information that they previously kept separate, causing the carefully constructed narrative to collapse instantly.

The escalation of the "pet" Once the truth is out, the characters descend into a fit of temper or "little pet." They lash out, make dramatic threats, and engage in ridiculous physical maneuvers—like kicking a nosegay or hiding behind curtains—to defend their dignity.

The accidental revelation Just as the situation seems most hopeless, the truth is revealed in a way that benefits the protagonist. The characters realize that their rivals were never actually competitors, or that the person they were trying to deceive was actually rooting for them all along.

The abrupt departure The farce ends with the removal of the catalyst for the chaos. The meddling antagonist is dismissed, the "young man" is sent away, or the confused suitor is told to leave, allowing the remaining family members to settle into a sudden, quiet peace.

The People

Mrs. Bouncer is the engine of the first play; she is motivated purely by financial gain, viewing her lodgers as nothing more than sources of double rent. Her indifference to their comfort creates the central conflict. Box and Cox are both weary, middle-class men who, despite their initial hostility toward one another, find common ground in their shared misery under the thumb of the widow Penelope Ann. Their transformation from rivals to allies is driven by the realization that they are both victims of the same romantic trap.

Julia Templeton is a woman defined by her pride, which acts as a barrier to her own happiness. She spends the play punishing herself for a past mistake, only to be freed by her sister Josephine, whose liveliness provides a sharp contrast to Julia’s brooding. Josephine is the true strategist of her household, using the "jest" of a fake engagement to force the adults to reveal their true intentions. Finally, there is the character of Skruff, the quintessential mercenary who views marriage entirely through the lens of a balance sheet. He stands in the way of everyone else’s romance until he is effectively "snuffed out" by his own inability to understand the genuine emotions of the people he hopes to exploit.

In Its Own Voice

Contextualizing the landlord's scheme, the landlady reveals her duplicity:

"It was a capital idea of mine--that it was! But I haven't an instant to lose."

Describing his dramatic flight from a breach of promise suit, Box explains his ruse to his roommate:

"I arrived on the cliffs, opened my bundle, deposited the suit of clothes on the very verge of the precipice, took one look down into the yawning gulf beneath me, and walked off in the opposite direction."

Reflecting on his experience as a rejected suitor, Skruff finds a silver lining in his own failure:

"After all, perhaps I've had a narrow escape--who knows but I may have cause to be grateful that I have been declined--With thanks!"

What It's Really About

These plays are meditations on the absurdity of social performance. The characters are obsessed with how they are perceived—whether as a "respectable young gentleman," a man of "energy and pluck," or a suitor of means. The friction in the book comes from the gap between these curated identities and the messy, uncooperative reality of human behavior. The argument is that dignity is an impossible thing to maintain when one is constantly juggling lies. The plays ask: how much of our lives do we spend auditioning for the approval of others, and how much easier would life be if we simply let the farce collapse? It is a lighthearted, skeptical look at the rigid social codes of the Victorian era.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy the brisk, rhythmic wit of Oscar Wilde’s lighter moments or the slapstick mechanics of classic British comedy will find these plays immensely satisfying. The writing feels lean and efficient; there is no wasted motion, as every line of dialogue is designed to either escalate the tension or land a punchline. The period attitudes—particularly the rigid views on courtship and the financial focus of marriage—provide a fascinating window into the anxieties of the 19th-century middle class.

However, a modern reader must be prepared for the relentless, high-octane silliness that can occasionally feel exhausting if read in large chunks. The characters’ tempers are often thin, and their motivations are frequently paper-thin, which is entirely the point of the genre but may be jarring for those who prefer psychological realism. There is also the occasional use of period slang and references to obscure Victorian customs that may require a moment of adjustment. Despite these hurdles, the sheer infectious energy of the writing holds up. There is a profound, uncomplicated pleasure in watching a well-crafted mess resolve itself, and these plays offer a masterclass in how to turn a bad day into a very funny, very orderly triumph.