The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume IV

Aphra Behn wrote like she had nothing to lose, and everything to prove. As one of the first women to earn her living as a playwright in English, she wielded comedy as a weapon against the hypocrisy of Restoration society, and this volume collects four of her most irreverent plays. In "Sir Patient Fancy," a wealthy hypochondriac marries a young wife, never suspecting she's already fallen for another man. "The Widow Ranter" takes on class and race in colonial Virginia, while "The Younger Brother" rewrites the rules of inheritance and desire. Throughout, Behn dissects marriage as economic transaction, exposes the absurdities of jealousy and vanity, and gives women voices sharp enough to cut through the theater's male-dominated world. These aren't polite comedies. They're sly, bawdy, and frequently subversive. Four centuries later, the wit still bites.