The Contrast

Charlotte knows exactly how to make a false step pay: one flirt of her bell-hoop, and the beaux on the Battery are praising her dainty foot. But while she laughs at sentiment, her friend Maria faces a marriage that may have all the fashion and none of the love.

Royall Tyler’s 1787 comedy opens among the bright clothes, busy gossip, and marriage plans of New York society. Maria is bound by her word to Mr. Dimple, a suitor returned from England with polished manners—and, her friend Letitia fears, very little of the decency he once possessed. Charlotte sees the match differently: a fortune, a carriage, and a husband need not come with affection. As old promises collide with new tastes, who is truly playing whom?

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