The Beaux' Stratagem

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.