This is a rich collection of essays on French comic drama of the period from the renewal of comic drama in the 1640s to the eve of the French Revolution. The book offers exciting new studies of individual works and authors, while giving full consideration to broader issues. Major authors (such as Moliere, Marivaux and Beaumarchais) are treated alongside authors who, while famous in their day and instrumental in the development of the genre, have lesser reputations today. The collection reveals the continuities, variations and new departures in the diverse comic traditions of the period in the different Paris theatres, including both the officially recognised Comedie-Franaise and Comedie-Italienne and the independent commercial Fair companies.