" I shall only
remark on this, that nearly the whole play is a mere paraphrasing of
Moliere's _Cocu Imaginaire_, and several other of his plays. The
scene between Leonora, the heroine, and Sterling, the old usurer and
lover (Act I.), is imitated from Madelon's description in the art of
making love in the _Pretentious Young Ladies_, and so are many
others. The servant Crispin is a medley of Mascarille from _The
Blunderer_, of Gros-Rene from _The Love-Tiff_, and of the
servant of the same name in the _Cocu Imaginaire_; the interfering
uncle of Lady Thinwit, is taken from _George Dandin_, whilst Sir
Anthony Tainwit becomes Sganarelle. The only thing new I have been able
to discover in _The Perplexed Couple_ is the lover Octavio
disguising himself as a pedlar to gain admittance to the object of his
love; and old Sterling, the usurer, marrying the maid instead of the
mistress. Moliere's farce has been lengthened by those means into a
five-act comedy, and though "no jest profane" may be found in it it is
more full than usual of coarse and lewd sayings, which can hardly be
called inuendoes.
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