Richard Steele
Irish essayist, playwright, and politician who co-founded The Tatler and The Spectator with Addison. His sentimental, reforming essays helped shape the character of the 18th-century middle class. The Conscious Lovers is his most important play, advocating sentimental comedy as a vehicle for moral reform.
Works
- The TatlerPeriodical essays on society, gossip, and culture in early eighteenth-century London
- The SpectatorSeries of essays on manners, morality, and contemporary life in periodical form
- The Conscious LoversSentimental comedy about two couples and the virtues of emotional honesty
- The Tender HusbandSentimental comedy involving romantic confusion and the reunion of separated lovers
- The FuneralEarly sentimental comedy dealing with mourning, inheritance, and reformed rakes