The Conscious Lovers and that guy in a trench coat in the corner

Richard Steele’s (do you think people ever called him “Dick”? Dick Steele? Just wondering) 1722 play basically inaugurating sentimental comedy as a self-consciously new major form and backlash against Restoration comedies. Perfectly benevolent characters, sententious dialogue, improbable happy ending (famous reunion between pathetic heroine and father). Kind of a yawn-fest if we’re being real here.

Except for this one guy. Cimberton. He’s Lucinda Sealand’s mother’s cousin (the mother wants Lucinda to marry him–she thinks he’s so intellectual), and basically a pedantic materialist creep who views Lucinda as livestock with a lot of money.

At first he doesn’t notice Lucinda at all, but when he does, he turns into an incredible lecher:

Belinda, Part 3 (the last one!)

At Lady Anne Percival’s, Belinda meets Mr. Vincent, who is a sexy Creole. You can’t have sexy Creoles, Maria Edgeworth! They’re supposed to be lecherous and effeminate and alcoholic gamblers and tainted by their sexual relations with their slaves in the luxurious and immoral West Indies and also racialized, even though they’re also supposed to be artless and hospitable and btw making lots of monies too! It’s not me saying this, um, obviously. But instead he’s all super-sexy. Like, way sexier than Mr. Darcy.