Social Life in Restoration Literature
The Restoration writers weren't interested in silly things like nature (ew, dirt), or grand philosophical questions (ugh, boring). They were interested in all the drama that went on in the society in which they lived. Social behavior and social manners, then, are big themes in Restoration literature.
The writers of this period were obsessed with social life: who people fall in love with, who they want to marry, who they sleep with, who they betray, and how much money they have or don't have. It's a literature that focuses on the intrigue that takes place in drawing rooms, in salons, and in—bow chicka bow bow—bedrooms.
Chew on This
William Congreve's juicy Love for Love is all about social class and money worries.
Congreve's The Way of the World is about the wily ways of lovers trying to get married.