William Congreve

William Congreve (1670–1729) was born in England but raised largely in Ireland, where his father was stationed with the army, and studied at Trinity College Dublin alongside Jonathan Swift before returning to London to read law. His first play, the comedy The Old Bachelor (1693), was an immediate success, and Love for Love (1695) confirmed him as the leading playwright of Restoration comedy; The Way of the World (1700), now considered his masterpiece, was coolly received in his own lifetime and proved to be his last play. He lived out his remaining three decades on the income from public offices and the friendship of London's literary world, including Swift and Alexander Pope. He died in London at fifty-eight from injuries sustained in a carriage accident months earlier, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.