"The Belle's Stratagem" by Hannah Cowley is a romantic comedy written in 1780. When Letitia Hardy discovers her childhood betrothed Doricourt seems unmoved by her charms, she devises a bold deception to win his passionate devotion rather than settle for a loveless marriage. Meanwhile, newlyweds Sir George and Lady Frances Touchwood navigate jealousy and the corrupting influence of fashionable London society. Both plotlines converge at a climactic masquerade ball where wit, virtue, and romantic love challenge the era's social conventions about marriage and women's roles. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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