With piercing accuracy William ongreve depicted the shallow, brittle world of "society" where the right artifice in manners, fashion and conversation?and money?eased the passage to success. Through sparkling, witty dialogue and brilliant characterisation?Lady Plyant, Valentine, Lady Touchwood, Mirabell and Millamant?Congreve exposed the follies and vanities of that world, and suggested that behind the glinting mirror lay something more brutal.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.