If seventeenth- and eighteenth-century comedy differ in that the former \nis about sex (and adultery actually happens) while the latter is about \nlove (and adultery is merely threatened), then Congreve - writing at \nthe turn of the century - occupies a phase of transition. Mirabell is \nno saint, but he deserves the title of 'hero' for masterminding the \naction with the same wit and humanity with which the dramatist designed \nthe play. Mirabell is both financially and amorously interested in the \nskittish Millamant, who declares that she might, with certain provisos, \n'dwindle into a wife'. The introduction to this edition clarifies the \nplaywright's and his characters' highly intricate plotting and argues \nthat the key metaphor of the play is card-playing, in which fortune, \ncunning, concealment and a high trump drawn from the sleeve at the \nright moment will win the game - and the heiress.