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William Congreve ( January 24, 1670 - January 19, 1729) was an English playwright and poet.

Born in Bardsey, England (near Leeds), Congreve was educated in the law at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland; there he met Jonathan Swift, who would be his friend for the remainder of his life. Upon graduation, he became a disciple of John Dryden.

William Congreve wrote some of the most popular English plays of the Restoration period of the late 17th and very early 18th centuries. By the age of thirty, he had written several notable plays, including Love for Love (premiered April 30, 1695Events July 17- The Bank of Scotland is founded by an Act of Parliament of the old Scottish Parliament. December 31 A window tax is imposed in England causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax. Change of emperor of the Ottoman Em) and The Way of the World (premiered 1700Events January 1 Russia accepts Julian calendar. January 1 in around this year, Germany and Denmark- Norway adopt the Gregorian calendar, including the convention that New Year's Day is January 1st. January 26 Massive earthquake hits British Columbia.).

Unfortunately, his career ended almost as soon as it began. After writing five plays from his first in 1693Events January 11 Eruption of Mt. February 8 The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia is granted a charter July 29 The Battle of Landen October 11 Charleloi falls to the French forces China concentrates all its foreign trade to Canton Eur until 1700, he produced no more as public tastes turned against the sort of high-brow sexual comedy of manners in which he specialized. He reportedly was particularly stung by a critique written by Jeremy CollierJeremy Collier ( 1650- 1726) was an English bishop. He was a supporter of Charles II, and refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary after the Glorious Revolution. In the history of English drama, Collier is known for his attack on the com (A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage), to the point that he wrote a long reply, "Amendments of Mr. Collier's False and Imperfect Citations". Congreve's career shifted to the political sector, where he held various minor political positions despite his stance as a Whig among Tories.

In any case, suffering from gout, he withdrew from the theatre and lived the rest of his life on residuals from his early work. His output from 1700 was restricted to the occasional poem and some translation (notably MolièreJean-Baptiste Poquelin better known as Moliere ( January 15, 1622 February 17, 1673), was a French theatre writer, director and actor, one of the masters of comic satire. The son of a Parisian artisan, Poquelin lost his mother when still a child and enter's Monsieur de Pourceaugnac). Congreve died in a LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri carriage accident in 1729, and was buried in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbeyexoskeleton formed by flying buttresses. The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster Westminster Abbey , a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral, is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English monarchs. It is located in.

Two of Congreve's turns of phrase have entered the English language. "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned" is from Act I, Scene I of his play The Mourning Bride, and "Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast" can be found in Act 3, Scene 8 of the same work.