Dryden's audiences in 1671, both aristocratic and middle-class, wouldhave been quick to respond to the themes of disputed royal succession, Francophilia and loyalty among subjects in his most successfultragicomedy. In the tragic plot, written in verse, young Leonidas hasto struggle to assert his place as the rightful heir to the throne ofSicily and to the hand of the usurper's daughter. In the comic plot, written in prose, two fashionable couples (much more at home in Londondrawing-rooms than at the Sicilian court) play at switching partners inthe 'modern' style. The introduction of this...