plots are virtuous. This insistence on decorum and virtue indicates a
concession to Collier and to the public. Thus in the preface to _Love's
Contrivance_ (1703), she reiterates her belief that comedy should amuse
but adds that she strove for a "modest stile" which might not "disoblige
the nicest ear." This modest style, not practiced in early plays, is
achieved admirably in _The Busie Body_. Yet, as she says in the
epilogue, she has not followed the critics who balk the pleasure of
the audience to refine their taste; her play will with "good humour,
pleasure crown the Night." In dialogue, in plot, and particularly in
the character of the amusing but inoffensive Marplot, she fulfills her
simple theory of comedy designed not for reform but for laughter.

Mrs. Centlivre followed the practices of her contemporaries in borrowing
the plot for _The Busie Body_. The three sources for the play are: _The
Devil Is an Ass_ (1616) by Jonson; _L'Etourdi_ (1658) by Molière; and
_Sir Martin Mar-all or The Feigned Innocence_ (1667) by Dryden. From
_The Devil Is an Ass_, Mrs. Centlivre borrowed minor details and two
episodes, one of them the amusing dumb scene. This scene, though a close
imitation, seems more amusing in _The Busie Body_ than in Jonson's play,
perhaps because the characters, especially Sir Francis Gripe and
Miranda, are more credible and more fully portrayed. From the second
source for _The Busie Body_, Molière's _L'Etourdi_, I believe Mrs.
Centlivre borrowed the framework for her parallel plots, the theme of
Marplot's blundering, and the name and general character of Marplot. But
she has improved what she borrowed. She places in Molière's framework
more credible women characters than his, especially in the charming
Miranda and the crafty Patch; she constructs a more skillful intrigue
plot for the stage than his subplot and emphasizes Spanish customs in
the lively Charles-Isabinda-Traffick plot. Mrs. Centlivre concentrates
on Marplot's blundering, whereas Molière concentrates on the servant