Rake

The generally negatively connotated term rake, an abbreviation of the original rakehell (which hints at certain “satanic” characteristics) refers to a fictional male stock character who leads a lavish and immoral lifestyle of drinking, gambling, promiscuity and music.

The Rake in Restoration Comedy

In early Restoration comedy, the rake is usually presented in comparatively positive terms as a witty, intelligent and charming cavalier and hero, who is a member of polite society. However, he is still a rather predatory and aggressive character, who follows his Hobbesian appetites by hunting for dominance and sex. While the rake usually has several sexual affairs during the play and is said to have had many affairs before, he traditionally vows faithfulness in the end of the play and gets married to a rich and virtuous heiress.

Later Restoration comedies sometimes show the problematic sides of rakishness by putting characters on stage who spend their inheritance or their allowance by their extravagances and get into serious debt. An example of this is Gayman in Aphra Behn's The Lucky Chance (1686).

The Rakish Hero after 1700

Due to a general shift of morals in Restoration society beginning around 1700 and the gradual development towards sentimental comedy, the stage character of the rakish hero experienced a change towards a more moral, de-sexualized being. In other words: the rake is no longer a rake, but a nice and tame young man.

Examples of Rake Characters in Restoration Comedy

Dorimant in George Etherege’s The Man of Mode (1676)

Horner in William Wycherley’s The Country Wife (1675)

Willmore in Aphra Behn’s The Rover (1677)

Sources

McMillin, Scott, ed. Restoration and Eigteenth-Century Comedy. New York: Norton, 1973.

Pankratz, Annette. “Restoration Comedy : Theatre and Drama”. SS 2009: Lecture 11.

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