The Beaux' Stratagem

In 1707, two recently impoverished rakes pose as a well-to-do gentleman and his manservant, Aimwell and Archer. They take the town of Lichfield by storm, seeking to secure wealthy women as wives and to refill their fortunes. While Aimwell sets his sights on eminently eligible bachelorette Dorinda, Archer angles toward her sister-in-law, the most unhappily married Mrs. Sullen. Gaining the interest of their respective targets and access to the house in which the ladies reside, Aimwell and Archer set out to take hold of the ladies’ wealth before they can be exposed either by a suspicious innkeeper and his band of highwaymen or by the savvy innkeeper’s daughter who has become privy to their true identity. The ensuing action creates a wild whirl of schemes, revealing amorous declarations and practical plots that propel the play to its seemingly happy end, in which the truth comes out, Aimwell and Dorinda accept each other, Mr. and Mrs. Sullen resolve to split, and Archer attains the true meaning of love and money.