The plot expresses the author's unabashed support of the British Whig Party: she criticises the Tories, religious hypocrisy, and the greed of capitalism.

To gain Miss Lovely's hand in marriage, soldier Colonel Fainwell must convince the four guardians that he will make an ideal husband.

Fainwell takes the bold stroke of wearing elaborate disguises, four of which mimic the personalities and occupations of each of the guardians in turn: an antiquarian, an old beau, a Quaker, and an exchange broker.

In all, Fainwell dons the guise of a preening fop, a mysterious world traveler, a shuffling country steward, a dimwitted Dutchman and a fire-and-brimstone preacher in turn.

Fainwell gets the guardians' permission to wed Lovely but before the marriage can take place, the real Simon Pure shows up at the end to prove his identity.

With promises of help from Freeman and Sackbut, Fainwell plans on obtaining the consent of the guardians, beginning with Sir Philip Modelove.

Both guardians question Colonel Fainwell, determine that they disapprove of Sir Philip's suggestion, and leave declaring their requirement that all of their personal qualifications be met.

The Colonel says that the girdle would never change ownership for money and reveals that the point of his trip is to find the guardians of Lovely and win their consent in his marriage suit.

With the bet made, Fainwell and Freeman make it back to Sackbut's Tavern to plan for Periwinkle's opening with his dying uncle.

Before the Colonel has a chance to make an appearance, Tradelove praises the generosity of the Dutch trader for accepting the proposal of his consent for marriage in lieu of the two thousand pound payment.

The Colonel, now dressed as the Dutch trader, enters and secures the deal for consent, with Sackbut and Freeman as witnesses of the signing.

Tradelove leaves, claiming he will put in a good word with the other guardians as he made the Dutch trader believe he was the main man in charge of Anne Lovely's marriage affairs.

On Periwinkle's way out, he is smiling, thinking that he has bested the Dutch Trader, gaining relief for his debt at the small price of his consent for a still impossible marriage.

Tradelove is seen to admire Dutch traders, claiming they know stocks and trade best of all nations, and yet he makes a wager with confidence against the Colonel based on the letter Freeman shows him.

He shows his cocky behaviour, hoping to finally outwit a Dutch trader, and his trust in Freeman by accepting the information in the letter.

At Periwinkle's house, all goes according to plan; Fainwell acts as if the death was a true tragedy to help prove that the circumstances are genuine.

He brings up the lease signing to get a signature one way or another, switching it with the consent contract to secure Anne Lovely from Periwinkle's end.

The arrival of Simon Pure's letter was not originally in the plans and represents a godsend for Fainwell, an opportunity to win Prim's consent to marry Anne Lovely.

Prim is the only one without a candidate to marry Lovely, which changes quickly when a servant announces that Simon Pure, the Colonel in disguise, has arrived.

Once Simon Pure has arrived, Fainwell's deception holds because a counterfeit letter is brought in, stating that there would be an imposter dressed as a Quaker with a mob to rob and kill Prim.

Convinced, Prim gives his consent for Fainwell to marry Lovely and signs the papers, only for Simon to return with proof of his identity.

Centlivre made fun of all the stereotypes of her time, fearlessly sending up the marriage mart, fashion, commerce, academia and even religion.

[1] A Bold Stroke for a Wife was first performed at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, on 3 February 1718, where it ran six nights, which was considered a substantial success.

is one of the few comedies that has stood the test of time -- it is full of business and intrigue and abounds with such a variety as always arrests and keeps up the attention of the audience until it ends.

"[2] The play continued to find American audiences into the nineteenth century, and was billed as a "fine old comedy" when it was presented at Wallack's Theatre on Broadway in 1863.

In 1960, this play was adapted as the film 'Ek Phool Chaar Kaante' (A Rose and Four Thorns) starring Sunil Dutt and Waheeda Rehman.

The four guardians were portrayed by the then four most famous character actors of contemporary Bollywood- David, Dhumal, Rashid Khan and Johnny Walker.

In a 1985 production by Double Edge Theatre[3] the play was set in the androgynous cabaret world of the 1920s as an ironic look at "the marriage game" written by an 18th-century male impersonator to underscore its cross-gender casting and the wry implications such an approach has in contemporary society.

[4] Like the character of Mrs. Malaprop in Sheridan's play The Rivals, the name Simon Pure soon became a noun for a quality in a person.

[5] In adjectival use, the compound quickly gained a hyphen and lost its capitals when, in 1894, William Dean Howells wrote glowingly of "American individuality, the real, simon-pure article."