Comedy of manners

A conversation piece, even society piece, is a form of comedy.

In the foreground a conversation piece witty, funny and poignant dialogue stands. Plays that are regarded as conversation pieces, originated mainly in the second half of the 19th century, rare in the 20th century in England and France.

The literary scholar Péter Szondi described the term by he characterized the conversation piece as a " rescue attempt of the drama by the rescue of the dialogue, however, is a mere convention ." The plot that plays in the higher circles of society, is driven by events coming from the outside. Topics include women's suffrage, free love, the Mesalliance or socialism.

Significant representatives of the conversation piece in France Eugène Scribe, Victorien Sardou, Sacha Guitry, UK Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and Thomas Stearns Eliot. In German-speaking countries was missing for the formation of typical conversation pieces largely of social background. Works by Hermann Bahr and Arthur Schnitzler can be attributed to the genre most likely. Hugo von Hofmannsthal created in 1921 with The Difficult where the meaningless conversation on the topic itself, a caricature of the conversation piece.