<P>Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673), until recently remembered more as a flamboyant eccentric than as a serious writer, was in fact the most prolific, thought-provoking, and original woman writer of the Restoration. Cavendish is the author of many poems, short stories, biographies, memoirs, letters, philosophical and scientific works (including <I>The Description of a New World, Called The Blazing World,</I> the first work of science fiction by a woman), and nineteen plays.</P><P> <I>"The Convent of Pleasure" and Other Plays</I> collects four of Cavendish's dramatic works that are among the most revealing of her attitudes toward marriage and her desire for fame. <I>Loves Adventures</I> (1662) centers on a woman succeeding in war and diplomacy by passing as a man. Similarly, the heroine of <I>Bell in Campo</I> (1662) rescues her husband at the head of an army of women in this tale of a marriage of near equals. <I>The Convent of Pleasure</I> (1668) proposes a separatist community of women and has received attention for its suggestion of lesbian sexuality. <I>The Bridals</I> (1662), a more typical restoration comedy satirizing marriage, rounds out the collection.</P><P>Edited with notes and annotation by Anne Shaver, <I>"The Convent of Pleasure" and Other Plays</I> also contains a timeline, biography and bibliography of the Duchess, an appreciation of Cavendish's life and work, and a bibliography of critical essays. Also included are all of Cavendish's epistles <I>To the Reader</I> as well as <I>Other Preliminary Matter from Playes</I> (1662), and Cavendish's original preface to <I>Plays Never Before Printed</I> (1668). A valuable collection from an extraordinary writer, <I>"The Convent of Pleasure" and Other Plays</I> raises important issues about women and gender.</P>