Wikipedia: Between 1668 and 1671 Etherege went to Constantinople as secretary of the English ambassador Sir Daniel Harvey. After a silence of eight years, he came forward with one more play, unfortunately his last. The Man of Mode or, Sir Fopling Flutter, indisputably the best comedy of manners written in England before the days of Congreve, was acted and printed in 1676, and enjoyed an unbounded success. Besides the merit of its plot and wit, it had the personal charm of being supposed to satirize, or at least to paint, persons well known in London. Sir Fopling Flutter was a portrait of Beau Hewit, the reigning exquisite of the hour; in Dorimant the poet drew the Earl of Rochester, and in Medley a portrait of himself (or, equally plausible, of his fellow playwright and wit Sir Charles Sedley); while even the drunken shoemaker was a real character, who made his fortune from being thus brought into public notice.
Etherege holds a distinguished place in English literature as one of the "big five" of Restoration comedy. He inaugurated a period of genuine wit and sprightliness. He invented the comedy of manners, and led the way for the masterpieces of Congreve and Sheridan.

Etherege's portraits of fops and beaux are considered the best of their kind. His wit is sparkling and frivolous, his style picturesque. Etherege is noted for his delicate touches of dress, furniture and scene; he vividly draws the fine airs of London gentlemen and ladies, perhaps better than Congreve; but he has less insight and less energy than Congreve. His biography was first written in detail by Edmund Gosse in Seventeenth Century Studies (1883).