Three Hours After Marriage was a restoration comedy, written in 1717 as a collaboration between John Gay, Alexander Pope and John Arbuthnot, though Gay was the principal author. The play is best described as a satirical farce, and among its satirical targets was Richard Blackmore. It is likely that two of the targets of the play's satire; John Woodward as Doctor Fossil and John Dennis as Sir Tremendous, would have been recognisable to London audiences due to their known hostility to Gay, Pope and the Scriblerus Club.