Eighteenth-century dramatic works are not avant-garde theatre in the modern sense of experimental drama overthrowing established forms of writing and accustomed viewing conventions; rather, eighteenth-century playwrights experimented cautiously, attempting to accommodate new perspectives and ideas in well-proven, popular formats. In her comedies Centlivre reassessed dramatic stock figures and overturned gender stereotypes, often contrasting practical-minded women characters, well-informed about legal and money-matters, with romantic men with their heads in the clouds. In her plays, a steadfast woman can keep a secret, and a man can be a busybody, loquacious and inquisitive. She revised the negative picture of the virtuosa current at her time and dared to suggest, at an age given to sentimentality and moral reform, that a stock of money is the best defence against immorality. She also engaged creatively with contemporary philosophical and scientific debates, humorously implementing the Royal Society’s linguistic guidelines into her comedies, for instance by contrasting women’s preference for down-to-earth brevity with the men’s raillery and rant. Moreover, she investigated the interaction of language and power, showing how jargon (whether scientific, religious, or simply provincial vernacular) can be used as a rhetorical weapon by men and women alike to hoodwink and daunt others, and, remarkably, how the strategic use of silence can empower women. In addition, Centlivre wrote the first play satirizing provincial electioneering; however, probably due to the volatile political situation, this farce was not performed. She also popularized the gambling play on the English stage—a genre which, unlike earlier English plays featuring gamblers, centrally focussed on scenes of excitement at the gambling table and on the moral hazards of a gambling addiction. It is high time to acknowledge the innovative aspects in the dramatic oeuvre of this remarkable playwright.