 [5] The seriousness of Terence was noted by many contemporaries to be one important element of traditional tragedy that Steele incorporated into his revised version of comedy, known today as sentimental comedy.Steele considered Terence's serious tone, and the different effect it produces on the viewing audience from the more light-hearted comedy of the era, to be an essential component in the function of his new dramatic form as a “radical correction to the libidinous exuberance of Restoration comedy”.