She Stoops to Conquer
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She Stoops to Conquer is a comedy by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith, son of an Anglo-Irish vicar, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a great favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in Britain and the United States. It is one of the few plays from the 18th century to have an enduring appeal, and is still regularly performed today. It has been adapted into a film several times, including in 1914 and 1923.
Initially the play was titled Mistakes of a Night, and indeed the events within the play happen during the very limited time frame of one night.
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[edit] Plot
Wealthy country man Mr Hardcastle arranges for his daughter Kate, to meet Charles Marlow, the son of a wealthy aristocrat, hoping the pair will marry. Unfortunately Marlow is nervous around upper-class women, yet the complete opposite around the lower-class females. On his first acquaintance with Kate, the latter realises she will have to pretend to be common, to make marital relations with the man possible. Thus Kate stoops to conquer, by posing as a barmaid, hoping to put Marlow at his ease so he falls for her in the process.
One of the sub-plots to this is a comic misunderstanding between Hastings, Marlow and Mr Hardcastle. Before his acquaintance with Kate, Marlow sets out for the Hardcastles' manor with his friend George Hastings, himself an admirer of Miss Constance Neville, another young lady who lives with the Hardcastles. During the journey, the two men become lost and stop off at The Three Pigeons pub for directions. Tony Lumpkin (the son of Mrs Hardcastle and who will acquire a fortune when becoming of "age"), encounters the two strangers at the alehouse, and realising their identities, plays a practical joke by telling them that they are a long way from their destination and will have to stay overnight at an inn. He furthers the joke by telling the twosome the Hardcastles' old house is the inn, thus the pair arrive and treat it as such, and also treat Hardcastle as the mere inn keeper. This leads to Hardcastle becoming both enraged and convinced that Marlow is unappropriate for his beloved Kate; he changes his mind when realising the truth behind Marlow’s behaviour.
Another sub-plot is that of the secret affair between Miss Neville and Hastings. Neville desperately wants her jewels that were left for her, and that are guarded by her aunt and Tony's mother, Mrs Hardcastle; the latter wants Neville to marry her son to keep the jewels in the family. Tony despises Constance (Miss Neville), and thus agrees to steal his mother's jewels for Miss Neville, so she will then flee to France with Hastings.
The play concludes with Kate's plan succeeding, thus she and Marlow become engaged. Tony discovers he is of "age", despite his mother not telling him so, thus he receives the money he is entitled to. He refuses to marry Neville, who then is eligible to receive her jewels and to get engaged to Hastings; this she does. [1]
[edit] Type of Comedy
The type of comedy She Stoops to Conquer is has been much disputed. However there is a consensus amongst audiences and critics that the play is a Comedy of Manners (see below for details). It can also be seen as one of the following comedy types:
[edit] A Laughing Comedy or Sentimental Comedy
When the play was first produced, it was discussed as an example of the revival of laughing comedy over the sentimental comedy seen as dominant on the English stage since the success of The Conscious Lovers, written by Sir Richard Steele in 1722. In the same year, an essay in a London magazine, entitled "An Essay On The Theatre; Or, A Comparison Between Laughing And Sentimental Comedy", suggested that sentimental comedy, a false form of comedy, had taken over the boards from the older and more truly comic laughing comedy.
Some theatre historians believe that the essay was written by Goldsmith as a puff piece for She Stoops to Conquer, as an exemplar of the laughing comedy Goldsmith (perhaps) had touted. Goldsmith's name was linked with that of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, author of The Rivals and The School for Scandal, as standard-bearers for the resurgent laughing comedy.
[edit] A Comedy of Manners
The play can also be seen as a Comedy of Manners, where, set in a polite society, the comedy arises from the gap between the characters' attempts to preserve standards of polite behaviour, that contrasts to their true behaviour.
[edit] A Romantic Comedy
It also seen by some critics as a Romantic Comedy, which depicts how seriously young people take love, and how foolishly it makes them behave (similar to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream); in She Stoops to Conquer, Kate’s stooping and Marlow’s nervousness are good examples of romantic comedy.
[edit] A Satiric Comedy
Alternatively, it can be seen as a Satiric Comedy, where characters are presented as either ludicrous or eccentric. Such a comedy might leave the impression that the characters are either too foolish or corrupt to ever reform, hence Mrs Hardcastle.
[edit] A Farce or a Comedy of Errors
The play is sometimes described as a Farce and a Comedy of Errors, because it’s based on multiple misunderstandings, hence Marlow and Hastings believing the Hardcastles' house is an inn.
[edit] Title
The title refers to Kate's ruse of pretending to be a barmaid to reach her goal. It originates in the poetry of Dryden, which Goldsmith may have seen misquoted by Lord Chesterfield. In Chesterfield's version, the lines in question read:
"The prostrate lover, when he lowest lies, But stoops to conquer, and but kneels to rise."
[edit] Characters
- Charles Marlow - The central male character, who has set out to court the young attractive Kate Hardcastle. A well-educated man, who's been "bred a scholar", Marlow is brash and rude to Mr Hardcastle, owner of Liberty Hall, who Marlow believes to be an innkeeper. Because Marlow's rudeness is comic, the audience are likely not to dislike him for it. Marlow is sophisticated and has travelled the world. Around lower-class women Marlow is a lecherous rogue, but those of an upper-class card he a nervous, bumbling fool. Thus, his interview with Kate exploits the man's fears, and convinces Miss Hardcastle she'll have to alter her persona drastically to make a relationship with the man possible. The Character of Charles Marlow is very similar to the description of Goldsmith himself, as he too acted "sheepishly" around women of a higher class than himself, and amongst "creatures of another stamp" acted with the most confidence.
- George Hastings - A close friend of Charles Marlow and the admirer of Miss Constance Neville. Hastings is also an educated man who cares deeply about Constance, with the intention of fleeing to France with her. However the young women makes it clear she can't leave without her jewels guarded by Mrs Hardcastle, thus the pair and Tony collaborate to get hold of the jewels. When Hastings realises Mr Hardcastle's isn't an inn, he decides not to tell Marlow who would thus leave the premises immediately.
- Mr Hardcastle - The father of Kate Hardcastle, who's mistaken by Marlow and Hastings as an innkeeper. Hardcastle is a level-headed countryman who loves "everything old" and hates the town and the "follies" that come with it. He is very much occupied with the 'old times' and likes nothing better than to tell his war stories and drop names, such as the Duke of Marlborough into conversations. Hardcastle cares for his daughter Kate, but insists she dresses plainly in his presence. It is he who arranges for Marlow to come to the country to marry his daughter. Mr Hardcastle is a man of manners and, despite being highly insulted by Marlow's treatment of him, manages to keep his temper with his guest until near the end of the play. Hardcastle also demonstrates a wealth of forgiveness as he not only forgives Marlow once he has realised Marlow's mistake, but also gives him consent to marry his daughter.
- Mrs Hardcastle - Wife to Mr Hardcastle and mother to Tony, Mrs Hardcastle is a corrupt and eccentric character. She is an over-protective mother to Tony, who she cares about, but fails to tell him he's of age so he receives £1,500 a year. Her behaviour is either over-the-top or far-fetched, providing some of the play's comedy. Mrs Hardcastle is also partly selfish, wanting Neville to marry her son to keep the jewels in the family; she's blissfully unaware however, Tony and Neville both despise each other, and that Constance is in fact planning to flee to France with Hastings. Mrs Hardcastle is a contrast to her husband, this providing humour in the play's opening. Mrs Hardcastle loves the town, and is the only character who's not happy at the end of the play. Mrs Hardcastle is too corrupt and far-fetched for the audience to sympathise with her.
- Miss Kate Hardcastle - Daughter to Mr Hardcastle, and the play's stooping-to-conquer heroine. Kate respects her father, dressing plainly in his presence to please him. Her formal and respectful relationship that she shares with her father, contrasts with that between Tony and Mrs Hardcastle. Kate enjoys "French frippery" and the attributes of the town like her mother. She is both calculating and scheming, posing as a barmaid and deceiving Marlow, thus so he then falls in love with her.
- Miss Constance Neville - Niece of Mrs Hardcastle and the women Hastings intends to court. Constance despises her cousin Tony, she is heir to a large fortune of jewels, hence her aunt wants her to remain in the family and marry Tony; she is secretly an admirer of George Hastings however. Neville schemes with Hastings and Tony to get the jewels so she can then flee to France with her admirer; this is essentially one of the sub-plots of She Stoops to Conquer.
- Tony Lumpkin - Son of Mrs Hardcastle's and stepson to Mr Hardcastle, Tony is a mischievous, uneducated playboy. Mrs Hardcastle has no authority over Tony, and their relationship contrasts with that between Hardcastle and Kate. He is promised in marriage to his cousin, Constance Neville, yet she is a character he despises, thus goes to great effort to help herself and Hastings in their plans to leave the country. He cannot reject the impending marriage with Neville, because he believes he's not of age. Tony takes an interest in horses, "Bet Bouncer" and especially the alehouse, where he joyfully sings with members of the lower-classes. It is Tony's initial deception of Marlow, for a joke, which sets up the plot.
- Sir Charles Marlow - A minor character and father to Charles Marlow; he follows his son, a few hours behind. Unlike his son, he does not meet Tony Lumpkin in the Three Pigeons, and thus is not confused. He is an old friend of Mr Hardcastle, both of them once having been in the British military, and is quite pleased with the union of his son and his friend's daughter. Sir Charles enjoys the follies of his son, but does not understand these initially. However, he is quite upset when his son treats Kate as a barmaid. [2]
[edit] The Three Unities
The dramatic technique of the three Unities is employed by Goldsmith in She Stoops to Conquer to respectable degree.
The Unity of Action - This is the one Unity that Goldsmith does not rigorously follow; there is the inclusion of the Constance-Hastings eloping sub-plot that distracts from the main narrative of the play. However, it shares similar themes of relationships and what makes the best ones (mutual attraction or the arrangement of a parent or guardian). Furthermore, the sub-plot is inter-weaving with the main plot, for example, when Hastings and Marlow confront Tony regarding his mischief making.
The Unity of Time - The alternative title of Mistakes of the Night illustrates that the Unity of Time is carefully observed. With all of the events occurring in a single night, the plot becomes far more stimulating as well as more plausibility being lent to the series of unlucky coincidences that conspire against the visitors.
The Unity of Place - Whilst some may question whether She Stoops to Conquer contains the Unity of Place — after all, the scene at the "The Three Pigeons" is set apart from the house — but the similarity between the alehouse and the "old rumbling mansion, that looks all the world like an inn" is one of close resemblance; enough that in past performances, the scenes have often doubled up the use of the same set back drop. Also, there is some debate as to whether the excursion to "crackskull common" counts as a separate setting, but since the truth is that the travellers do not leave the mansion gardens, the Unity of Place is not violated.
