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She stoops to conquer goldsmith12/6/2023 ![]() Oliver Goldsmith may not have had the linguistic virtuosity or satiric audacity of his great contemporary, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, but 'She Stoops to Conquer' is one of the few highpoints in English drama between the Restoration and Oscar Wilde. Its repetitious moral lessons seemingly resonated with eighteenth century audiences. George Lillo's moralizing melodrama, The London Merchant (1731), was a resounding success in the summer of 1731 and was apparently performed 179 times by 1776. Two stars (plus perhaps 1 star for historical interest). Steele's objective was to instruct and to ennoble rather than to amuse. In the prologue to The Conscious Lovers (1722) Sir Richard Steele states his objective: "To chasten wit, and moralize the stage" and to "Redeem from long contempt the comic name". This delightful, satirical comedy is considered the first modern musical. Possible Interest - Another Comedy and Two Moralizing Plays: John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, first staged in 1728 in London, was another exception to the moralizing trend in the eighteenth century. I quickly became engaged with the ridiculous happenings I read She Stoops to Conquer in a single sitting. The plot is complicated by a shy suitor, friends with their own plans of elopement, and an unruly prankster, all leading to utter confusion in the rustic Hardcastle household. Oliver Goldsmith adroitly transformed this overly used situation into delightful comedy. Hardcastle, have arranged a suitable marriage for young Miss Hardcastle. The basic theme in She Stoops to Conquer is familiar. While The School for Scandal is widely admired for its witty dialogue, She Stoops to Conquer offers the most hilarious situations. All are quite good, but I especially liked She Stoops to Conquer and The School for Scandal. In recent months I have read all three play. ![]() In a short period they created three plays that are still enjoyed today: She Stoops to Conquer (Goldsmith, 1773), The School for Scandal (Sheridan, 1775) and The Rivals (Sheridan, 1777). ![]() Independently, the playwrights Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Brinsley Sheridan rejected this moralizing mode, returning to the English stage a humorous, mildly satirical form of comedy. For much of that period comedies were characterized by an exaggerated sentimentality and intense moralizing. Few English plays dating from the eighteenth century appeal to modern audiences.
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