She Stoops to Conquer

Summary

She Stoops to Conquer, or The Mistakes of a Night, is a comedy in five acts first performed at Covent Garden on 15 March 1773. Goldsmith wrote it as a laughing comedy in opposition to the fashionable sentimental comedy of his time. Mr Hardcastle, an old-fashioned country gentleman who loves everything old, has arranged for his daughter Kate to meet young Charles Marlow, son of his friend Sir Charles Marlow. Marlow has a peculiar weakness: he is tongue-tied and bashful with ladies of his own class but easy and forward with barmaids and servants. On the way to the Hardcastle house, Marlow and his friend George Hastings stop at an alehouse, where Tony Lumpkin, Mrs Hardcastle's idle and mischievous son by her first marriage, tells them that they are far from their destination and that a nearby inn will lodge them. The inn is in fact Hardcastle's house. Marlow and Hastings therefore treat their host as an impertinent innkeeper, ordering him about and criticising the supper, while Hardcastle is astonished at the young man's insolence. Hastings, who discovers the joke, keeps it secret because he hopes to elope with Constance Neville, Mrs Hardcastle's niece, whom Mrs Hardcastle intends to marry to Tony so as to keep her jewels in the family. Kate, having seen Marlow's stammering shyness in a formal interview, discovers that he takes her for a barmaid when she wears a plain dress, and she stoops to that role to win him, finding him charming and honest once he is at ease. Tony, who has no wish to marry Constance, helps the lovers by stealing the jewels and then by driving his mother around in the dark for hours before landing her in the horse pond at the bottom of her own garden. At last Sir Charles arrives, the mistakes are cleared up, Marlow learns that the barmaid he has fallen in love with is Kate herself, and Tony, discovering that he has come of age, refuses Constance, freeing her to marry Hastings. The play is one of the few eighteenth-century comedies still regularly performed, loved for its farce, its warm characters and its affectionate picture of English country life.

Plot or Argument

• Act I

  Hardcastle plans Kate's match; Tony misdirects Marlow and Hastings to the house as an inn.

• Act II

  Marlow treats Hardcastle as an innkeeper and stammers before Kate; Hastings meets Constance.

• Act III

  Kate in a plain dress is taken for a barmaid and wins Marlow's easy confidence; Tony steals the jewels.

• Act IV

  Confusions multiply; Hardcastle orders Marlow out; Marlow learns the truth about the house.

• Act V

  Tony drives his mother into the horse pond; Sir Charles arrives; all marriages are settled.

Characters

• Mr Hardcastle, father

  An old-fashioned country squire.

• Mrs Hardcastle, mother

  His fashion-loving wife, doting on Tony.

• Kate Hardcastle, heroine

  Clever daughter who stoops to win Marlow.

• Tony Lumpkin, prankster

  Mrs Hardcastle's idle, cunning son.

• Charles Marlow, suitor

  Shy with ladies, bold with servants.

• George Hastings, friend

  Marlow's friend, in love with Constance.

• Constance Neville, niece

  Mrs Hardcastle's niece, loved by Hastings.

• Sir Charles Marlow, father

  Marlow's father and Hardcastle's friend.

Lessons

• Manners and character

  Marlow behaves differently to people of different classes. True courtesy is the same to all.

  • How does Marlow treat Kate as lady and as barmaid?
  • Is his shyness or his boldness the real Marlow?
  • What does James 2:1-4 say about partiality?

• Humility that wins

  Kate stoops to a humbler role and so discovers Marlow's real character.

  • Why does Kate stoop?
  • Is her deception justified?
  • What does the title mean?

• Comedy of errors

  One lie by Tony sets off a chain of mistakes.

  • List the consequences of Tony's joke.
  • Which scene is funniest and why?
  • Does the play reward or punish Tony?

Context

Goldsmith attacked the sentimental comedy then dominating the London stage in his Essay on the Theatre (1773). The play draws on rural Georgian manners, the coaching inn and the marriage market.

Composition

First performed at Covent Garden, 15 March 1773, after the manager George Colman doubted it; published the same year and dedicated to Samuel Johnson.

Reception

An immediate success that has never left the repertory.

Comparisons

• The Vicar of Wakefield

  Goldsmith's novel of family comedy and misfortune.

• Pride and Prejudice

  Another story of first impressions, class and marriage.

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

  An earlier tale of hospitality, hidden identity and courtesy tested.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• Tony's trick in the alehouse.
• Marlow's two manners of speaking.
• Hardcastle's growing outrage at his guests.
• Kate's change of dress and manner.
• The night ride to the horse pond.

Key terms and names

Comedy of manners

Comedy satirising the behaviour of a social class.

Sentimental comedy

Eighteenth-century comedy of virtuous feeling that Goldsmith opposed.

Aside

A remark spoken to the audience, unheard by other characters.

Farce

Comedy built on improbable situations and physical humour.

Dramatis personae

The list of characters in a play.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension How does Tony trick Marlow and Hastings?
2. Comprehension Why does Kate pretend to be a barmaid?
3. Interpretation What does Marlow's shyness with ladies reveal about him?
4. Interpretation Is Tony a villain, a fool or a hero?
5. Interpretation What does Goldsmith gently mock in Mrs Hardcastle?
6. Big Question Should we treat people differently according to their station?

Faith Connections

• James 2:1-4 (Scripture)

  Do not show partiality between rich and poor.

• Hebrews 13:2 (Scripture)

  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: Hardcastle's hospitality survives insult.

• Humility (Great Conversation)

  Kate's stooping illustrates the Christian paradox that the humble are exalted.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: A false direction makes a gentleman's house seem an inn; the mistake exposes Marlow's double manners and Mrs Hardcastle's schemes; Kate's humble disguise reveals his true heart, so the confusions of one night lead to honest marriages.

Rhetorical device: dramatic irony. The audience knows the house is not an inn while Marlow and Hardcastle do not.

Debate: Resolved: that Kate's deception is justified.

Memory Work

I love everything that’s old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine;

Ask me no questions, and I’ll tell you no fibs.

Writing Prompts

Essay: How does Goldsmith use mistaken identity to expose class manners?

Comparison with Pride and Prejudice: Compare Marlow and Darcy as heroes who must learn better manners.

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  Stage the Act II scene in which Marlow orders Hardcastle about.

• Essay

  Is Marlow cured of his double behaviour by the end?

• Adaptation

  Rewrite the inn mistake in a modern setting.

Further Reading

• The Vicar of Wakefield, Oliver Goldsmith

  Goldsmith's novel.

• The Life of Samuel Johnson, James Boswell

  Describes Goldsmith in the Club.