Ann Blake – författare

Enduringly popular less for its plots than for its verbal brilliance and wit, The School for Scandal (1777) was the most frequently performed play of its time. Sir Peter Teazle has made the perennial mistake of elderly bachelors in English comedy and married a much younger wife in the hope that she will be too innocent to cross him. In fact, Lady Teazle spends her time with Lady Sneerwell and the worst set of scandalmongers in town, who have a beady eye on Charles Surface, the reckless young libertine, in expectation of seeing him ruined. Charles, however, turns out to possess the sterling virtues of generosity and loyalty to friends and family; and it is his hypocritical brother Joseph who ends up the villain of the piece. This edition discusses Sheridan's earlier drafts for the play and sets it into its theatrical context of anti-sentimentalism and its social context of the London High Society in which Sheridan had begun to move.

It attests to Farquhar's stature as a man that he composed this warm-hearted and vibrant play while he was dying. Like The Recruiting Officer, the play is set in a provincial town and its plot is slight: Aimwell and Archer, two impecunious London gentlemen, arrive in Lichfield looking for an heiress to marry. Aimwell, posing as his elder brother, falls in love with his 'prey' Dorinda and confesses his imposture to her; his 'man-servant' Archer arouses the wistful interest of the unhappily married Mrs Sullen. The introduction to this edition discusses the play for its theatrical merits and argues that it dramatises the ills of marriage in early modern England, shown by Farquhar to be more injurious to the wife than to the husband, and calls for a reform of the divorce laws.

It attests to Farquhar''s stature as a man that he composed thiswarm-hearted and vibrant play while he was dying. Like The RecruitingOfficer, the play is set in a provincial town and its plot is slight:Aimwell and Archer, two impecunious London gentlemen, arrive inLichfield looking for an heiress to marry. Aimwell, posing as his elderbrother, falls in love with his ''prey'' Dorinda and confesses hisimposture to her; his ''man-servant'' Archer arouses the wistful interestof the unhappily married Mrs Sullen. The introduction to this editiondiscusses the play for its theatrical merits and argues that itdramatises the ills of marriage in early modern England, shown byFarquhar to be more injurious to the wife than to the husband, andcalls for a reform of the divorce laws.

It attests to Farquhar''s stature as a man that he composed thiswarm-hearted and vibrant play while he was dying. Like The RecruitingOfficer, the play is set in a provincial town and its plot is slight:Aimwell and Archer, two impecunious London gentlemen, arrive inLichfield looking for an heiress to marry. Aimwell, posing as his elderbrother, falls in love with his ''prey'' Dorinda and confesses hisimposture to her; his ''man-servant'' Archer arouses the wistful interestof the unhappily married Mrs Sullen. The introduction to this editiondiscusses the play for its theatrical merits and argues that itdramatises the ills of marriage in early modern England, shown byFarquhar to be more injurious to the wife than to the husband, andcalls for a reform of the divorce laws.

Enduringly popular less for its plots than for its verbal brillianceand wit, The School for Scandal (1777) was the most frequentlyperformed play of its time. Sir Peter Teazle has made the perennialmistake of elderly bachelors in English comedy and married a muchyounger wife in the hope that she will be too innocent to cross him. Infact, Lady Teazle spends her time with Lady Sneerwell and the worst setof scandalmongers in town, who have a beady eye on Charles Surface, thereckless young libertine, in expectation of seeing him ruined. Charles,however, turns out to possess the sterling virtues of generosity andloyalty to friends and family; and it is his hypocritical brotherJoseph who ends up the villain of the piece. This edition discussesSheridan''s earlier drafts for the play and sets it into its theatricalcontext of anti-sentimentalism and its social context of the LondonHigh Society in which Sheridan had begun to move.