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Index Welcome and company info Short summary on the play Characters in the play and an exercise The playwright The buildings and theatre etiquette in 18th cenutury Fashion in 18th century Major themes in the play Exercises and ideas Further reading
We’ve put this pack together to assist you in your studies of Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer. It is intended to give you some further ideas to support your studies up to and after seeing our production.
the company Creative Cow was conceived on a farm in Devon in 2007 by artistic director Amanda Knott and two professional actors Jonathan Parish and Katherine Senior. Creative Cow offers the very best in classic and contemporary playwriting, produced by a skilled, inventive and current theatre company. The company tours the UK and Ireland on the large, mid & small – scale circuit with two productions a year. The desire to create theatre that is affordable and accessible to everyone means the company often takes their plays to the valleys and countryside of rural UK, setting up an entire theatre often in very unconventional spaces.
a short summary of She Stoops to Conquer, or The Mistakes of a Night Charles Marlow, a well-bred young man from London, is beset with a stutter and a quiver when in the presence of elegant and educated young women. When his father sets him up with his old friend’s eligible daughter, he is totally tongue tied - but Miss Kate Hardcastle is charmed by her gibbering suitor and employs an unexpected tactic to put him at his ease. Meanwhile, the ridiculous muppet, Tony Lumpkin, on meeting Marlow and his dashing friend Hastings, leads them to believe that old Mr Hardcastle’s country house is actually an inn and the man of the house is the inn keeper. Mayhem and confusion ensue as the young men demand to be waited upon by a bewildered and increasingly outraged host. This is a delightful comedy written by Oliver Goldsmith in 1771 in which a plethora of mistakes and misunderstandings create a heart -warming and hilarious evening of classic theatre.
Characters in the play Mr Hardcastle- patriarch of the family Mrs Hardcastle – matriarch of the family Kate Hardcastle – daughter of Mr & Mrs Hardcastle Tony Lumpkin – son of Mrs Hardcastle Marlow – son of Sir Charles Marlow & suitor for Kate Hastings – friend of Marlow & in love with Constance Constance Neville – Mrs Hardcastle’s neice Sir Charles Marlow – old friend of Mr Hardcastle Diggory – servant to Mr Hardcastle Landlord – landlord of the Three Pigeons where Tony frequents.
act up! Status improvisation 1. The whole group discuss status levels in society and how status changes. 2. A group of people will often respond to each other in a manner dictated by their perceived status. 3. To demonstrate this; the group divides; half are the actors and half the audience. 4. Each actor is given a numbered playing card between 1-10; 10 being the highest possible status and 1 the lowest. 5. The actors hold their cards to their foreheads, so they do not know the value of their own card, but everyone else does. 6. Improvise a scene, such as a party, in which actors treats the others as though they have the status of their card’s value. For example, if they have a low number, they might be ignored and if they have a high number they should be treated with respect. 7. After the improvisation, the actors have to guess their own status. 8. Then let the audience have a go at acting and vice versa.
The playwright Like many eighteenth-century writers, Goldsmith was Irish, from the clerical middle-classes impoverished by London’s trade embargo and absentee landlords. He was a valued friend of Samuel Johnson, Joshua Reynolds, and Edmund Burke, and the licensed fool of their circle; the author of a major poem, an enduring novel, and a great play who never found a true vocation. He was an habitual gambler and fop, always in debt yet compulsively generous; a great talker prone to stuttering and a socialiser but always uneasy with women (a bit like Marlow?!). Born at Lissoy in 1728, fifth in a large family, Goldsmith was sent (like his elder brother) to Trinity College, Dublin, to prepare for ordination. Poverty meant he went (in 1745) as a sizar, earning his way by waiting on fellow students, and in 1746 his father died, a financial and emotional blow which disrupted his studies; he did not graduate until 1750, and was never ordained. He tried law, then medicine, in Dublin, Edinburgh, Leiden and Padua, but gained no degree, and in 1756 settled in London to make his way in letters. Moderate successes with an Enquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe (1759) and the ‘Chinese Letters’ collected as The Citizen of the World (1762) could not save him endless hack-work, but brought contact with Johnson. In 1764 Goldsmith became, with
Johnson, Burke, and Reynolds, a founder-member of the Turk’s Head Club. Despite poetic success with The Traveller (1764) and The Deserted Village (1770), and fictional success with The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Goldsmith hankered for dramatic success but found himself at odds with Garrick and with the taste for sentimental comedy. Honeywood, the hero of his first play, The Good-Natur’d Man (1766), is virtuous to the point of stupidity and Garrick, who read it, would not risk such satire of audience taste. George Colman was eventually persuaded to stage it at Covent Garden in 1768 (and promptly elected to the Turk’s Head Club); it achieved a respectable nine performances, but the best scene, featuring some memorable bailiffs, was cut after the first, and the play was eclipsed by Garrick’s rival production of Hugh Kelly’s tear-stained False Delicacy, a howling success. With She Stoops to Conquer (1771), Goldsmith abandoned the satirisation of sentimental comedy for richly laughing comedy in the old manner. The plot is from Bickerstaffe’s Love in a Village but a far deeper debt to Shakespeare is evident in the disguised heroine, comedy of errors, low-life scenes, and dominating figure of Tony Lumpkin, vulgar and sensual, whose blunt self-interest and control of theatrical reality mark him as
the finest comedic Vice since Feste. Colman sat on the play for a year and in desperation Goldsmith offered it to Garrick — an opportunity at last for Garrick to premiere a play and create a role, that would endure in the repertoire; an opportunity he refused. It may be that, with age, Garrick’s theatrical antennae had weakened, that he did not foresee the waning of sentimental comedy that Goldsmith (and Sheridan) signalled; he may have guessed at it, but been happy to leave the new trend to his successors (he would retire in 1776). In the end the Club prevailed on Colman to stage She Stoops at Covent Garden in March 1773. Goldsmith was too nervous to attend, arriving only for Act 5. Colman’s trepidation is indicated by his reaction to Goldsmith’s alarm when Mrs Hardcastle’s belief that her own garden is Crackskull Common was hissed: "Psha! Doctor, don’t be fearful of squibs, when we have been sitting almost these two hours upon a barrel of gunpowder". But the rich comedy and career making success of John Quick as Tony Lumpkin had done their work. Laughter vanquished scandal and tears, and She Stoops has never since been out of the repertory for long. To the shock of Johnson and Burke (who wept at the news) and the lasting grief of Reynolds, Goldsmith died on Easter Monday 1774, of fever, and from self administered purgatives. The scale of his debts led to a quiet burial in the Temple Church; a noble Latin epitaph by Johnson was later placed in Westminster Abbey. The Deserted Village and The Vicar of Wakefield were widely read well into the twentieth century, but it is for Tony Lumpkin that Goldsmith has been longest remembered.
The buildings and theatre etiquette Elizabethan theatres are familiar from Shakespeare’s Globe and many Victorian theatres survive in use, but Georgian theatres were different from either. They had a proscenium wall, but the stage extended well into what would now be the stalls and was divided. Behind the proscenium wall was the scenic stage or scene, a place of painted flats, careful tableaux, and the stylised, declamatory acting thought proper for tragedy; in front of the wall, flanked by stage-boxes and close to excitable patrons in the pit, was the forestage, a place of comedy The beautiful Georgian Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds where actors had to be quick with feet and tongue, ad-libs and audience-interactions. In such theatres playwrights and actors were at the mercy of audiences. The protocol of audience silence developed only from the 1880s, when electricity made it possible to dim house-lights and the conventions of Ibsenite Naturalism outlawed address to the audience; Georgian house-lights stayed up throughout, and playgoers came and went, talked, cheered, or hissed at will, and thought themselves as much on show as the actors. And talk was the least of it: audiences came
to praise or damn and either way to make their feelings known. Favourite works, however hackneyed, were loudly demanded and had better be supplied. Performances were often interrupted, a new play or player deemed unpatriotic or disrespectful might be literally howled off stage, and audience-members who felt they or their friends (or England) had been insulted commonly demanded apologies from actors and/or managers before they would allow the show to continue. On one occasion Garrick was forced to apologise on his knees, and Drury Lane was substantially damaged by rioting at least six times during his managerial career. Theatre-makers also faced more formal but equally stringent censors. Restoration theatre, fuelled by anti-Puritanism and female performers, was notably licentious, but after 1700 the pendulum began to swing, and the Licensing Act of 1737 transferred responsibility for plays from the ineffective Master of the Revels to the Lord Chamberlain. Only two London theatres, Covent Garden and Drury Lane, were licensed (others survived by performing musical drama) and scrutiny was tightened. By Victorian standards the eighteenth century remained dissolute, and theatre-goers continued to appreciate breeches parts (women showing their legs in male hose), yet Jacobethan and Restoration plays, including Shakespeare’s, were considered unperformable as written, severely pruned of indelicacy, and generally ‘improved’. The ‘old comedy’ of clowns and bawdy, cross-dressing heroines and low-life scenes, was eclipsed by ‘weeping’ or ‘sentimental comedy’, anaemically virtuous, piously predictable, but for decades the dominant vogue. Nor did tragedy escape: even King Lear was given a comedic ending in which Edgar marries Cordelia(!)
Fashion The fashion of the times for the female characters was certainly not designed for ease. Corsets were made for posture, not comfort! Most women are not naturally shaped like an hourglass so a great deal of strain was put on the body when a corset was worn. Women did a lot of damage to their bodies, such as tearing skin and even bruising internal organs. It has also been noted that one woman actually died because her corset was tied too tight. Extreme hairstyles and wigs had just come into fashion and both male and females wore them or else hair was grown long and powdered. The men had an easier time with dressing themselves. Knee-length breeches fitted snugly and had a fall-front opening. Waistcoats and coats were still worn and stockings and buckled shoes were worn to show off their fine legs, hence the manner in which they bowed with their calves on full display. Many men wore three point cocked hats and some even carried canes. We have created we hope, quite a vibrant concept with respect to the costume design in our production as it was such a huge part of everyday life for people in the 18th century. They did, after all, spend a very long time getting dressed and we hope the costumes make for a very striking visual.
Major themes in the play Class While the play is not explicitly a piece on class, the theme is central to it. The decisions the characters make and their perspectives on one another are all largely based on what class they are a part of. Where Tony openly loves low-class people like the drunks in the Three Pigeons, Marlow must hide his love of lowclass women from his father and “society.” His dynamic relationship with Kate (and the way he treats her) is defined by who he thinks she is at the time – from high-class Kate to a poor barmaid to a woman from good family but with no fortune. Hastings’ and Marlow’s reaction to Hardcastle is also a great example of the importance of class—they find him impudent and absurd, because they believe him to be of low class, but his behaviour would be perfectly reasonable and expected from a member of the upper class, as he truly is. Comedy Though it is only referred to in the prologue, an understanding of Goldsmith's play in context shows his desire to reintroduce his audience to the “laughing comedy” that derived from a long history of comedy that mocks human vice. This type of comedy stands in contrast to the then-popular “sentimental comedy”. Understanding Goldsmith's love of the former helps to clarify several elements of the play: the low scene in the Three Pigeons; the mockery of baseness in even the most high-bred characters; and the celebration of absurdity as a fact of human life.
Deceit/Trickery Much of this play's comedy comes from the trickery played by various characters. The most important deceits come from Tony, including his lie about Hardcastle's home and his scheme of driving his mother and Constance around in circles. However, deceit also touches to the centre of the play's more major themes. In a sense, the only reason anyone learns anything about their deep assumptions about class and behaviour is because they are duped into seeing characters in different ways. This truth is most clear with Marlow and his shifting perspective on Kate, but it also is true for the Hardcastles and Sir Charles, who are able to see the contradictions in others because of what trickery engenders. Behaviour/Appearance One of the elements Goldsmith most skewers in his play's satirical moments is the aristocratic emphasis on behaviour as a gauge of character. Even though we today believe that one's behaviour – in terms of “low” versus “high” class behaviour – does not necessarily indicate who someone is, many characters in the play are often blinded to a character's behaviour because of an assumption. For instance, Marlow and Hastings treat Hardcastle cruelly because they think him the landlord of an inn, and are confused by his behaviour, which seems forward. The same behaviour would have seemed appropriately high-class if they hadn't been fooled by Tony. Throughout the play, characters (especially Marlow) assume they understand someone's behaviour when what truly guides them is their assumption of the other character's class.
Act up!
MODERNISE THE STORY 1. In small groups, choose one of the scenes you found with the themes 2. Discuss what is happening in the scene. 3. What conflicts arise in this scene? 4. Discuss the characters’ personalities. 5. During the scene; what does each of them want and how do they try to get what they want? 6. Now devise your own modern version of this scene which incorporates all of the elements above of the original story. See how different the mind sets of the characters from 18th century and 21st century is.
Act up!
FOLLOW UP IDEAS ‘Media Exposure’ Choose one of the events in the story to focus on and then choose a media format to work with. Create something that could be released to the media for public viewing in 2014. Use the suggestions below, or pick your own starting point.
TV – The Hotel Inspector Write the script or improvise an episode based on The Hotel Inspector in which the characters Marlow and Hastings give their opinion on Mr.Hardcastle’s home (which they believe to be an inn).
TV – Take me Out Write the script or improvise an episode of Take me Out in which Hastings and Marlow pose questions to potential lovers. What questions could they ask? Include Kate and Constance in the line up of potential lovers: how do Constance and Kate get their men? What do they say? Swap over the roles and create a version where Kate & Constance get to choose: how do Hastings & Marlow ensure they are picked?
Magazine – Heat – ‘Man of the Month’ Write an article about Tony Lumpkin which focuses on trying to get him a wife. How would you describe him as a potential suitor? What sort of woman might suit him best? What aspects of his life would you include and are there any you might think it best to leave out?!
Magazine – OK! Create a magazine article in the style of OK! Magazine which follows the wedding of Kate Hardcastle and Marlow. Write interviews with the bride and groom and their parents. What questions would you ask them? What would their responses be? What photographs would you include? Where would they be taken? Think about the the slant you might like to put on the article – what would the headline be?
Radio – Desert Island Discs Write or improvise a radio programme which has one of the characters from the play as a special guest. What questions would the interviewer ask them and what would they talk about? What songs (from modern day) would the character choose to take with them to a deserted island and why?
A LETTER TO SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. DEAR SIR, By inscribing this slight performance to you, I do not mean so much to compliment you as myself. It may do me some honour to inform the public, that I have lived many years in intimacy with you. It may serve the interests of mankind also to inform them, that the greatest wit may be found in a character, without impairing the most unaffected piety. I have, particularly, reason to thank you for your partiality to this performance. The undertaking a comedy, not merely sentimental, was very dangerous; and Mr Colman*, who saw this piece in its various stages, always thought it so. However, I ventured to trust it to the public; and, though it was necessarily delayed till late in the season, I have every reason to be grateful. I am, dear sir, Your most sincere friend And admirer, OLIVER GOLDSMITH *George Colman the elder (1732-1794) the play’s first producer
Further reading Oliver Goldsmith: The Critical Heritage by G.S. Rousseau (Editor). Routledge. This book gathers together critical sources about Oliver Goldsmith, including critical essays, documentary materials, a bibliography, comments on his works, and more. Selected Writings by Oliver Goldsmith, John Lucas (Editor). Routledge. From the publisher: "Oliver Goldsmith (17281774), essayist, reviewer, dramatist, novelist, librettist and poet, became one of the most popular authors in that 'age of authors', especially for The Vicar of Wakefield� The Rivals, The Critic and The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan David Garrick – a biography by Alan Kendall. Published by Chambers; First Edition edition (21 Nov 1985) Poems , Plays and Essays by Oliver Goldsmith. Published by Forgotten Books. Theatres of Opposition: Empire, Revolution and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Published by OUP Oxford (23 Feb 2012)
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