Who is Mrs Malaprop?

Mrs Malaprop is a character from Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s play The Rivals (1775). In the
play, she is known for comically misspeaking, using words which sound similar to the words she
intends to use but which mean completely different things!
Some of Mrs Malaprop’s mistakes (or malapropisms!) include her saying ‘illiterate him quite
from your memory’ when she means ‘obliterate him quite from your memory’, or ‘He is the
very pine-apple of politeness!’ when she means ‘He is the very pinnacle of politeness!’.
So what is a malapropism?
The term ‘malapropism’ (or just a ‘malaprop’, as it used to be) refers, then, to mistakes like
those made by Mrs Malaprop. Sheridan will have taken the name from the word ‘malapropos’
meaning ‘inappropriate’, which, in turn, derives from the French phrase ‘mal à propos’ which
translates to ‘poorly placed. The poet Lord Byron was the first known person, in 1814, to use the
term ‘malaprop’ to refer to such a speaking mistake.
Other than ‘malapropism’, are there any words that refer to the same type of mistake?
Mrs Malaprop is by no means the only fictional character who makes this kind of mistake –
Shakespeare’s plays, for example, are full of characters who misspeak in this way. The most
famous example is Dogberry from the play Much To Do About Nothing which has led to some
people referring to a ‘malapropism’ as a ‘Dogberryism

Mrs. Malaprop / DeliaCharacter Analysis

Lydia Languish’s aunt and guardian, Mrs. Malaprop is a self-important and
pretentious woman of around fifty, and the comedic heroine of the play. Her
speech is garbled by malapropisms (ridiculous misuses of words), as she
tries to use sophisticated language, the meaning of which she does not
understand, making for some of the play’s funniest moments. She lectures
Lydia on obedience and proper behavior for a young lady, claiming that it is
Lydia’s duty to marry someone her elders choose for her. Meanwhile, Mrs.
Malaprop herself has fallen in love with Sir Lucius O’Trigger, with whom she
is corresponding under the pen name Delia. Unfortunately, Sir Lucius
actually has no interest in Mrs. Malaprop, but has been led by the wily
maid Lucy to believe that Delia is Lydia’s pen name.
Act 1, Scene 2 Quotes

Discuss the character of Mrs. Malaprop.

Expert Answers info
DAVID MORRISON | CERTIFIED EDUCATOR
Mrs. Malaprop is a comic character in Sheridan's The Rivals. The most
notable thing about her is the way she uses incorrect words to express
herself, words that sound similar to the appropriate word but which have
a completely different meaning. Mrs. Malaprop's struggles with the
English language gave rise to a new literary term—malapropisms, of
which there are numerous examples in The Rivals. To name but two:

The pineapple of politeness. [She really means the pinnacle of

politeness].

She's as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile [She's

thinking of an alligator].
Mrs. Malaprop's verbal gaffes undercut her status as an authority figure
in the play. She's a rather pompous, self-important woman, forever
dispensing matronly advice to her niece Lydia. Yet her ignorance of the
very words she speaks means that she can't be taken seriously. She's
also more than a tad hypocritical, as the following line makes painfully
clear:

I would have her instructed in geometry, that she might know something
of the contagious countries;—but above all, Sir Anthony, she should be
mistress of orthodoxy, that she might not mis-spell, and mis-
pronounce words so shamefully as girls usually do; and likewise
that she might reprehend the true meaning of what she is
saying [emphasis added].
Here is Mrs. Malaprop using a malapropism to warn against the dangers
of malapropisms. Self-awareness is evidently not one of her strong
points.

Sheridan is making a rather subtle satirical point through the character of

Mrs. Malaprop. It says something about so-called respectable society
that someone as ignorant and as ludicrous as Mrs. Malaprop can
presume to exert moral authority over others. Sheridan also seems to be
suggesting the need for a broad, systematic education for those who
would engage in polite society. Mrs. Malaprop, like the hapless Captain
Le Brush, lacks the benefit of a decent education, and the consequences
are painfully obvious each time they open their mouths.
FURTHER READING:
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The Rivals And The Character Of Mrs. Malaprop
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MRS. MALAPROP
A TYPICAL REPRESENTATIVE OF 18TH CENTURY UPPER CLASS
Of all female characters in The Rivals written by Sheridon, Mrs Malaprop's character is the most
important,interesting and amusing. She is an elderly lady and a widow. She is the aunt of Lydia Languish.
But, as Lydia Languish is still a minor girl, she is in the charge and care of her aunt, Mrs Malaprop.
Mrs.Malaprop objects to Lydia's love for a poor, penniless, beggarly young man called Ensign Beverley .
She wants her niece to marry Sir Anthony's Absolute's son Captain Absolute, who is rich and an heir to
three thousand a year. She considers the marriage between Captain Absolute and in keeping Lydia as a
matching one and in keeping with social reputation and prestige of her family. But as she finds Lydia
insistent on marrying Ensign Beverley, she calls her niece a simpleton, a foolish girl who is determined to
disgrace her family by lavishing her love on a fellow who is not worth a shilling. As she tells Sir Anthony
Absolute;
"There, Sir Anthony, there sits the deliberate simpleton,who wants to disgrace her family and lavish
herself on a fellow not worth a shilling."
But the all in Malaprop's character is that when she is angry with Lydia's love for Ensign Beverley, she
herself loves and wants to marry an Irish Baronet Sir Lucius O' Trigger. She carries her love with him in
the name of Delia. When Sir Lucius O' Trigger comes to know that his lovely Delia is Mrs. Malaprop, he
rejects her offer of love and marriage saying;
"You, Delia-Pho! Pho! be easy."
He then asks Bob Acres to marry her But Bob Acres also refuses to marry her. At this stage, Sir Anthony
Absolute cuts a joke with her saying;
"Come, Mrs Malaprop, don't be cast down-you are bloom yet." Replying to him sharply she says,
"Oh, Sir Antony-men are all barbarous."
This episode of love between Malaprop ans Sir Lucius expresses her hypocrisy and hypocritical character
in that what she disapproved in Lydia's case. She appears in her own case.
But the most important trait of her character is to pass as a lady of fashion and culture in the aristocratic
society of London and Bath. She gives herself airs of an educated lady of a socially high, elegant and
accomplished lady. So, she is famous for her "niece derangement of epitaph." In Julia's light and satirical
comment upon Mrs. Malaprop,she is a lady "with her select words so ingeniously misappealed without
being mispronounced." To take a few examples of her words which she misapplies without
mispronouncing them some of refer to illiterate for obliterate, progeny for boarding, reprehend for
comprehend, local language ornacular for vernacular epitaphs .This becomes more evident in the
following speech of Malaprop to Captain Absolute as she says to him;
"There, Sir, an attack upon my language, what do you think of that? an aspersion upon my parts of
speech! sure I reprehend anything in this world, it is the use of my oracular tongue, and a nice
derangement of epitaphs."
Mrs. Malaprop's style of speaking , of misapplying words without mispronouncing them, has given birth
to a new figure of speech in English called Malapropism.
Commenting upon this aspect of Mrs. Malaprop's character,Robert Herring says;
"Sheridon perhaps overdid this trick of misusing word, and certainly Mrs. Malaprop has received to much
attention because of it, but it may be noticed that many of her mistakes, such as her choice of the words,
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‘The very pineapple of politeness!’: Gemma Jones and Wendy Craig on playing Mrs Malaprop
Richard Sheridan’s grande dame from The Rivals is best known for her flamboyant word-mangling, but
what lies behind the desperate desire to impress? Two actors who’ve played the role doff their bonnets to
a great autodidact and survivor

Mrs Malaprop is best remembered for one trait: her habit of misappropriating words, the malapropisms
that are named after her.
The malapropisms make for delightful comedy, but they do present a challenge. Each one needs figuring
out. Does she realise her mistakes or not? She might search for the right word and find the wrong one, or
catch herself afterwards. But if you signpost every single one, that gets pretty tedious. Almost every time
she opens her mouth she gets something wrong. You have to be pretty sharp-eared to pick them all up.
Some of her errors are quite subtle. Some are crude: “The very pineapple of politeness.” She means
pinnacle. It’s daft – very entertaining, but bloody difficult to learn. It’s easy to be silly, but you’ve got to
be careful. As with the best comedy, you have to play it as if it’s not funny.

Sheridan helps with that. Brilliantly, Mrs Malaprop believes she’s an authority on language, as well as
manners and diction. She obviously reads a great deal to have hoovered up this dictionary she has
jumbled in her head, but she’s quite conflicted by it. Sir Anthony Absolute, for example, is outraged that
she reads and thinks of libraries as dens of iniquity. I imagine Mrs Malaprop sitting up late devouring
books in secret. I suspect she’s a bit of a proto-feminist.

At the end, she intercedes – that’s her word for intercepts – these letters from Lydia’s chap, Jack, that
lampoon her behaviour and the way she dresses and makes herself up. They’re desperately cruel and it’s
deeply hurtful to her, but they’re exactly the traits that the audience has been laughing at, so you’ve got to
be able to deliver a bit of a reprimand. If she’s too absurdly unsympathetic, you can’t make that
countClearly, Mrs Malaprop is an inimitable comic figure. She is the provincial woman desperately trying
to live up to the smartness of Bath, and be not too far behind London at the same time.Her vulgarity
stands out against the century refinement of Sir Anthony Absolute.
Thus Mrs. Malaprop's character is lively, comical and delightful. Much of the comic effect,mirth
and gaiety will disappear if Mrs. Malaprop is not there in the drama.
So, speaking about Sheridan's art of characterisation, a critic rightly observes;
"The great strength of The rivals is that its characters are admirably contrasted and varied, that
the plot is skillfully managed and that the verbal felicities are many and delightful."
A. J. Wyatt and A. S. Collins also observe;
"The main qualities of the play are intellectual; its excellence lies in the amusingsituation, the
speaking witness, the lively reproduction of contemporary life, the clear, natural but somewhat
superficial characterisation."
Question Mrs. Malaprop is atypical representative of 18th century upper class human society. Discuss.
Give a character sketch of Mrs Malaprop.
Give your impression of the character of Mrs. Malaprop
a character in The Rivals, a comic play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Mrs Malaprop (from the
French mal à propos meaning ‘ inappropriate ’) is the aunt of Lydia Languish, and is noted for the way
she confuses words that sound similar, e.g. 'oracular' instead of 'vernacular' and 'epitaph' instead of
'epithet'. Such a wrong use of words is called a malapropism after her.“