The-Rivals Coursehero Study Guide

The Rivals
Study Guide by Course Hero
What's Inside d In Context
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1

Comedy of Manners in the Age
d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1
of Reason
a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3
The Age of Reason, sometimes called the Enlightenment or the

h Characters .................................................................................................. 4
Augustan Age, is an era in intellectual history that spanned the
k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 7 18th century and witnessed the primacy of rational as opposed
to emotional values, of measured discourse, and of social and
c Scene Summaries .................................................................................. 12 literary decorum. The flagship authors of the era in Britain
include John Dryden (1631–1700), Jonathan Swift (1667–1745),
g Quotes ........................................................................................................ 23
Alexander Pope (1688–1744), Henry Fielding (1707–54), and
l Symbols ..................................................................................................... 24 Samuel Johnson (1709–84).
m Themes ....................................................................................................... 25 Among the popular literary forms of the period was the verse
epistle, a long poem in the form of a letter addressed to a
particular person or group. In addition, many poets wrote verse
satires, long poems meant to ridicule some kind of action,
j Book Basics event, or person. The mock-epic poem, a subgenre of verse

satire, is epitomized by Pope's The Rape of the Lock (1712 and
1714). A mock-epic applies the characteristics of a classical
AUTHOR
epic to a trivial subject. For example, in Pope's poem, the theft
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
of a lock of hair is treated as if it were so important it could
FIRST PERFORMED cause a war. The comedy of manners in drama, the genre to
1775 which Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals belongs, also
flourished at this time, particularly during the 1660s and 1700s
GENRE of the Enlightenment period. This type of comedy dramatizes
Comedy and often satirizes images, habits, follies, and standards in
contemporary society. A comedy of manners typically contains
ABOUT THE TITLE
witty dialogue and satirically calls human foibles and frailties
The title The Rivals refers to the young men who plot against
into question. It is a play genre that makes fun of the behavior
each other for the affections of the extremely wealthy young
of a particular class, usually the upper class. Sheridan was a
heiress, Lydia Languish: Captain Jack Absolute, who also
master of the comedy of manners.
masquerades as Ensign Beverley; Bob Acres; and Sir Lucius
O'Trigger. The comedy of manners got its start in the opening decades of
the Restoration (1660–88), when the exiled King Charles II (c.
The Rivals Study Guide In Context 2
1630–c. 85) was restored to the English throne. Literary manners spread quickly to other literary genres. Elements from
historians often claim that comedy of manners was invented by the genre can be found in the novel; for example, witness
Sir George Etherege (1635–92), but it would be more accurate English author Henry Fielding's Joseph Andrews (1742) and
to say that the genre gradually developed over the four Tom Jones (1749) and English novelist Jane Austen's
decades from mid-1600 to 1700, involving at least a half dozen (1775–1817) Pride and Prejudice (1813) and Emma (1815).
playwrights such as William Wycherley (1641–1716), Etherege,
George Farquhar (1678–1707), John Gay (1685–1732), Aphra
Behn (1640–89), and William Congreve (1670–1729). These Speaking Names and Mrs.
playwrights operated in parallel with the towering French
genius Molière (1622–73), whose comedies of manners ruled Malaprop's Malapropisms
the French stage in the mid-17th century. It is no accident that
English royalists and aristocrats spent their years of exile in Speaking names, also called type names, are names that in
France during the Interregnum period (1649–60), just when some way describe or relate to the nature of a character.
Molière was coming to maturity as a dramatist at the end of Speaking names are a prominent feature of the comedy of
the period. The genre went out of fashion for much of the 18th manners. Such names often serve as a clue to the dominant
century but was revived by writers like Sheridan and Oliver trait in stock characters—figures who are relatively one-
Goldsmith (1730–74). dimensional stereotypes. For example, Sir Anthony Absolute's
surname puts the audience on notice that he is sharp-
In The Rivals, Sheridan's lightly satirical presentation of follies,
tempered and opinionated, while the name of Lydia Languish
fashions, and foibles is evident, beginning with the very first
hints at her somewhat petulant, sentimentalizing approach to
scenes of the comedy. For example, the servant Fag explains
love and romance. The tradition of speaking names in drama
to the Coachman that, because of an eccentric concept of love
dates back through the Restoration all the way to ancient
cherished by Lydia Languish, his master Captain Jack Absolute
Greek and Roman comedy, in the works of playwrights like
has adopted the persona of a humble ensign—a lower-ranking
Aristophanes (c. 450–c. 388 BCE), Plautus (c. 254–184 BCE),
military officer—named Beverley. The name Fag derives from a
and Terence (c. 195–c. 159 BCE).
1770 noun referring to someone who performs menial tasks. As
if this weren't enough, Lydia's "old tough aunt," Mrs. Malaprop, Perhaps the most renowned character with a speaking name in
is part of the equation. Thoroughly snobbish and relentlessly 18th-century British comedy is Mrs. Malaprop in The Rivals.
proper, Mrs. Malaprop disapproves of her niece's courtship, The name derives from the French expression mal à propos,
meanwhile attempting to impress by using pretentious meaning "inappropriate" or "unsuitable." Mrs. Malaprop suffers
vocabulary for which she often confuses meaning. Fashion, repeatedly from errors when she wants to impress by using a
indeed, is ubiquitous, reaching even the level of the servants, longer or more complex word than she needs—nearly always
as Fag chides the Coachman for the latter's unfashionable landing herself in a humorous misapplication of the word. For
wearing of a wig. example, in her very first appearance in Act 1, Scene 2, she
peevishly warns her niece Lydia Languish, "Now don't attempt
Many other characters and situations in the play offer concrete
to extirpate [destroy] yourself from the matter; you know I
illustrations of Sheridan's comedy of manners. The rustic
have proof controvertible [opposed] of it."
bumpkin Bob Acres, for example, preens himself on his genteel
swear words and his newly acquired dancing steps. The dismal Mrs. Malaprop may have had roots in earlier characters; for
Faulkland, never satisfied with Julia's evidences of loyalty to example, Mrs. Slipslop in Fielding's Joseph Andrews (1742) and
him, invents more and more outlandish ways to test his even Dogberry in English playwright William Shakespeare's
fiancée's sincerity. And perhaps the most hilarious of all of the (1564–1616) Much Ado About Nothing (written 1598–99). But
foibles is the fashion of reading, especially by young ladies, in Sheridan's skill in blending sense and nonsense in the
18th-century England. During this time period, female malapropisms of The Rivals made a strong impression on
education was largely confined to the arts as a means for British drama, and the role of Mrs. Malaprop is still one of the
attracting a husband. great plums of the repertory.
It is noteworthy that the style, motifs, and wit of the comedy of
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The Rivals Study Guide Author Biography 3
Theatre Royal (popularly called "Drury Lane" for its location);

Bath, England authored a pronouncing dictionary; and taught elocution, or the
art and style of effective public speaking. Sheridan's mother,
The setting of The Rivals is the town of Bath in southwest Frances Chamberlaine (1724–66), was an accomplished
England, an area that was intimately familiar to Sheridan. Bath playwright and novelist.
had come into its own during the 18th century as an elegant
resort and center of fashion—just the sort of place where a When Sheridan was still a child, the family moved to London.
writer drawn to the themes, style, and wit of the comedy of He was educated at Harrow, a prestigious school for boys
manners could hope to find good material. founded in 1572. Sheridan did not return to Ireland for the
remainder of his life, despite having a reputation for Anglo-Irish
Bath originated in ancient Roman times as a spa noted for its rhetorical and literary style. In his late teens the family moved
hot mineral springs. In the 18th century it became Britain's again, this time to Bath, a city in western England. There,
leading social center outside London, largely due to the efforts Sheridan fell in love with Elizabeth Ann Linley (1754–92).
of a dandified promoter named Richard "Beau" Nash Opposition to their marriage was the stuff of a romantic story
(1674–1761), who worked tirelessly to establish the resort as a that likely fueled Sheridan's most successful plays. Linley was
center of fashion, entertainment, and conspicuous a young singer who, in order to avoid the attentions of a Welsh
consumption. Nash established rules of behavior, dress, squire, fled to a French nunnery with the help of young
entertainment, and etiquette, becoming a social arbiter of Sheridan. Sheridan then returned to fight two duels with this
unchallenged influence. Notably, Nash's idea of politeness suitor to win Linley in marriage. Their trials continued as
focused less on adherence to specific manners than on the Sheridan's father ordered him to Essex to study law. Sheridan
behaviors necessary to make social life pleasant and easy. lasted a week at this, then broke with his father, gave up the
Numerous authors visited or resided in the city, including idea of a legal career, and married Linley in 1773.
Sheridan, Jane Austen, Tobias Smollett (1721–71), Fanny
Burney (1752–1840), and Oliver Goldsmith (the latter wrote a Sheridan's rise in the theater was meteoric, but hardly without
biography of Nash, published in 1762). Jane Austen set her challenges. Having abandoned legal studies, he wrote his first
novels Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published in theatrical work, The Rivals, at age 23. The Rivals, produced in
1817 after her death, in Bath. 1775, focuses on Lydia Languish, a young woman who wants to
marry for love and not for money or social status. Captain Jack
Absolute, a wealthy aristocrat, understands Lydia's intention
a Author Biography and courts her disguised as a lower-ranking officer, Ensign

Beverley. The plot becomes complicated when Lydia's aunt,
Mrs. Malaprop, decides the young woman will lose her fortune
if she weds a poor ensign.
Early Years and Rise in the
When the play opened, it was a failure. However, Sheridan
Theater spent 10 days drastically revising the play, including a change
of cast. Public opinion reversed, and the play became a
The Anglo-Irish playwright, producer, orator, and politician success.
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was baptized on November 4,
Among other humorous characters, The Rivals features a
1751, in Dublin, Ireland (his exact date of birth is unknown), the
figure with an unforgettable name: Mrs. Malaprop. Even today,
third son in a family whose vocations might well have fostered
the term malapropism (Sheridan deliberately took the term
a prodigious comic playwright. His grandfather Thomas
from the French expression mal à propos, meaning
Sheridan (1687–1738) had been a confidant and companion to
"inappropriate") refers to a figure of speech that is comically
the Irish satirist and cleric Jonathan Swift (1667–1745).
misused. For example, in thinking of the geography of
Richard's father, who was also named Thomas Sheridan
contiguous countries, Mrs. Malaprop speaks of the "geometry"
(1719–88), was an Irish actor of some note at Covent Garden,
of "contagious countries."
one of London's premier theaters. He was instrumental in the
management of one of the capital's leading playhouses, the Sheridan followed this success with a fresh revision of clichéd

The Rivals Study Guide Characters 4
stories in the ballad opera The Duenna (1774), which featured Catholic emancipation in Ireland was another pressing issue. In
music written by his father-in-law, Thomas Linley. The 1801 Protestant Britain united with Catholic Ireland. The issue
popularity of the theatrical genre of the ballad opera previously before Parliament concerned whether to extend basic civil
had been established with the English dramatist John Gay liberties such as property ownership, religious freedom, and
(1685–1732). Gay's best-known work, The Beggar's Opera suffrage to Roman Catholics in Britain and Ireland. Without
(1728), had a record 62 performances in its first season. The representation in Parliament, the Irish, by 1828, presented a
Duenna surpassed this record with 74 performances in its real danger of rebellion. However, civil strife was lessened and
opening season. freedom for Catholics came with the passing of the
Emancipation Act of 1829. The new law admitted Irish and
It was Sheridan's good luck to have become a young star of English Roman Catholics to Parliament and to most public
the London theater just at the right moment, when the famed offices. The progressive Whigs in Parliament generally favored
actor-turned-producer David Garrick (1717–79) was looking for emancipation of Catholics. As a Whig, Sheridan also favored
someone to succeed him at Drury Lane. Garrick settled on Catholic emancipation, but on other issues he would
Sheridan as his successor in 1776. Sheridan formed a occasionally side with the opposing Tory party. This stance
partnership with Thomas Linley and physician James Ford for possibly hindered his political advancement. The closest he
a half-share of Drury Lane the same year, and the premiere of came to the center of power during his long term in Parliament
The School for Scandal (1777) followed a year later, bringing was his position during 1788–89 as the principal adviser to the
Sheridan new renown. He followed this success with The Critic young prince regent. But this was an ambiguous achievement,
in 1779, a satire on melodramatic stage conventions. He and since the future King George IV (1762–1830; reigned 1820–30)
his cohorts bought out the remaining half-interest in the was, on the whole, unpopular and regarded as self-indulgent.
theater two years later. However, after 1780, when he was first
elected to Parliament, Sheridan's interest in the theater
seemed intermittent at best. He sparked a revival of interest in
the Restoration comedies of English dramatist William
Death and Legacy
Congreve (1670–1729), which had influenced the style of The
Severe financial reverses, as well as ill health, plagued
School for Scandal.
Sheridan in his last years. The Drury Lane Theatre, in which
Sheridan had heavily invested, suffered a disastrous fire in the
winter of 1809. Sheridan died on July 7, 1816, and he was
Political Career buried in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. Dukes and
other members of the nobility attended his funeral.
Having scaled theatrical heights before age 30, Sheridan's
ambitions turned to his political career. Although he was an Sheridan was not a prolific writer. However, many literary
effective orator, he never realized his aspirations to rival such historians and critics of the British comedy of manners genre
contemporary luminaries as the British statesman, orator, and regard him as the most accomplished link between the
conservative parliamentarian Edmund Burke (1729–97) and the playwrights Congreve and Irishman Oscar Wilde (1854–1900).
fiery Charles James Fox (1749–1806), a leading antislavery
champion and the first foreign secretary for Britain's
expanding empire. Sheridan did, however, serve as
h Characters
undersecretary for foreign affairs in 1782 and secretary to the
treasury in 1783. In 1806–07, he served as treasurer to the
navy. He remained in Parliament for 32 years.
Captain Jack Absolute
It was an exciting time to be in Parliament. The government
was fraught with dramatic issues. Issues facing Parliament Jack Absolute is well-spoken, savvy, dashing, and resourceful.
during Sheridan's service included the attempt to impeach He is the son of a tyrannical father. Under the circumstances,
Warren Hastings (1732–1818), the British governor-general of he conducts his complicated love affair with Lydia Languish
India, for corrupt mismanagement in India. This attempt lasted successfully, as he is constantly called upon to balance
from 1788 to 1795 but ultimately failed. The question of

opposing extremes in temperament.

Faulkland
Ensign Beverley Faulkland is portrayed as self-pitying and chronically jealous.
He cannot seem to restrain his fits of uncertainty and anxiety.
Captain Jack Absolute undertakes an unusual courtship, since

the lady of his dreams, Lydia Languish, believes that true
romance is to be found in poverty and lowly social station. Jack Julia Melville
has thus developed a false persona as Ensign Beverley to woo
Lydia. Julia Melville is the only character in the play who does not
dissemble or fantasize curiously about love and romance.
Despite her suitor Faulkland's insecurity and lack of self-
Lydia Languish esteem, she remains loyal to him.
Lydia Languish is a paradoxical character: charming and

peevish by turns. Her prime trait is her conviction that true
romantic love must unfold among people of lower social and
financial status. Despite some misunderstanding generated by
her suitor Jack Absolute's impersonation of Ensign Beverley,
all ends happily for the couple.
Mrs. Malaprop
Mrs. Malaprop is probably the play's most famous character.
Her name comes from the French phrase mal-à-propos,
meaning "ill-suited" or "inappropriate." Eager for social
acceptance, Mrs. Malaprop typically employs grand
vocabulary, but in a way that shows she is not quite sure what
the words she uses actually mean.
Sir Anthony Absolute

Sir Anthony Absolute is portrayed as impulsive, opinionated,
irritable, and tyrannical. He is chronically given to
overstatement, and he harbors all sorts of prejudices—for
example, against the advisability of allowing women to read. He
suffers from gout, and believing he is seriously ailing, he has
made plans to set his son up for marriage with a woman of his
choosing, who happens to be the heiress Lydia Languish, and
gift his son an estate.

Character Map
Ensign Beverley
Alter ego of Captain
Jack Absolute
Faulkland
Sir Anthony Absolute
Pretends Obsessively jealous,
Patriarchal, dominating
to be insecure, and self-
older man
pitying young man
Son
Captain Jack
Absolute Betrothed
Resourceful, manipulative,
and charming young man
Mrs. Malaprop Julia Melville

Authoritarian, Suitor Honest, long-suffering
snobbish widow young woman
Niece Cousins
Lydia Languish
Sentimental, romantic
young woman
Main Character
Other Major Character
Minor Character

The Rivals Study Guide Plot Summary 7
Full Character List Sir Lucius O'Trigger is an Irish-born

braggart. Bereft of land and fortune,
but prizing valor and honor, Sir Lucius
O'Trigger schemes to acquire Lydia
Character Description Sir Lucius
Languish's enormous inheritance. He
O'Trigger
therefore conducts a correspondence
Captain Jack Absolute is the son of Sir with her, under the belief that she is
Captain Jack named "Celia" or "Delia." However, his
Anthony Absolute and the suitor of
Absolute true correspondent is Mrs. Malaprop.
Lydia Languish.
Captain Jack Absolute disguises Serjeant-at- In Prologue 1 the serjeant-at-law reads

Ensign law the playwright's plea to the jury.
himself as Ensign Beverley to woo
Beverley
Lydia Languish.
The speaker is the female who delivers
Speaker
Lydia Languish is a young heiress the play's epilogue.
under the close and restrictive
Lydia Languish supervision of her aunt Mrs. Malaprop.
Coachman Coachman Thomas is a servant of Sir
She is passionately fond of sentimental
Thomas Anthony Absolute.
novels.
Mrs. Malaprop, a widow, is the aunt

Mrs. Malaprop
k Plot Summary
and guardian of Lydia Languish.
Sir Anthony Absolute is the father of

Sir Anthony
Captain Jack Absolute and Julia
Absolute
Melville's guardian.
Preface
Faulkland is engaged to Julia Melville,
Faulkland and he is Captain Jack Absolute's In his preface Richard Brinsley Sheridan addresses issues
closest friend. such as the play's length, his revision of it, the use of puns and
innuendo, and the characterization of Sir Lucius O'Trigger.
Julia Melville is the ward of Sir Anthony
Julia Melville
Absolute. She is courted by Faulkland.
Prologue 1
Bob Acres is a would-be gentleman
from the countryside who has
Bob Acres Two male actors impersonate legal figures—an attorney and a
pretensions to fashion and is a rival
suitor of Lydia. serjeant-at-law. The main point is to secure a favorable
"verdict" for the play.
In Prologue 1 the attorney presents a
Attorney
brief to the serjeant-at-law.
Prologue 2
David David is a servant of Bob Acres.
The speaker identifies herself with the Muse of Comedy,

Fag is a servant of Captain Jack contrasting "laughing comedy" with "sentimental comedy."
Fag
Absolute.
Lucy Lucy is a servant of Lydia Languish.

Act 1
Muse of The speaker of Prologue 2 identifies
Comedy herself as the Muse of Comedy. In Scene 1 the servants Fag and Thomas meet on a street in
Bath, England. Fag tells Thomas that Captain Jack Absolute

has assumed another identity, that of Ensign Beverley, so that

he may carry on his courtship of the young heiress Lydia Act 4
Languish.
Having issued his challenge, Bob Acres needs moral support.
In Scene 2 Lydia Languish discusses novels with her maid David tries to dissuade Acres from going through with the duel.
Lucy. Lydia's cousin Julia Melville comes to call. It develops
that both young ladies are involved in problematic courtships. Scene 2 features a showdown involving the Absolutes, father
Mrs. Malaprop, Lydia's aunt, and Sir Anthony Absolute, Julia's and son, as well as Mrs. Malaprop and Lydia. Jack attempts to
guardian, duly appear. Both are authoritarian figures who will wriggle out of his unmasking, but his attempts at evasion are
brook no disobedience in the young. finally in vain. Lydia is unhappy that her illusions about Beverley
have been punctured and that there will be no elopement with
a humble suitor.
Act 2 In Scene 3, Sir Lucius O'Trigger quarrels with Jack, and they
agree to a duel. Jack now encounters Faulkland, who
Faulkland and Captain Jack Absolute discuss Faulkland's complicates matters by once again planning to test Julia's
courtship of Julia. Bob Acres, a social-climbing bumpkin, affections.
arrives. When Faulkland exits, Acres preens himself on his new
hairstyle and his fashionable use of new swear words. Sir
Anthony enters to inform his son that he is prepared to settle a
substantial inheritance on him, provided that Jack will obey his
Act 5
wishes as to his choice of wife. Jack hesitates, enraging his
In Scene 1, Faulkland attempts to project his own ruse with
father.
Julia: a sudden necessity to leave the country. Trusting as ever,
In Scene 2, Lucy, the maid, prepares to deliver another letter to Julia agrees unhesitatingly to accompany him. But soon it
Sir Lucius O'Trigger. Supposedly from "Delia" (who Sir Lucius becomes apparent that Faulkland is merely testing Julia yet
thinks is Lydia), the letter is actually from Mrs. Malaprop. again. Julia is appalled by this new "probation" of her
"sincerity," and she departs in sorrow and annoyance.
In Scene 2, Sir Anthony encounters his son. Captain Jack

Act 3 attempts to conceal the sword he has brought for dueling.
When Sir Anthony unmasks his son's disguise, Jack pacifies
Jack Absolute exclaims that his father, Sir Anthony, is him with a false story about committing suicide if Lydia will not
pressuring him to marry the very same girl he is already in love accept him.
with. Sir Anthony enters blustering to his son about the charms
and virtues of Lydia Languish, while Jack remains ostensibly In Scene 3, Sir Lucius and Bob Acres enter with pistols. They
noncommittal. Sir Anthony exits in a froth. comically measure out the ground for shooting distance. After
a chaotic confusion of identities, which also involves Jack and
In Scene 2, Faulkland confronts Julia with his fears and Faulkland, all is sorted out, and the couples bridge their
insecurity. Too late, Faulkland realizes how inconsiderate he differences, leading to nuptials and a happy ending.
has been.
Jack and Mrs. Malaprop confer together in Scene 3. Mrs.

Malaprop shows Jack a letter purportedly sent by Ensign Epilogue
Beverley to Lydia (but actually written by Jack) and diverted by
Lucy into Mrs. Malaprop's hands. The speaker, the actress who plays Julia Melville, highlights the
central role of women in society. She supports her claim with a
In Scene 4, Bob Acres preens in front of the servant David. Sir number of specific examples.
Lucius O'Trigger enters and urges Acres to challenge "Ensign
Beverley" to a duel.

Plot Diagram
Climax
7
Falling Action
6
Rising Action
5 8
4
9
3
Resolution
2
1
Introduction
7. Lydia discovers that Jack and Beverley are the same man.
Introduction
1. Sir Anthony Absolute and his party arrive in Bath.

Falling Action
8. Faulkland alienates Julia to test her loyalty.
Rising Action
2. Julia Melville and Lydia Languish discuss their suitors.

Resolution
3. Faulkland is unhappy with Julia's excess when he is away.
9. All the couples reconcile without dueling.
4. Sir Anthony tells Jack that he has chosen Jack's bride.
5. Mrs. Malaprop sends Sir Lucius a love letter signed "Delia."
6. Sir Lucius persuades Bob Acres to duel with Beverley.
Climax

Timeline of Events
In recent days in Bath
Sir Anthony Absolute, Captain Jack Absolute, and others

in their household arrive in Bath.
Soon afterward
Lydia and Julia discuss their respective courtships with

"Ensign Beverley" and Faulkland.
A little later
Sir Anthony bullies his son Jack.
Soon afterward
Lucy the maid delivers a letter from Mrs. Malaprop, who

poses as "Delia," to Sir Lucius O'Trigger.
A little later
Jack and Mrs. Malaprop examine a letter that Jack has

covertly sent to Lydia.
Soon afterward
Sir Lucius encourages Bob Acres to challenge Ensign

Beverley to a duel.
Right after
Jack's impersonation of Ensign Beverley is unmasked.
A little later
Faulkland tests Julia and admits that he has fabricated a

false story.
Soon afterward
The rivals gather for a duel.
Before dueling begins
Sir Anthony, Mrs. Malaprop, David, Julia, and Lydia arrive

at the duel.

Right after
Mrs. Malaprops confesses about her deception, and all

the couples reconcile.

The Rivals Study Guide Scene Summaries 12
c Scene Summaries Analysis

Sheridan's The Rivals was first performed on January 17, 1775,
at the Convent Garden in London. Unfortunately, the
Preface performance received terrible reviews; so horrible, in fact, that
Sheridan immediately rescinded the script and revised it. To
accomplish this goal, Sheridan used the very media that had
Summary subjected him to severe criticism only 11 days earlier.
According to Sheridan's text and information compiled by
Richard Brinsley Sheridan begins his preface by stating that critics and scholars, there were three main issues with the
this feature in a published play is generally considered a premiere performance: (a) the inordinate length of the play (the
"closet-prologue" and is regarded by an audience as first performance ran four hours); (b) Sheridan's penchant for
unnecessary and intrusive when the performance is well- what one critic called "low quibbles and barbarous puns"; and
received. However, Sheridan admits that The Rivals was (c) the character of Sir Lucius O'Trigger, which was thought to
"condemned in the performance." He says that the harsh be stereotyped and offensive. Eleven days after its first
criticisms "ought not to pass unnoticed" by him, and in this performance, The Rivals returned to the stage with a runtime
case, the play requires a preface. Sheridan goes on to say that 45 minutes shorter and a meeker Sir Lucius O'Trigger. The
he promptly withdrew the play after its poor review to revise its play was better received, and in subsequent revisions,
imperfections. Sheridan edited the runtime down even more. Sheridan's
purpose for including the preface is to explain to the audience
Sheridan admits his inexperience with writing drama and points the steps he promptly took to revise the drama and reverse its
out that The Rivals is his first play. He warmly credits Thomas fortunes with the public.
Harris, the manager of Covent Garden Theatre, for helping him
trim the play. Sheridan admits that the original version of the Although Sheridan crafts his preface elegantly, the preface
play was "double the length of any acting comedy" when he gives the impression of being concerned with tone and image
first dropped it off to Harris. Sheridan believes that he "profited rather than with specifics. Sheridan is eager to establish
by [Harris's] judgment and experience in the curtailing of it." himself as a well-meaning novice, willing and able to learn from
Still, he thinks that Harris, who did not want to discourage a the wisdom of the public. He asserts trust in the judgment and
young, budding dramatist, let many errors go. Sheridan also impartiality of his audience—an assertion that may appear
pleads an honorable motive for some of his more somewhat disingenuous when he later devotes space to
unconventional strokes and excesses: he was anxious, he considering whether his play failed because of malice.
says, to avoid unintentional plagiarism.
Sheridan's preface should be supplemented by further inquiry
Next Sheridan mentions that some of his allies have attributed that compares the original version of the play, which has
the initial failure of the play to malice rather than "severity of survived in a manuscript copy, with the revised version. Even
criticism." He waxes moralistic, pronouncing that "no passion after the pruning that Sheridan carried out with Thomas Harris,
suffers more than malice from disappointment." He then the premiere of the play lasted a full hour longer than any other
belittles "little puny critics" for their "peevish strictures." stage play of the time. Whereas verbal blunders are committed
Sheridan goes on to address the critics who accuse him of by a number of characters in the original version, including Mrs.
"intending any national reflection" in his characterization of Sir Malaprop, Sir Lucius, Bob Acres, and Fag, they are entirely
Lucius O'Trigger, and he denies the charge. In closing the restricted to Mrs. Malaprop in the revised version. And Mrs.
preface, Sheridan declares that he feels confident that would- Malaprop herself is toned down: for example, her line about Sir
be playwrights will profit from the "candor and liberal attention" Lucius in Act 5, Scene 3, a worry that he might "perforate my
of the public at Covent Garden. mystery," was changed to "dissolve my mystery."
Some critics harshly criticized the character of Sir Lucius

O'Trigger, seeing his characterization as a jab from Sheridan at
anti-Irish sentiment. Though Sheridan strictly denied this

judgment, he thoroughly reshaped the role of the character in who cannot be expected to preach to an audience. The
subsequent editions of the play. In Sheridan's time, anti-Irish speaker then emphatically distinguishes the comic Muse from
sentiment in England was rife, and it continued throughout the the sentimental muse, who blurs the line with tragedy. She then
19th century. The Irish were commonly stereotyped as violent, addresses the Muse of Tragedy who will "snatch the dagger
stupid, and alcoholic. The prejudice that the English had from her sister's hand" and end the Muse's comedy in blood.
toward the Irish people was deep-rooted, extending back to
the 12th-century reign of King Henry II of England (1133–89),
when the Irish were regarded as pagan and barbaric. Analysis
In the end Sheridan concerns himself with proprieties in the The first prologue served as the opening to the failed first
preface. As one editor remarks, "His play's initial failure had performance of The Rivals on January 17, 1775, and is divided
given Sheridan a bracing lesson in the decorum the Georgian between two male actors: in the original version, Mr.
playhouse required its playwrights to observe." Woodward was played by the actor who played Captain Jack
Absolute; Mr. Quick was played by the actor playing Bob
Acres.
Prologues 1–2
The first half of the prologue features a dialogue, while the
second takes the form of a monologue in rhymed couplets. In
the first half the speakers assume the roles of an attorney and
Summary a serjeant-at-law (sometimes sergeant) who was a barrister, or
lawyer, of high rank. Serjeants played an important role in the
English legal system from the 14th century to the mid-19th
Prologue 1 century and were appointed by the king to plead cases before
the Court of Common Pleas, England's common law court.
The prologue begins with a dialogue between an attorney and
a serjeant-at-law. The attorney presents the serjeant with a
In The Rivals, both the serjeant and attorney develop a legal
brief, wishing him to read it in front of the court on a poet's
conceit, or extended figure of speech, in which the serjeant will
behalf. The serjeant-at-law quickly says that he cannot read
plead the client's case before a jury. Their client is the
the illegible handwriting without his spectacles. The attorney
playwright, while the jury is the audience. The extended
understands this to mean that the serjeant wants money, so
conceit includes an ongoing series of contrasts between
the attorney bribes him, and suddenly, the serjeant finds the
poets—"sons of Phoebus"—and lawyers, who in addition to
handwriting legible. After some bantering back and forth about
their bewigged comfort, earn far more than poets and are far
their legal positions, the attorney leaves the stage, and the
less likely to end up in a London debtors prison called the
serjeant-at-law introduces The Rivals to the court of public
Fleet. Lurking beneath the pleasantries here is the biographical
opinion, the audience. The court, in its wisdom, should consider
fact that Sheridan had come to London to study law.
that any faults the client may possess are minor and non-
injurious. The worst that can be said about him is that he made The second prologue was spoken by the actress playing Julia
a bad attempt to please. The speaker is confident that the Melville. This prologue introduced the revised version of the
verdict will be fair. play on which public judgment had been reversed a mere 11
days after the ill-fated premiere of the comedy.
Prologue 2 Like the two versions of the play proper, the two prologues are
quite different in tone and structure. Prologue 1 is awkwardly
A woman speaker enters and declares that the serjeant from constructed, with the two speakers assuming temporary
Prologue 1 is no longer required because he supported the "roles" that are unrelated to their roles in the play. A somewhat
playwright, while she speaks for the Muse. She then proceeds ungainly legal conceit dominates the piece, and jesting remarks
to invoke the two faces of theater. First she addresses the about the two figures' legal fees distract from the main point.
Muse of Comedy: she is a flirtatious and witty young woman Sheridan's intention for the prologue is to make an appeal to

the audience to for its judgment and does not reveal anything Jack Absolute's servant, is sophisticated and witty, and
about the play's plot. Thomas, Sir Anthony's coachman, is naïve and unpolished. The
most important plot disclosure is that Captain Jack Absolute
Prologue 2 is far more coherent, although it demands some and Ensign Beverley are one and the same person. But the
background for understanding. The most relevant context is scene also functions to provide a view of the play's setting, the
the conflict between "laughing" and "sentimental" comedy, a fashionable resort of Bath. Fag manages to offer a concise
clash discussed at length by Oliver Goldsmith in his "Essay on summary with his description of the daily rounds, even as he
the Theatre, or A Comparison Between Laughing and hints that the sameness of it all may induce boredom and
Sentimental Comedy" (1773). In his essay, Goldsmith frustration.
disparaged the popular trend of sentimental comedy,
maintaining that true comedy inspires laughter, not tears or
pity.
Act 1, Scene 2
Act 1, Scene 1 Summary

Lydia Lanquish and her maid Lucy are in the lodgings of Mrs.
Summary Malaprop, Lydia's aunt and guardian. They are discussing
sentimental novels that Lucy has been on an unsuccessful
The play opens in Bath, England, with two servants, Fag and quest for at the local circulating library. Soon Julia Melville
Thomas, meeting on a city street. When Thomas asks about comes to call. Lydia tells her cousin that her aunt intercepted
Captain Jack Absolute, Fag discloses that he no longer serves her last love letter to Ensign Beverley and has banished her to
the Captain; his new employer is Ensign Beverley, Captain her chamber as punishment, even though she has taken up her
Jack's new persona. Fag then explains to a perplexed Thomas own correspondence with an Irish baronet whom she has
that the Captain has taken on this the fictitious identity of a "fallen absolutely in love with." Lydia says that her aunt's
poor solider to carry on a courtship with the heiress Lydia discovery of "her own frailty" has made her aunt "more
Languish, who has "very singular taste" for suitors of a humble suspicious" of Lydia's. What's worse, Lydia reveals, is that she
station. He reveals that "a tough old aunt" of Lydia's—Mrs. had begun a pretend quarrel with Beverley and has not been
Malaprop—lies in the way of the affair; however, this aunt has able to "make it up" because her aunt punished her the next
met neither the Captain nor the ensign. day. Julia reassures Lydia that the ensign will never give her up
that easily if he is as sincere as Lydia has made him out to be.
The conversation then turns to life in Bath, and Fag gives a
Still, Julia asks the extremely rich heiress if she would really
rundown of the daily routine in the city, which involves a
marry someone so poor and low-rank as Beverley. Lydia says
morning visit to the Pump Room, where there is a spa; an
she would rather marry a man who is poor and who doesn't
afternoon stroll on the Parades; and dancing, sometimes
care that she had given up a hefty sum of her fortune to be
followed by a private party in the evening. Fag advises Thomas
with him. However, Julia does not believe this to be the truth.
to polish his style a bit; for example, wigs are now distinctly out
of fashion, but Thomas refuses to give up his. Then the two The conversation turns to Julia's courtship with Faulkland, who
spot the Captain with Lucy, who is Lydia Languish's maid. He is teases Julia endlessly. Julia reveals that she and Faukland
handing Lucy money. Thomas declares that the action is odd announced their engagement to her father before he had
and then bids Fag farewell, and Fag invites Thomas to meet passed away. When asked if she still would have still loved
him for a little party later in the evening. Faulkland if he had not saved her from drowning, she says yes,
she has loved him before. Upon the approach of Mrs. Malaprop
and Sir Anthony Absolute, Lydia urgently orders Lucy to hide
Analysis the volumes that might be considered controversial or
offensive, leaving only didactic collections such as Lord
This brief scene, loaded with exposition, moves at a lively pace.
Chesterfield's Letters open to view.
The two servants contrast in personality. Fag, who is Captain

Both Sir Anthony and Mrs. Malaprop are ignorant of the fact authoritarian, older characters who enjoy sway over the
that Ensign Beverley is really Jack Absolute. Both seniors, younger ones, Jack Absolute and Lydia Languish, respectively.
extremely traditionally, consider any liaison between Lydia and Both Sir Anthony and Mrs. Malaprop are given to extravagant
the ensign unacceptable, and Mrs. Malaprop orders her niece turns of phrase, made more memorable in Mrs. Malaprop's
to cease contact with him at once. Sir Anthony attributes case by humorous errors in diction. It is clear at the outset that
Lydia's contrary behavior to books and reading. He advises neither older character will brook any challenge to authority.
Mrs. Malaprop to treat Lydia with the utmost severity.
However, the two are attempting to arrange a marriage Hyperbole or exaggeration is Sheridan's most effective device
between Lydia and the Captain. when it comes to exploiting apparently unpleasant
personalities for humor, as is the case with Sir Anthony's
At the end of the scene, Lucy the maid delivers a monologue, speech. For example, Sir Anthony says, "Had I a thousand
gleefully celebrating the earnings she has accumulated from daughters, by heaven, I'd as soon have taught them the black
delivering, and sometimes misdirecting, love messages from art as their alphabet!" This outburst occurs in the course of a
one character to another. rant against teaching girls and women to read. Sir Anthony's
outlandish views on the subject of reading must have
entertained Sheridan's audience, even as they probably had a
Analysis living memory of the use of enforced illiteracy as a means of
repression.
The opening dialogue between Lydia Languish and Lucy about
books and circulating libraries underlines how popular the As for Mrs. Malaprop, Sheridan's preferred strategy is the
pastime of reading sentimental literature was during the verbal blunder now known as malapropism. The character's
period. Sentimental novels exploited the reader's capacity for lexical mistakes might be likened to "near misses," and are a
tenderness or sympathy by revealing an unrealistic view of its consistent source of merriment.
subject. The genre was en vogue (in fashion) with wealthy
Lucy's concluding monologue strongly tinges the scene with
women such as Lydia, who did not have much to do. Popular
irony, as she plays repeatedly on the noun simplicity.
titles within the genre include Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of
Apparently of lower rank, she is making a tidy sum from the
Wakefield (1766) and Henry Mackenzie's Man of Feeling (1771).
weaknesses and whims of her "superiors," who wrongly equate
Sheridan includes a few titles from the genre in his script;
her rank with her intelligence.
notably, all the books except one mentioned in the scene have
been positively identified by literary historians.
Lydia's confession to Julia Melville that she had written a Act 2, Scene 1
fictitious letter imputing flirtatious behavior to Ensign Beverley
is humorous but also mildly disturbing. Lydia wants to upset a
romance that so obviously appeals to her for the simple reason Summary
that the two have never quarreled. Readers are left to wonder
if she employed this deception out of boredom or if she The setting is Captain Jack Absolute's lodgings in Bath. In the
wanted to see how Beverley would react to an unsubstantiated opening dialogue between Jack Absolute and his servant Fag,
accusation. At the very least, perhaps Lydia pulled this trick the latter informs his master that Sir Anthony Absolute is
straight out of one of the sentimental novels she read. It seems surprised that his son is in Bath. Fag promises that he has
that Lydia harbors a melodramatic and rather eccentric set of been discreet as to the purpose of Captain Jack's presence in
assumptions about romance. With the incident, Sheridan the city, not telling a soul about it—not even Thomas the
comically points out to readers that deception exists on both coachman. He asks Jack to give him a lie he may use from this
sides of a relationship, no matter how inconsequential the act point forward as to why his master is in Bath, so that he "may
of deception may seem. lie a little consistently." He tells that he spread about the news
that Jack Absolute is in Bath for "recruiting" (i.e., military or
The most striking segment of the scene involves Sir Anthony
professional) purposes, and Absolute resolves that "recruiting"
Absolute and Mrs. Malaprop. Both are opinionated,
should be the lie. Fag exits to retrieve Faulkland.

Faulkland enters, and first, the two men discuss Absolute's situational irony. For example, Sir Anthony attributes "the
affair with Lydia. The Captain reveals that he has not seen patience of a saint" to himself and that his goal is to affiance
Lydia since their "quarrel," and Faulkland suggests that his son to Lydia Languish—the same young lady that Jack has
Absolute and Lydia elope. Absolute does not want Lydia to wanted to court all along and whom he has been wooing under
lose her fortune and would rather prepare her gradually for the guise of Ensign Beverley.
who he really is. Then the conversation turns to Faulkland and
his courtship of Julia Melville. Faulkland seems anxious and Sheridan addresses the theme of deception throughout the
depressed and refuses to join Absolute and others for dinner. scene. First, Jack and Fag decide on a consistent lie to explain
He reveals he worries over Julia's health when they are apart, why Jack is in Bath, yet Fag deceives Jack when he says that
and Captain Absolute surprises Faulkland with the news that he has not revealed to Thomas a word about his fictitious
Julia is in Bath. Fag reenters and announces that Bob Acres, identity and love affair with Lydia. Jack admits deception with
an oaf from the countryside, has arrived. Absolute laughs revealing that he finds it comical that Acres makes fun of
about how Acres, Beverley's rival, complains about the ensign Beverley to his own face, not realizing that it is ultimately Jack
to his face. who is his rival. Acres himself attempts to deceive others with
his new look and "genteel" way of swearing, thinking that
Acres enters, and Faulkland becomes distressed upon learning carrying himself in such a "fashionable" manner will cause
from him that Julia has been all "Health! Spirit! Laugh! Song! others to think he is sophisticated. Lastly, Sir Anthony deceives
Dance!" in his absence, while he has been so depressed. his son, at first, by revealing his inheritance, but failing to
Faulkland leaves in a huff. Acres goes on to preen himself on mention right away that he is securing a wife—who happens to
his newly acquired, fashionable hairstyle that he hopes will win be Lydia—for his son.
Lydia's heart. He vows that when he finds his rival Beverley, he
will show him who is boss. Absolute comments on Acres
"genteel" swear words. After Acres exits, Sir Absolute and Act 2, Scene 2
Jack discuss Jack's future. Sir Anthony tells Jack that he is
prepared to settle a substantial inheritance on the young man,
but only on the condition that Jack follows his father's
Summary
directions in his choice of a wife. When Jack seems hesitant,
Sir Anthony becomes highly irritated and exits in a huff.
In this scene the maid Lucy opens the action by preparing to
deliver another love letter—in this case, a sweet greeting from
"Delia" to Sir Lucius O'Trigger. Sir Lucius believes that Delia is
Analysis Lydia Languish, but the real author of the letter is Mrs.
Malaprop, who has developed an affection for him.
This scene introduces several new characters, including Jack
Absolute, Faulkland, and Bob Acres. Faulkland's conversation Sir Lucius enters, remarking that he missed meeting Lucy
with Jack Absolute makes a significant contribution to the earlier only because he fell asleep and took a nap at the
theme of love and excess. Readers may guess that Faulkland Parade coffeehouse. Lucy produces the letter, which Sir
indulges in the sentimental novels popular with wealthy, home- Lucius reads aloud, marveling at the use of language by the
bodied women of the time, with his belief that love should writer, whom he believes is only 17. Lucy only remarks that the
cause its participants to suffer when two lovers are apart. writer has much experience. Sir Lucius gives Lucy money and
Faulkland has been sulking in Julia's absence, while Julia has flirts with her before he departs.
been enjoying life, and this causes Faulkland to question
whether Julia truly loves him. Fag enters, telling Lucy that he has seen her give Sir Lucius a
letter. Lucy, however, discloses that the letter's author is Mrs.
The comic core of the scene is Sir Anthony's conversation with Malaprop, not Lydia. She also tells Fag that Sir Anthony
Jack. In Act 1, the audience was shown Sir Anthony's Absolute has proposed his son Jack as a suitor and husband
authoritarian personality; now, he dominates his son in a for Lydia.
manner that distinctly recalls Mrs. Malaprop's domination of
Lydia Languish in Act 1. The scene is full of verbal and

Jack's lack of gumption is to take him to see Lydia for himself.

Analysis
Scene 2 brings into focus the identity of the "rivals" in the
play's title. Technically, there are four rivals for Lydia's hand,
Analysis
and each of them has a distinctive profile. Jack Absolute is in
This short scene is a jewel, pitting the older Absolute against
love with Lydia, but her sense of romance has forced him to
the younger one. Jack sets the tone right at the start when he
give himself a "rival"—the imaginary Ensign Beverley. Bob
says his father looks "plaguy gruff." The son steps aside during
Acres contends with Beverley for Lydia's hand. Finally, Sir
Sir Anthony's opening rant, which conveys a broad range of
Lucius O'Trigger is deceived into believing that the flirtatious
strong emotions. Sir Anthony focuses on Jack's impudence,
letters he receives are from Lydia, whereas they are really
stubbornness, and ingratitude, but he combines his anger with
penned by Mrs. Malaprop.
a generous dose of self-pity, culminating in a comic echo of
The reading aloud of the latest letter is the comic highlight of William Shakespeare's King Lear's poignant words over his
the scene. The malapropism "female punctuation" (for dead daughter Cordelia in the play King Lear: "Never ... never ....
"punctilio" or "punctiliousness," or modesty) is a tip-off for the never ... never."
audience as to the letter's true author, so it is quiet comical

It is only when Jack acquiesces to total subjugation that Sir
that Sir Lucius marvels at the letter-writer's command of the
Anthony calms down enough to declare that his son is now
English language, when Mrs. Malaprop is known for her
talking "absolute sense" (the pun on the surname is
humorous misuses of words and phrases. Lucy attributes the
conspicuous). His speech is still contorted and full of
writer's facility with words to a passion for reading, which
paradoxes: "Confound you; you shall be Jack again." He
would suggest that the author of the letter is Lydia, who is well-
launches into a suggestively appreciate catalogue of Lydia
read in the sentimental novel genre. The humorous echoes of
Languish's physical charms but then reverts to ire when Jack,
Act 1, Scene 2 are unmistakable.
in apparent naiveté, asks whether his father intends for Jack to
marry the niece or the aunt, Mrs. Malaprop. As Sir Anthony's
anger waxes for a new volley, he impatiently declares, "I've a
Act 3, Scene 1 great mind to marry the girl myself!"
All this while, the audience must be savoring the overall

Summary dramatic irony, encapsulated by Jack out of his father's
hearing at the very opening of the scene: "My father wants to
This brief scene unfolds at the North Parades and consists force me to marry the very girl I am plotting to run away with!"
entirely of a stormy encounter between Sir Anthony Absolute Behind Sir Anthony's tyrannical behavior, of course, lies the
and his son Jack. It opens with Jack strolling along the 18th-century social reality that parents and guardians wielded
Parades, reflecting on the surprising news that Fag has huge power over the younger generation. But Sheridan
revealed to him: the wife that his father is planning to secure manages to convert this social reality into an abundant source
for him is none other than the woman he is wooing under a of humor.
false persona, Lydia Languish.
Sir Anthony enters ranting to himself about all the parental Act 3, Scene 2
care he has invested into Jack, only to be repaid by rudeness
and stubbornness. Jack feigns penitence, which wins his father
or a while. When Sir Anthony rhapsodizes over the charms of
Lydia Languish, Jack pretends never to have heard the name
Summary
before. Sir Anthony's anger is not to be diverted, however.
Scene 2 takes place in Julia Melville's dressing room. Faulkland
When Jack protests that all he wishes to do is to please his
is anxious that Julia has not yet appeared. He scrutinizes his
father, Sir Anthony breaks out in rage again, calling Jack a
own feelings and temperament carefully, but he cannot seem
"phlegmatic sot." Sir Anthony decides that the only cure for
to reconcile his emotions with good sense.

When Julia does appear, Faulkland complains that her bothered by it at all. Mrs. Malaprop tells Jack that she has
"mirthful" sojourn in Devonshire, as reported by Bob Acres, has made attempts to end the affair between her niece and the
wounded him emotionally. Julia dismisses Acres's account as ensign, but all of her efforts have failed. She then takes out a
"the idle reports of a silly boor." She says she can never be love letter sent by Beverley that she intercepted just that
happy in his absence. Faulkland taxes himself with being a morning, and she and Jack examine it together. Jack agrees
brute. Yet he reverts to parsing her language microscopically, that Beverley's speech about Mrs. Malaprop is appalling and
to the extent that they renew their quarrel, and Julia departs in even declares that the scoundrel "deserves to be hang'd and
tears. In a concluding monologue Faulkland berates himself quartered!" He asks Mrs. Malaprop to call Lydia down to meet
again for his prickly temperament and drowns himself in self- him.
pity.
Lydia enters expecting to meet Captain Jack Absolute and is
instead surprised to see Beverley. Jack is careful to maintain
Analysis his disguise as Ensign Beverley and tells Lydia that he had
tricked Mrs. Malaprop into thinking that he, Beverley, was the
Scene 2 contrasts strikingly in content and tone with the Captain, to keep his wealthy rival away. Mrs. Malaprop
preceding one. From Faulkland's introductory appearance in eavesdrops on the couple and balks at Lydia's rudeness in
Act 2, Scene 1, we know him to be an apprehensive, jealous, discussing her love for Ensign Beverley.
and petulant suitor who is low in self-esteem. (In that scene,
Jack Absolute says to him, "You are the most teasing, captious,
incorrigible lover. Do love like a man!") In Act 4, Scene 3, he Analysis
tells Faulkland that he doesn't deserve Julia. Sheridan here
plays with types: where Julia Melville can be considered the Act 3, Scene 3 is among the most ingenious and comical
embodiment of romantic good sense and dependable loyalty in scenes in the entire play, thanks to the layers of deception that
the play, her fiancé Faulkland veers toward the opposite: he is Sheridan employs and the dramatic ironies these deceptions
a veritable storehouse of apprehensions, suspicions, and produce. As in Act 2, Scene 2 a letter plays a prominent role as
insecurities. Faulkland's emotional responses might be better the vehicle for much of the deception happening here. First,
expected from young ladies influenced by sentimental novels Mrs. Malaprop has Jack read statements aloud from a
than Julia's are. The humor, which admittedly is somewhat correspondence he penned under the guise of Ensign
thinner than in other situations in the play, resides in his partial Beverley, a letter that speaks of Beverley's plans to deceive
awareness of his own deficiencies. Yet Julia's tears bring us Mrs. Malaprop. The act of deception described in the letter is
close to what both Richard Brinsley Sheridan and the Anglo- actually being played out at that moment, yet Mrs. Malaprop
Irish author Oliver Goldsmith might have called "sentimental does not realize it, another dramatic irony. Sheridan also
comedy." weaves in verbal ironies, with some of "Beverley's" comments

being extremely hostile or derogatory, and Jack's professed
shock and amazement at the sentiments and attitudes
Act 3, Scene 3 expressed in the letter. Mrs. Malaprop cuts to the quick when
mortally offended; she expresses her outrage that the letter
attacks her with "an aspersion upon my parts of speech!"
Summary Jack's deception, in the creation of the "Beverley" persona,

provides even more dramatic irony in the second part of the
The scene takes place in Mrs. Malaprop's lodgings, where scene. Here his "scheme to see [Lydia] shortly with the old
Captain Jack Absolute has come to speak to the widow about Harridan's consent" plays out perfectly. When the two lovers
becoming Lydia's suitor. Jack says he has never met Lydia; he meet, Jack excites Lydia with the account of how
has agreed to the marriage because of Mrs. Malaprop's he—Beverley—has tricked her aunt into being, as he had
favorable reputation. Undoubtedly Jack's remarks flatter Mrs. penned in the letter, his "go between in our interviews." His
Malaprop. She asks the Captain his thoughts about Lydia's speech to Lydia about running away with her in poverty to
affair with the poor ensign, to which he states that he is not elope is also a deception. Both he and Lydia are very wealthy

even without the portion of her fortune that would be withheld Acres's hot temper. Slow to ignite, this temper reaches
if she were to marry Beverley (or anyone) without her aunt's grotesque, even ludicrous proportions. "Dear Sir Lucius," says
consent. Acres at one point, "let me be in a rage if you love me." Little
does Acres know, however, that his friend Lucius is also a rival
for Lydia's love. In an act of deception, Lucius eggs Acres on to
Act 3, Scene 4 entice a duel between Acres and Beverley. In Lucius's mind, a
duel between the two will eliminate at least one of his own
rivals for Lydia's heart, with no effort of his own. Although
Summary dueling had been outlawed at Bath under regulations promoted

by one of its founding fathers, the entrepreneur Beau Nash,
Acres wishes for red ink as he begins to write his challenge to
The setting of Scene 4 is Bob Acres's lodgings. Acres is eager
"Ensign Beverley." The writing of the challenge is comic
to show off the dancing steps he has been practicing, and he
because of Sheridan's juxtaposition of Acres's exaggerated
boasts of his fashionable costume to his servant David, stating
passion and the formal understatement of Sir Lucius, who
that no one in his home of Clod-Hill would recognize him
regards the duel as a means for terminating "all confusion or
because of his transformation. David exits, and Acres
misunderstanding that might arise" between the two men.
continues to practice his French dances. He complains to
himself how the French words used to teach the steps makes
it difficult for him to learn the dances.
Act 4, Scene 1
Sir Lucius enters and asks Acres why he is in Bath. Acres
answers that he has fallen in love, but the young lady of his
dreams seems to be avoiding him. He explains that Lydia is in
Summary
love with a rival, Ensign Beverley. Sir Lucius immediately
advises Acres to challenge Beverley to a duel. Acres hesitates At Bob Acres's lodgings, the servant tells Acres that the latter
at first, but Sir Lucius eggs him on. The two men work has acted too hastily. The two discuss the concept of honor,
themselves into a froth of belligerence. Acres takes pen and with David upholding a somewhat cynical, yet practical, point of
paper in hand, and Sir Lucius dictates the challenge. At the end view. Acres calls David a coward and boasts that he will never
of the scene, Sir Lucius implies that he, too, may soon be disgrace his ancestors. David continues to remind Acres that
involved in a duel. dueling is dangerous, but Acres dismisses his opinion and
declares he is determined to fight.
Analysis Captain Jack Absolute enters, having been requested by Acres

to deliver the letter containing his challenge. Absolute agrees
In the first part of Scene 4 the audience is invited to laugh at to this mission but declines Acres's invitation to act as his
Acres's pretentious vanity, especially as expressed through his second in the duel, so Acres decides Sir Lucius will serve. A
wardrobe and his dance steps. David, the servant, functions as servant announces the arrival of Sir Anthony. Before Jack exits
Acres's sounding-board and flatterer-in-chief as Acres boasts to meet his father, Acres asks him to emphasize to Ensign
to him about his fashion sense and new, polished look. As for Beverley that Acres is "a devil of a fellow" who "kills a man a
the dances, Acres shows frustration in private about not being week."
able to get the steps correct. His complaint about the use of
the French language to learn French dances is humorous,
especially in the fact that his misunderstanding of the Analysis
pronunciation of the French words is what he believes is to be
blamed for his awkwardness. The French term for steps is pas, Scene 1 humorously stresses the dangers of excess indulged
pronounced with a silent s. But Acres hears pas as paws, and in by Bob Acres in Act 3, Scene 4. The servant David no longer
becomes miffed over why his feet should be called paws. flatters Bob Acres. Instead he exposes the silliness of Acres's
obsession with honor, alluding to the character of Falstaff in
In the second part of the scene, Sir Lucius is the catalyst for

William Shakespeare's Henry IV. Falstaff is a character known heed "the accents of true love." Jack feigns embarrassment
for his bawdy humor and boastful nature. In Scene 1 Sheridan and confusion, but Lydia, thinking he is Beverley, is overcome
creates an extended allusion to Falstaff's cynical by joy. Astounded, Sir Anthony cries out that Lydia has gone
disparagement of honor in Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV, Act 5, mad, her brain "turned by reading." At length, Jack's secret is
Scenes 1 and 3: "Honor is a mere scutcheon." What Falstaff out of the bag. Lydia, however, is none too pleased, sullenly
meant by his words, and David is informing Acres of here, is commenting that there will be no elopement after all.
that to gain honor, one must die, and therefore, honor is
worthless, so what is the point in losing your own life to win it. Sir Anthony is angry at his son's deception, sarcastically
quoting Jack's submissive and obedient statements in the past
In dialogue lightly tinged with dramatic irony, Jack Absolute that he would do anything to please his father. Mrs. Malaprop
gives Bob Acres qualified encouragement and assent. Of protests against Jack for writing the letters that "reflected on
course the audience is aware that, in asking Jack to convey his my parts of speech" and called her "an old weather-beaten
challenge and even to be his second in the upcoming duel, Bob she-dragon." Calming down, Sir Anthony advises everyone to
Acres is blissfully ignorant of the real identity of his rival, "forget and forgive." Intoning snatches of song from John
Ensign Beverley. According to dueling etiquette, Acres asks Gay's The Beggar's Opera, Sir Anthony escorts Mrs. Malaprop
Jack to be his second—his negotiator in the duel—but Jack out of the room in order to leave the young people together.
must decline for reasons known to the reader. Acres's boasts
of his fighting prowess suggest that some of what David has Once they are alone, Jack attempts to soothe Lydia, but she is
warned him about the dangers of dueling is stirring inside his still angry at his deception and bursts into tears. Sir Anthony
head. Acres asks Jack to tell Beverley that he is a "devil of a and Mrs. Malaprop return. Sir Anthony misinterprets Lydia's
fellow" and kills "a man a week," thinking that this might cause tearful breakdown as a reaction to undue forwardness on
Beverley to forfeit before the duel takes place. He adds, "For I Jack's part.
don't want to take his life if I clear my honor." Acres's concern

for the life of his foe is a guise for his own fear of losing the
duel. Readers may wonder why Acres, who now fears his own
Analysis
death, is asking Jack to proceed in delivering the letter. The
In some respects, this scene brings the action of the play to
action adds to the humor of the situation. Jack's farewell, "Aye,
the border of tragedy. However, Sheridan never discards his
aye, fighting Bob!" is a delightful piece of dramatic irony. He is
commitment to "laughing" rather than "sentimental" comedy,
bidding farewell to his friend, whom he knows he will face soon
largely thanks to the outsized personalities of Sir Anthony
as his foe—that is, if Acres is brave enough to show up.
Absolute and Mrs. Malaprop and the comic possibilities offered
by Jack's "disguise" as Ensign Beverley. Jack is hard-pressed
Act 4, Scene 2 to maintain his deception, and he is eventually forced to

surrender it. Perhaps understandably, he takes refuge in
embarrassment and confusion. Meanwhile Sir Anthony
continues to tyrannize him, while Mrs. Malaprop, true to
Summary character, bullies Lydia.
The scene opens in Mrs. Malaprop's lodgings, where she is

scolding Lydia. Mrs. Malaprop is irritated by Lydia's reluctance
to give up Ensign Beverley for Captain Jack Absolute. Mrs.
Act 4, Scene 3
Malaprop receives word that Sir Anthony and Jack have
arrived. She orders her niece to act properly, and Lydia
declares she will not even look at Jack.
Summary
Sir Anthony and Jack enter. The elders try to persuade the The final scene in Act 4 takes place on the North Parade. Sir
younger adults to speak to each other but in vain. At length, Lucius O'Trigger and Jack Absolute both deliver brief
Jack disguises his voice, uttering a flowery plea to Lydia to monologues. Sir Lucius challenges Jack to a duel at
Kingsmead Fields. After Sir Lucius departs, Faulkland arrives.

Jack requests that he accompany him that evening to act as in courtship. Mrs. Malaprop, Fag, and David enter shortly; Lydia
his second at the duel. But Faulkland distracts him by handing slowly coaxes details about the upcoming duels from Fag and
him a letter from Julia, in which she writes that she wants to David. Mrs. Malaprop at first declares that the ladies' presence
speak to Jack as soon as possible. Jack then leaves, after would only complicate matters, but when she hears that Sir
reproaching Faulkland for his mournful, pessimistic outlook. In Lucius is involved, she changes her mind and decides they
a concluding monologue, Faulkland says that he has decided must rush to the place to "prevent mischief."
to test Julia yet again.
Analysis
Analysis
This scene may strike the reader or the audience as uneven,
The request of Lucius O'Trigger to match Jack Absolute in a especially in tone. By this point in the play, Faulkland's
duel comes as a surprise to readers. O'Trigger, who believes melancholy, jealous, insecure nature is so well established that
he is a contender for Lydia's love, has somehow realized that the fictitious story he employs to test Julia will not seem
Jack is a rival. He is hasty in his request for a duel, which is no especially surprising. When Faulkland confesses that he has
surprise because he enticed haste in encouraging his friend fabricated the whole story, Julia loses her patience and
Bob Acres to arrange a duel with Beverley. Sir Lucius himself renounces her love for him. This is another of the relatively rare
cannot give Jack a solid reason for wanting the duel, but Jack points at which the play skirts the edges of tragedy.
is a man of honor, and he accepts the contest.
In the second part of the scene, Lydia and Julia compare
Jack Absolute's mood is dark in this scene, faced with a duel notes, as they did in Act 1, Scene 2. Julia remains relatively
and having been rejected by Lydia. His black mood in this close-mouthed about her falling-out with Faulkland, but Lydia
scene neatly corresponds with Faulkland's usually mournful waxes eloquent about her disillusionment with Jack Absolute.
mien. Both Sir Lucius O'Trigger and Faulkland contrast with In fact she piles one vivid detail on top of another in her
Jack, however, since they are one-dimensional stereotypes: imaginative description of what to expect at her wedding. She
O'Trigger is a boaster, and Faulkner is a hand-wringer. The contrasts this unappetizing prospect with a romantically gilded
action gathers momentum as the duels approach. vignette of the past, when she was able to experience true
romance. This exchange offers strong irony as well, as most
young women would have yearned for all the romantic
Act 5, Scene 1 trappings that Lydia abhors.
In the scene's third and final segment, confusion breaks out

again and the tone turns almost farcically comic as the
Summary servants Fag and David disclose what they know about the
upcoming duels. Especially amusing is Mrs. Malaprop's about-
Scene 1 continues directly from the last scene in Act 4 and is
face when she hears that "poor little dear Sir Lucius" is
set in Julia's dressing room. Faulkland enters and announces
involved in the "scrape."
to Julia that a sudden misadventure has made it necessary for
him to flee the country. Julia tries to console him, declaring that
they will flee together. When Faulkland raises several
objections to such a plan, Julia persists in her loyalty and
Act 5, Scene 2
dedication. At length, Faulkland confesses that he has made up
the whole story to test Julia. This is too much for Julia, who
upbraids Faulkland sternly and angrily. She tells him, "I now see Summary
that it is not in your nature to be content, or confident, in love."
She tells him she is leaving him forever and makes her exit. In this brief scene, Sir Anthony Absolute encounters his son
Jack on the South Parade. Jack hurriedly conceals his sword,
Faulkland curses himself for his own callousness. After he has which he carries for the upcoming duel. Sir Anthony discovers
left the stage, Julia and Lydia converse about their misfortunes the sword, however. Jack tries to deceive his father by

pretending that he is on his way to implore Lydia to accept him,

or otherwise he will commit suicide by falling on the sword. As
Analysis
Jack makes his exit, the servant David rushes onstage, in a
In the final scene, Sheridan shoulders the task of sorting out all
panic because of the duels. David and Sir Anthony make for
the misunderstandings created by exaggeration, deception,
Kingsmead Fields.
and delusion. Although Sir Anthony usually sides with
hyperbole and crusty conservatism, here he stresses
cooperation, forgiveness, and fellowship. The outliers Bob
Analysis Acres and Sir Lucius O'Trigger are reincorporated into the
fabric of society. Lydia is reconciled to Jack Absolute, as is
The scenes involving Jack Absolute and his father are among
Julia to Faulkland. Although the audience may find the latter
the most humorous in the play, largely because of Sheridan's
reconciliation implausible, Sir Anthony provides the rationale
deft characterization. Sir Anthony can be depended on for
for it in a rare moment of practicality. After he points out that
irascible hyperbole and colorful idioms, while Jack is suave,
all of Faulkland's faults seem to be rooted in his love for Julia,
quick-witted, and practical. Jack's explanation for carrying a
he tells her, "Marry him directly, Julia; you'll find he'll mend
sword (that he will use it to kill himself if Lydia rejects him) is
surprisingly." Just before the scene's end, Jack Absolute
humorously ironic, since such an extreme, "romantic" gesture
attempts to remind Faulkland that the latter always preferred
might plausibly appeal to Lydia's imagination as a "devilish
"the bitter cup" in affairs of love. But Lydia cuts him off, tartly
romantic" admirer of Ensign Beverley and the throes and
calling him "Mr. Modesty." "But come, no more of that," she
passions of "true love." The breathless appearance of David at
advises. "Our happiness is now as unallayed as general."
the end of the scene helps to build suspense.
Act 5, Scene 3 Epilogue
Summary Summary
Delivered by the actress playing Julia Melville, the epilogue
At Kingsmead Fields, Sir Lucius and Bob Acres, armed with
upholds women as the pivot of social happiness. She reveals
pistols, measure paces for dueling, with Sir Lucius claiming
that the moral of the play is that men's happiness rests with
special expertise in the matter and Acres seeming increasingly
the women. There is more to love than beauty, and men should
squeamish, especially at the idea that a duel might end in
look toward the level-headed women who can direct them
"quietus" or death. When Faulkland and Jack Absolute enter,
toward making good judgments. The speaker supports her
Acres salutes Jack as a "particular friend." Sir Lucius calls
opinion with numerous examples, drawn from various social
Acres a coward, while Jack sets him straight about the fact
classes and stages of life.
that Jack and Beverley are the same man. Jack lightly taunts
Acres as "fighting Bob" who "kills a man a week."
Just as Sir Lucius and Jack Absolute draw their swords, Sir Analysis
Anthony, Mrs. Malaprop, Lydia, and Julia arrive, together with
David. Both Sir Anthony and Mrs. Malaprop scold the would-be The epilogue is written in rhyming, heroic couplets. There is
duelists. Gradually, tempers are soothed. Mrs. Malaprop admits more than a superficial resemblance in these lines to Jaques'
that she has been masquerading in her letters to Sir Lucius famous soliloquy in Shakespeare's As You Like It (Act 2, Scene
under the pseudonym Delia. Even Julia and Faulkland and 7), beginning "All the world's a stage. ... " Note particularly the
Lydia and Jack Absolute patch up their relationships. Sir sentence in the introduction, "The world's great stage will
Anthony exclaims that the "single lads" will raise a toast to the prove it true" (line 8).
young couples that very evening, and Julia closes the play with
a tribute to hearts united in happiness.

The Rivals Study Guide Quotes 23
so that it doesn't blow up and cause him embarrassment in the

g Quotes end.
"Hasty in everything, or it would "Damns have had their day."

not be Sir Anthony Absolute!"
— Bob Acres, Act 2, Scene 1
— Fag, Act 1, Scene 1
Bob Acres is an aspiring social climber and to seem
According to Thomas the Coachman in the play's opening fashionable he has devised a "genteel new method of
scene, Sir Anthony decided to travel to Bath to out-race an swearing." Here he smugly boasts of his achievement to Jack
attack of gout—packing up the whole household for the trip Absolute.
within an hour. The quotation generally points to Sir Anthony's
impulsiveness and flashes of temper. Later, in Act 4, Scene 3
he puts the matter more delicately when he refers to his "'Die,' did I say? I'll live these fifty
family's "impatient blood."
years to plague him."
— Sir Anthony Absolute, Act 3, Scene 1

"The point we would request of
you is, that you will promise to
Sir Anthony Absolute is "gruff" with annoyance at his son for
forget this fellow—to illiterate him I apparently bucking the father's will. Here he indulges in a
typically excessive threat.
say, quite from your memory."
— Mrs. Malaprop, Act 1, Scene 2

"He is the very pineapple of
politeness!"
The use of illiterate for obliterate is one of Mrs. Malaprop's
garblings of language. Notice that she gets the part of speech
wrong, as well as the word. — Mrs. Malaprop, Act 3, Scene 3
Mrs. Malaprop refers here to Jack Absolute—she is not aware

"Sir, whenever I draw on my that he is also Ensign Beverley. Pineapple is presumably an
error for pinnacle. Undoubtedly, Captain Jack Absolute has
invention for a good current lie, I charmed her, and there will be no contest for her niece's hand
always forge endorsements as in marriage.
well as the bill."

"If I reprehend anything in this
— Fag, Act 2, Scene 1
world, it is the use of my oracular
Notice the financial imagery that underlies Fag's metaphor of tongue, and a nice derangement of
justification. Here Fag is warning Jack that lies must have
epitaphs!"
ample supports to back them up. Lies become bigger over
time, and Jack needs to be prepared to be able to back his up

The Rivals Study Guide Symbols 24
— Mrs. Malaprop, Act 3, Scene 3

l Symbols
Malapropisms abound here: reprehend for apprehend, oracular
for vernacular, derangement for arrangement, and epitaphs for
epithets. Bath
"Youth's the season made for joy." By the late Middle Ages, the city of Bath, located in the county
of Somerset in southwest England, already had a rich history
— Sir Anthony Absolute, Act 4, Scene 2 and tradition. It was founded by the Romans as a spa in the 1st
century CE, with its mineral hot springs as a central attraction.
Medieval Bath prospered in the cloth trade, especially wool.
Sir Anthony's snatch of song here is from John Gay's hugely
During the 18th century, the Elizabethan town was made over
popular play The Beggar's Opera (1728). For Sir Anthony, a
in the neoclassical, Palladian style by a number of prominent
brash and easily angered elder man, the song he sings is
architects. For decades, distinguished literary and social links
lighthearted and exudes a sort of jolliness on his part. He is
made Bath Britain's most fashionable and elegant urban center
pleased with the outcome, which is a true love match between
outside of London. Terraces, crescents, and squares were
his son and the wife that he feels he ultimately chose for him.
hallmarks of the city's stylish layout.
In The Rivals, Bath symbolizes the genteel urban lifestyle. It is a

"The infirmity of my temper has way of life that does not exactly fit any particular character,
however. Mrs. Malaprop, the reader senses, is not quite to the
drawn all this misery on me." manner born, considering her linguistic and social pretensions.
Sir Anthony Absolute, though wealthy and ennobled, lacks
— Faulkland, Act 5, Scene 1 suavity and polish. Bob Acres is a social-climbing country
bumpkin, and Sir Lucius O'Trigger is impulsive and somewhat
The self-pitying and chronically jealous Faulkland aptly oafish. The only truly centered character is Julia Melville. Bath
diagnoses his own failure in love. remains a social and cultural ideal, by which all the characters
may be measured.
"Gad! Sir, I like your spirit; and at

night we single lads will drink a Reading
health to the young couples, and a
husband to Mrs. Malaprop." In Sheridan's play, reading is a symbol of entertainment and
independence. The crucial scene revealing reading's symbolic
— Sir Anthony Absolute, Act 5, Scene 3 role is Act 1, Scene 2 in which Lydia Languish discloses her
fascination with sentimental novels of the day, and in which Sir
Anthony and Mrs. Malaprop air their prejudices about the
As is traditional in classical Greek and Roman and
hazards of women's literacy.
Shakespearean comedies, the play ends with nuptial
celebrations all around. It is evident from the context that reading occupies an
ambiguous position in the society of the play. On one level,
reading is a source of independence, education, and
entertainment—and it is plainly established within Bath's
fashionable orbit. On another level, reading is suspect,

The Rivals Study Guide Themes 25
especially in the eyes of arch-conservative members of Dancing is especially prominent in the characterization of Bob
society. Sheridan's ironic treatment of the topic leaves no Acres. In Act 3, Scene 4 the socially inept bumpkin tries to
doubt that he regards the opinions of Sir Anthony and Mrs. impress the servant David with a display of dancing steps that
Malaprop as antiquated. he has supposedly mastered as part of his effort to rise in
"genteel" society.
Fashion
m Themes
The setting of The Rivals in Bath virtually guarantees that there
will be considerable discussion of and attention to fashion in Love
the play. The preoccupation with fashion comes to stand as an
identifier of a character's social status. As early as the first
scene, the servant Fag cautions the coachman Thomas that
the latter "must polish": no one of any style (or what Fag calls Love and the excessive attitudes it may inspire comprise a
"ton"—for "tone"), for example, continues to wear wigs. primary theme in The Rivals. The elder characters, Sir Anthony
Absolute and Mrs. Malaprop, predictably take the conservative
Although many of the characters pay some attention to view that love and marriage are closely bound up with issues of
fashion, the figure who is most preoccupied with the topic is money and social status. When Sir Anthony tells his son, Jack,
Bob Acres. In Act 2, Scene 1 Acres preens himself in front of for example, that he is ready to settle a substantial estate on
Jack Absolute, showing off his hairstyle and boasting of a new the young man, he adds the condition that Jack must allow his
system of "genteel" swear words that he has devised. father to choose the bride. In one of the many instances of
dramatic irony that Richard Brinsley Sheridan employs, Sir
Country bumpkins and servants, like Acres and Fag, are
Anthony is clueless that the bride he has in mind, Lydia
preoccupied with hairstyles and other fashion statements so
Languish, is already Jack's choice for a wife. As Sir Anthony
that they may "fit in" with the citizens of Bath. However, those
rather crassly remarks to his son, "Odd's life, Sir! If you have
already considered the upper-crust, like Jack, find the
the estate, you must take it with the livestock on it," Mrs.
preoccupation with fashion rather ridiculous.
Malaprop threatens Lydia that if she persists in her infatuation
with "Ensign Beverley"—Jack Absolute in disguise—she will
lose much of her inheritance. For the older characters, love is
Dancing far from being a romantic or even sentimental emotion; instead,

it resembles a socially profitable business transaction.
Faulkland furnishes a second example of a distorted attitude

Dancing was one of the most popular social diversions in 18th- toward love in the play. Faulkland, said to be in love with Julia
century Bath. As such, this pastime was a premier symbol of Melville, is a twisted tangle of jealousy, insecurity, and self-pity.
the leisure of an affluent and socially stylish stratum of the He frets that Julia does not return his love in sufficient
population. One of Bath's prime locations, the Assembly measure. As he tells Jack Absolute nervously, "O! Jack, when
Rooms, was devoted to dancing. Assembly Rooms grew delicate and feeling souls are separated, there is not a feature
increasingly more common in provincial cities during the in the sky ... but hints some cause for a lover's apprehension!"
century. Later in the play, the lovers argue, and Julia is reduced to tears.
Finally, Faulkland's paranoia becomes so great that he devises
Faulkland is especially concerned that Julia dances while the a test for her, saying he must leave the country at once. When
lovers are separated; he feels that dancing a minuet might be Julia realizes that he is once again submitting her to a test of
acceptable, but that participating in country dances proves loyalty, she departs in tears.
that she does not miss him as he does her.
Perhaps the most complex example of the excess love can

lead to is Lydia Languish's eccentric conviction that true love

must be found between two people who are socially unequal. Language
She is therefore looking forward to the day she can elope with
the socially and financially humble Ensign Beverley. Lydia
confides to her cousin Julia that she has even stirred the pot a Of the most comic manipulations in the play are the
bit further, by writing a false letter to herself to the effect that malapropisms. Perceptive critics have pointed out that not all
her beloved ensign is courting another woman. Lydia's these expressions are foolish mistakes. Instead, a case can be
befuddled state continues into Act 4, when Beverley is made that Mrs. Malaprop's errors often combine sense with
unmasked as Jack Absolute. Sullenly, she remarks, "So!—There nonsense. For example, when she tells Sir Anthony that a
will be no elopement after all!" But all ends on a happy note young woman should be a "mistress of orthodoxy [adherence
when she reconciles with Jack. to established doctrines, especially religious]" (Act 1, Scene 2),
the context allows us to infer that she means orthography, or
spelling. However, by the same token, orthodoxy fits perfectly
into Mrs. Malaprop's scheme of values, so the verbal error has
Deception a claim to being revelatory.
Language also intersects with the topic of reading in the

play—especially the issue of teaching girls and women to read.
Deception is a theme at the crux of The Rivals, occasionally
This issue arises early in the comedy when in Act 1, Scene 2
intersecting with the theme of love. The most obvious link
Lydia Languish discusses sentimental novels with her maid
between the two themes is Captain Jack Absolute's
Lucy. Naming several novels, all of which were written by
assumption of the false identity of Ensign Beverley to please
British novelists of the day, Lydia questions her servant on the
the young woman he loves, Lydia Languish. This disguise
books' availability at the local circulating library. When Sir
causes several highly embarrassing moments for
Anthony and Mrs. Malaprop approach, however, Lydia hurriedly
Jack—notably the confrontation in which he is unmasked to
orders Lucy to hide the novels, leaving only "respectable"
Lydia, Mrs. Malaprop, and his father in Act 4, Scene 2—but it
tomes such as Lord Chesterfield's Letters and Fordyce's
also furnishes Sheridan with some delightfully comic material,
Sermons open to view. When the elder characters enter, they
for example, the humorous quotations shared by Jack and Mrs.
almost immediately protest against reading. Mrs. Malaprop
Malaprop from a letter supposedly written by Beverley to Lydia
calls circulating libraries "vile places," and Sir Anthony goes so
Languish (Act 3, Scene 3).
far as to call a library "an evergreen tree of diabolical
Deception may be extended to include cases in which knowledge." It is interesting to note that Richard Brinsley
characters take elaborate pains to seem like what they are not. Sheridan's own mother had been forbidden by her father to
Thus, the country bumpkin Bob Acres cultivates his dance learn the alphabet or how to write—injunctions that were
steps and his swear words to impress the upper-crust society defied by her brothers.
in Bath. Mrs. Malaprop uses language ostentatiously—and
often inaccurately—to create the impression that she is
educated and cultivated, thus leading to the play's famous
malapropisms. Mrs. Malaprop also eavesdrops on Lydia and The Young versus the Old
Jack at a crucial point in Act 3, Scene 3.
Finally, even the servants participate in deception. In her fine

Generational conflicts between elders and youth is an
monologue at the end of Act 1, Scene 2, for example, the maid
important theme in the play. It is evidenced most clearly in the
Lucy boasts that her appearance of "simplicity" has earned her
tensions between Sir Anthony Absolute and his son Jack and
a tidy sum in acting as an emissary and go-between, delivering,
between Mrs. Malaprop and her niece Lydia Languish. Both
and sometimes misdirecting, messages among lovers.
elder characters possess significant power over the next
generation, particularly in the matters of marriage partners and
inheritances. Such conflicts play an important role in the broad

stream of comedy in the Western tradition, dating back to the

ancient Greeks and Romans. The comedies of Menander
(c.342 BCE–291 BCE), Plautus (254 BCE–184 BCE), and
Terence (195 BCE–159 BCE), and of dramatists William
Shakespeare (1564–1616) and Molière (1622–73) and the
French author Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais
(1732–99)—as well as Restoration comedies in England
(c.1660–1700)—all regularly feature the clash of young love vs.
the prohibitions and prejudices of older parents or guardians.
The latter are often called "blocking characters," in that they
typically stand in the way of passionate or romantic
attachment.
The theme of young vs. old receives a minor elaboration in the

relationship between Mrs. Malaprop and Sir Lucius O'Trigger.
Mrs. Malaprop uses the pseudonym "Delia" to write Sir Lucius
romantic letters, which he is led to believe are sent to him by
her niece, Lydia Languish.
In Act 4, Scene 2 Sir Anthony Absolute sums up the

exuberance and potential of youth when he exclaims to Mrs.
Malaprop about Lydia and Jack, "Come ... we'll not disturb their
tenderness—theirs is the time of life for happiness!" He then
bursts out in song borrowed from John Gay's The Beggar's
Opera: "Youth's the season made for joy."
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The Rivals

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What's Inside d In Context

j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1

The Age of Reason, sometimes called the Enlightenment or the

l Symbols ..................................................................................................... 24 Samuel Johnson (1709–84).

j Book Basics event, or person. The mock-epic poem, a subgenre of verse

It is noteworthy that the style, motifs, and wit of the comedy of

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Theatre Royal (popularly called "Drury Lane" for its location);

a Author Biography and courts her disguised as a lower-ranking officer, Ensign

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opposing extremes in temperament.

Captain Jack Absolute undertakes an unusual courtship, since

Lydia Languish esteem, she remains loyal to him.

Lydia Languish is a paradoxical character: charming and

Sir Anthony Absolute

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Mrs. Malaprop Julia Melville

Other Major Character

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Full Character List Sir Lucius O'Trigger is an Irish-​born

Captain Jack Absolute disguises Serjeant-​at- In Prologue 1 the serjeant-​at-​law reads

Mrs. Malaprop, a widow, is the aunt

Sir Anthony Absolute is the father of

The speaker identifies herself with the Muse of Comedy,

Lucy Lucy is a servant of Lydia Languish.

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has assumed another identity, that of Ensign Beverley, so that

In Scene 2, Sir Anthony encounters his son. Captain Jack

Jack and Mrs. Malaprop confer together in Scene 3. Mrs.

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1. Sir Anthony Absolute and his party arrive in Bath.

8. Faulkland alienates Julia to test her loyalty.

2. Julia Melville and Lydia Languish discuss their suitors.

5. Mrs. Malaprop sends Sir Lucius a love letter signed "Delia."

6. Sir Lucius persuades Bob Acres to duel with Beverley.

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In recent days in Bath

Sir Anthony Absolute, Captain Jack Absolute, and others

Lydia and Julia discuss their respective courtships with

Sir Anthony bullies his son Jack.

Lucy the maid delivers a letter from Mrs. Malaprop, who

Jack and Mrs. Malaprop examine a letter that Jack has

Sir Lucius encourages Bob Acres to challenge Ensign

Jack's impersonation of Ensign Beverley is unmasked.

Faulkland tests Julia and admits that he has fabricated a

The rivals gather for a duel.

Before dueling begins

Sir Anthony, Mrs. Malaprop, David, Julia, and Lydia arrive

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Mrs. Malaprops confesses about her deception, and all

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c Scene Summaries Analysis

Some critics harshly criticized the character of Sir Lucius

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Act 1, Scene 1 Summary

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Jack's lack of gumption is to take him to see Lydia for himself.

Full Character List Sir Lucius O'Trigger is an Irish-born

Captain Jack Absolute disguises Serjeant-at- In Prologue 1 the serjeant-at-law reads