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

A favourite 18th century play Frequently a set text for English and Drama courses Part of the successful New Mermaids series

About the Author
Ann Blake is Honorary Fellow at the School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia


Book Information
ISBN 9780713662900
Author Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint Methuen Drama
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 162g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 12mm