Oliver Goldsmith
by Catherine Cooper |
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Goldsmith's She
Stoops to Conquer has a somewhat farcical element to
it which is, on the whole, achieved by a series of
contrasts. I would argue, however, that although there
are contrasts to be found within the play between age and
youth, city and country, and social classes, the
contrasts which are most significant are firstly between
appearance and reality, and secondly, between what
certain characters want to do and what they feel they are
obliged to do. I will first deal with the minor contrasts,
as these are important for the development of the major
themes. When the play opens the audience is immediately presented with some contrasts. Mrs Hardcastle laments the fact that they never go to town, while her husband thinks the people of the town foolish. Mr Hardcastle clearly represents old-fashioned values, and is entirely unashamed of this, whereas Mrs Hardcastle likes to think she is more modern, although it is implied that she is rather pretentious. Their conflicting attitudes are concisely illustrated in these antithetical statements. Mrs Hardcastle, speaking of her husband's long-winded stories as a method for entertaining guests, states: |
Her husband replies:
But despite
the fact that Mrs Hardcastle considers herself to have a
modern approach to life, in matters of importance she is
the most old-fashioned character of the play. Both Mr
Hardcastle and Sir Charles Marlow are concerned that
their offspring marry someone they can be happy with and
make it clear that they do not wish to force anyone into
an unwanted marriage. Contrariwise, Mrs Hardcastle is
intent on marrying her son Tony to Constance Neville
because she wishes Constance's jewels to remain within
the family. The fact that the only thing which Constance
and Tony have in common is a mutual dislike is not a
consideration for her, in fact she does not even notice.
Hastings later adds whilst in conversation with Marlow:
This behaviour is a great contrast to Marlow's behaviour amongst 'females of another class' with whom he is 'impudent enough of all conscience', Hastings comments. This differing attitude towards women according to class can clearly be seen through his nervousness with Kate when he believes her to be the daughter of the house, and his much more forthright manner when he believes her to be a barmaid. Because of his discrimination between the classes, Kate and her father receive extremely different first impressions of Marlow. Kate comments after her first meeting with him:
She received this impression because he was suffering from the awkwardness he feels when dealing with a woman of quality. However, because Marlow believed Hardcastle to be an innkeeper when they first met. he treated him with the condescending attitude he reserves for 'commoners', and so Kate's father received an extremely different impression. Hardcastle's comments on him are completely different to Kate's, such as:
and:
Marlow is also shown to be particularly class-conscious through other incidents in the play. He is obviously enamoured by Kate in her role as a barmaid, but believing her to be a lowly character, he spurns her. He says to her:
He and Mrs
Hardcastle are probably the most class-conscious of all
the characters. Hastings is so anxious to marry Constance
that he does not care whether or not her jewels are in
her possession, Sir Charles Marlow is not bothered by the
fact that Kate has only a small dowry, Hardcastle does
not appear to mind whom his daughter marries as long as
she Is happy, and Tony is much more interested in Bet
Bouncer than the probably richer and more refined Miss
Neville.
Even
Hardcastle, who hates the pretensions of the town, wishes
to give the impression of something which is not. These
are the types of contrast which inject a farcical element
into the proceedings. They are mainly plot devices rather
than working on a higher level although, as previously
mentioned, the deceptions do, to a certain extent, reveal
the more foolish or snobbish aspects to some of the
characters, in particular, Marlow and Mrs Hardcastle.
As previously mentioned, Marlow is reluctant to form an attachment to the 'barmaid' because of her class. However, by the end of the play he has become confused as to whether following the wishes of society is the correct thing to do. Kneeling at her feet, he asks:
Tony completely disregards the wishes of society and does as he pleases, and so provides a contrast to his peers. Constance comes close to eloping with Hastings, but at the last minute changes her mind. She tells Hastings she cannot 'face any new danger' by disobeying her guardians and says she hopes that he will wait for her. She tells him:
However, both
Hardcastle and Sir Charles Marlow want their children to
be happy. It is only really Mrs Hardcastle who retains
the more old-fashioned approach to love and marriage, so,
at the end of the play, everyone gains who and what they
wished for (except for Mrs Hardcastle). Perhaps the
message here is that even if the children do not
deliberately follow the rules of their parents or society,
they eventually do it of their own accord, as all the
characters are paired up with 'suitable' partners (apart
from Tony, who is quite happy vying for the attentions of
Bet Bouncer). |
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