She Stoops to Conquer

by Oliver Goldsmith

Overview

First performed in 1773, “She Stoops to Conquer” is the timeless comedic drama by Anglo-Irish author Oliver Goldsmith. The play depicts the story of Charles Marlow, a wealthy young man who is promised in marriage to a woman, Kate Hardcastle, that he has never met. While he is eager to meet her and is travelling to her home with his friend, George Hastings, Charles is quite shy in the company of women of wealth. He prefers those of a lower class and whenever in the company of such women he transforms into a bold and lecherous rogue. Learning of Charles’ shyness before his arrival at her home, Kate pretends to be a serving-maid in order to win his affections. Kate succeeds at her ruse and soon Charles falls in love with her and is ready to elope until the sudden appearance of his father reveals Kate’s artifice. Soon all is resolved and the young lovers are soon married. Charles’ friend George also finds love in the Hardcastle home in this comedic gem. Full of bawdy dialogue and hilarious scenes, “She Stoops to Conquer” is a charming and light-hearted play that has entertained audiences for over two hundred years. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781420964301
Publisher:	Digireads.com Publishing
Publication date:	11/11/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright and poet, who is best known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield, his pastoral poem The Deserted Village, and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man and She Stoops to Conquer. He also wrote An History of the Earth and Animated Nature. He is thought to have written the classic children's tale The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes, the source of the phrase "goody two-shoes".

Editorial Reviews

L.A. Theatre Works' dramatization of this late-eighteenth-century play remains strikingly relevant today with its satirical digs at sexism, class consciousness, and upper-crust wealth. James Marsters and Joanne Whalley lead the cast in an uproarious comedy of manners that is reminiscent of Shakespearean follies of mistaken identity, all the while championing womanly guile and intelligence. The energetic performers retain a peak level of hilarity throughout, with clear emphasis and enunciation. Divergent personas, played by a single character, can be easily identified, while comical asides to the audience are apparent by their ironic and lightly modulated delivery. Strange doings in an English country mansion are instigated by the arrival of misguided suitors whose passions are laced with bawdy schemes, deflated pretensions, and nonstop mischief. A.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2012 - AudioFile