She Stoops to Conquer is more a comedy of intrigue than a comedy of character. Do you agree?
R.F.
Patterson calls She Stoops to Conquer, “a splendid comedy of intrigue.”
A comedy of intrigue is a comedy in which there are plots, designs,
contrivances, even conspiracies of one character or group of characters,
against the others, so that the character may be divided into intriguers and the
victims of those intrigues, or the deceivers and the deceived. A comedy of
intrigue is largely situational and the situations, more often than not, are
farcical, causing much exaggerated, loud, boisterous laughter. As some
characters are familiar with the truth, and the others are not. There are
different levels of awareness. The audience knows the truth which the
characters on the stage do not, and these results in dramatic irony, a source
of much delightful comedy. Often the characters talk and act at cross- purposes
with each other to the great delight of the audience and the readers. All these
remarks apply to She Stoops to Conquer also.
Though
there are a number of intrigues and intriguers, the principal intrigues are
those of Tony Lumpkin and Kate Hardcastle, and they need discussion in some
detail:
A.
The Intrigues of Tony:
(a)
Against Marlow and Hastings: It
is Tony who in collusion with the land-lord of the Three Pigeons sends Marlow
and Hastings to Mr. Hardcastle’s house as to an inn. He also deceives them as
to the nature and temper of Mr. Hardcastle who, he says, is the land-lord of
the inn. The result of this deception is that Marlow and Hardcastle constantly
talk and act at cross- purposes with Hardcastle. The Audience, who know the
truth, and are thus on a higher level of awareness, enjoy the fun of it.
(b) Against His Mother: - Tony in
collusion with Miss Neville, his cousin, practices deception upon his own
mother. Both of them join hands to keep Mrs. Hardcastle under the illusion that
they are in love. In collusion with Hastings, Tony steals the casket of jewels
from his mother’s safe and gives it to Hastings. When Constance presses her
hard to give the casket to her so that she may wear her jewellery, at least for
a short time. Tony enters into a mock-conspiracy with his mother, suggests to
her that she should tell Constance that her jewellery is missing and he himself
would bear witness to what she says. The jewels are actually missing, and when
she discovers the theft she raises a hue and cry, and Tony mockingly bears
witness to what she says. Throughout the scene the audience roars with
laughter. Both Tony and Constance enjoy a higher level of awareness than Mrs.
Hardcastle, and so does the audience.
Later he takes Constance and Mrs. Hardcastle in a mock drive round the house when Mrs. Hardcastle decides to keep Constance at Aunt Pedigree’s house and thus deceives both of them.
