The Rivals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
The Prologue was written by Richard Richard Brinsley Sheridan, There is not a review, and his prologue to Richard Sheridan’s first play begins with an attorney bribing a sergeant at law. The attorney hands the sergeant at law a piece of paper and the sergeant replies that he has forgotten his glasses and cannot read the handwriting. As the attorney continues to hand the sergeant money, the writing suddenly becomes more legible.
After the attorney exits the stage, the sergeant at law presents Sheridan’s play to the court of public opinion. In the last lines of his brief statement, the sergeant welcomes all critics and reporters to judge the play for themselves. The worst crime the author could be guilty of, the sergeant at arms claims, is a bad attempt to please.
Sheridan immediately sets the humorous tone for his Comedy of Manners with the light-hearted bribery scene in the prologue. The play has five acts
The author uses conflicts and debates in order to demonstrate situations in which conflicts between the characters of the play result in the characters also becoming rivals with themselves. The premise for the conflict between characters is the deception in their relationships, which not only causes hostility among one another, but also within themselves, forcing characters to become “subject more fit for ridicule than compassion.” Captain Jack Absolute, because of his deep love, is the cause of his own problems, for he is unable to simultaneously accommodate his father, Sir Absolute, and his love, Lydia Languish. Lydia, in search of an ideal romance, causes her own troubles, as her skewed view of love perplexes the situation. Lucy, the servant, through her greed and feelings of opportunism, further complexes the situation in attempting to gain from the struggles of others. In The Rivals, Richard Brinsley Sheridan uses satirical conflicts between Captain Jack Absolute, Lydia Languish, and Lucy,Conflicts are along the play.
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Characters Majors
Sir Anthony Absolute: The Wealthy Baronet Considered one of the most flirtatious men in all of Bath, Sir Anthony is a dualistic character who is difficult to figure out. This is because his mannerisms change based on the company he keeps. If he keeps company with a group of young women, he is a charming and facetious man, while if he keeps company with a group of older men, he is a staunch, unyielding authoritarian. This dualistic nature of Sir Anthony ironically conflicts with his name: Absolute. However, in spite of his altering personality, Sir Anthony is a generally loving father to his son, Jack, and seems to want only the best for him.
Captain Jack Absolute: Sir Anthony’s Young, Romantic Son The Rivals Book
Captain Jack Absolute is a ranking officer in the King’s Royal Army and is generally considered a gentleman by all the other characters in the play. However, in spite of his well-to-do nature, Captain Jack seems to have a penchant for mischief throughout the play, taking the role of a soldier named “Ensign Beverly” in order to romantically win the affections of Lydia. Captain Jack shares his father’s dualistic nature, again conflicting with his name. At one moment, he could be the consummate gentleman, while at another moment, he will be a romantic flirt and absolute fool. It is important to note that, whenever Jack is with Lydia, he tends to be the latter.
Lydia: A Wealthy Heiress and Lover of Jack
A frivolous young woman infatuated with romance novellas and high society fashion, Lydia is one of the original so-called Valley Girls. She is highly sentimental, often lamenting over the sadness of life and the romantic thrills that she gets from her young courters. In fact, she makes an effort to mimic the lines and mannerisms in the romantic stories that she reads. Even though she is a very silly and flighty character, Lydia is also stubborn and enduring, causing much tension between her and her guardian. Though she is the heiress of a large sum of money, she seems all too willing to throw it all away to pursue her love of adventure and romance.
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Mrs. Malaprop: Lydia’s Legal Guardian
The archetypal hard, proper woman, Mrs. Malaprop is Lydia’s aunt and legal owner of her fortune until Lydia becomes of age. She is strictly opposed to Lydia’s frivolous behavior and often scoffs at her desire for romance and love. Mrs. Malaprop conflicts with Jack’s father in scoffing at love and romance rather than encouraging it. She is a gossiping and melodramatic character, often taking things way out of proportion and putting her own spin on them.
The clothes
For men, coats, waistcoats and stockings in london continued to be fashionable across the world, although they too changed in silhouette in this period (century 18), becoming slimmer and using earthier colors and more matte fabrics.
Wealthy women wore dresses made of brightly colored stiff silk woven with bold floral and striped designs, and many chose Chinese fabrics for their dresses. By midcentury the skirts of women’s dresses held many yards of decoration, including layers of ruffles, bows, and lace, and were held out away from the hips with the help of panniers, or stiff hoops.
Minor Characters
Though not necessarily as important, the minor characters are still key components to the play’s satirical message. They engage in several sub-plots, but mostly center around the activity of Jack and Lydia.
Julia: Lover of Faulkland – Considered the only reasonable character in the play, Julia is the voice of logic to the sillier characters.
Lucy: Lydia’s Maid – A sneaky and conniving character, she double deals and back stabs whenever possible.
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Bob Acres: A friend of Jack’s – A country gent who tries hard to be a proper gentleman. However, he is portrayed as a pretender and fool.
Faulkland: A friend of Jack’s – Lover of Julia and a torn character. He, like Jack, is dualistic and caught between being a dramatic lover and a proper gentleman.
Sir Lucius: An Irish courtier and baronet – A proper but short-tempered gentleman who serves as a casual antagonist and courter of many women.
Fag: Jack’s servant – A proper and loyal character who, like Lucy, often lies and connives to get his job done.
David: Bob’s Servant – An old man who tries to level out the moody Bob.
Love
The love centres on the two young , Lydia and Jack. Lydia, who reads a lot of popular novels of the time, wants a purely romantic love affair. To court her, Jack pretends to be Ensign Beverley, a poor officer.
Lydia is enthralled with the idea of eloping with a poor soldier in spite of the objections of her guardian, Mrs. Malaprop, a moralistic widow. Mrs. Malaprop is the chief comic figure of the play, thanks to her continual misuse of words that sound like the words she intends to use, but mean something completely different.