The Rivals Play
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The Rivals
A modern, annotated edition of the play with a critical introduction, biographical information on the author, discussions of dates and sources, and textual details.
The Rivals
Author: Richard Brinsley Sheridan
language: en
Publisher:
Release Date: 2012-03-29
“The Rivals” is the first major comedy by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, a radical Irish actor and politician in George III's England. Not quite as complex and astute as his later “She Stoops to Conquer”, “The Rivals” remains a warm, unforgettable, and very, very funny play. Here we meet the chatty Mrs. Malaprop, who proudly tells us "if I reprehend anything in this world, it is the use of my oracular tongue, and a nice derangement of epitaphs"; her niece Lydia, lost in the world of lurid half-bound romantic novels; Sir Anthony Absolute, often wrong but never in doubt; Sir Lucious O'Trigger, of BlunderBuss Hall; and the rest. The dialogue and plot devices are well-crafted and funny; the social commentary is perceptive and satisfyingly naughty; but what stays with you is the humanity of each of the characters. These are not the caricatures of Restoration comedy, but personalities the reader will remember; ridiculous like all humans, but engendering empathy as well as laughter.
The Rivals
This comic masterpiece revolves around false identities, romantic entanglements, and parental disapproval. It satirizes the pretentiousness and sentimentality of 18th-century society.