Sheridan’s THE RIVALS as a Comedy of Manners Dr Rumpa Das Associate Professor & Head, Dept of English, Maheshtala College

Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816)

Sheridan: his life & times The Rivals was Sheridan's first play. At the time, he was a young newlywed living in the sea-resort town of Bath. Sheridan took to writing plays for earning a quick buck to sustain the affluent life-style he and his young wife had resorted to. He is known for his plays such as The Rivals, The School for Scandal, The Duenna and A Trip to Scarborough.

The Rivals The Rivals was first performed at Covent Garden, London, on 17 January 1775. The play was roundly vilified by both the public and the critics for its length, for its bawdiness and for the character of Sir Lucius O'Trigger being a meanly written role played very badly. Sheridan immediately withdrew the play and in the next 11 days, rewrote the original and apologised for any impression that O'Trigger was intended as an insult to Ireland. It became a favourite of the royal family, receiving five command performances in ten years, and also in the Colonies , being George Washington’s favourite! The play is now considered to be one of Sheridan's masterpieces, and the term ‘malapropism’ was coined in reference to one of the characters in the play.

Dramatis personae Sir Anthony Absolute, a wealthy baronet Captain Jack Absolute, his son, disguised as Ensign Beverly Faulkland, friend of Jack Absolute Bob Acres, friend of Jack Absolute Sir Lucius O'Trigger, an Irish baronet Fag, Captain Absolute's servant David, Bob Acres' servant Thomas, Sir Anthony's servant Lydia Languish, a wealthy teenaged heiress, in love with "Ensign Beverley" Mrs Malaprop, Lydia's middle-aged guardian Julia Melville, a young relation of the Absolutes, in love with Faulkland Lucy, Lydia's conniving maid

Bob Acres and His Servant, illustration by Edwin Austin Abbey, c. 1895

Comedy of manners The comedy of manners is a genre of play which satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class or of multiple classes, often represented by stereotypical stock characters, such as the miles gloriosus ("boastful soldier") in ancient times, the fop and the rake during the Restoration period, or an old person pretending to be young.  The comedy of manners was first developed in the New Comedy  of the Greek playwright Menander. His style, elaborate plots, and stock characters were imitated by the Roman playwrights Plautus and Terence, whose comedies were widely known and copied during the Renaissance. The best-known comedies of manners, however, may well be those of the French playwright Molière, who satirized the hypocrisy and pretension of the ancien regime in such plays as  The School for Wives (1662), The Misanthrope (1666), and most famously Tartuffe (1664).

The Rivals as a Comedy of Manners Like a typical comedy of manners, The Rivals has a complicated plot. There are three love-affairs in it – the Absolute-Lydia love-affair, the Faulkland-Julia love-affair, and the Mrs. Malaprop-Sir Lucius love- affair. All these love-affairs have a parallel development, so that the interest keeps shifting from one love-affair to the other quite rapidly. Again, like a typical comedy of manners, The Rivals abounds in wit. The wit of Captain Absolute, the wit of Sir Anthony, the wit of even Sir Lucius and Acres who are otherwise the targets of the play’s satire – enliven the dialogues of the play and add to its comic appeal.

The Rivals as a Comedy of Manners The portrayal of Lydia is a satire on the romantic notions which young, fashionable girls of upper- class families of the time entertained. She is fond of reading romantic novels and stories. Fed on such stories, she does not want a conventional and routine kind of wedding. When Captain Absolute’s real identity is revealed to Lydia, she feels terribly disappointed at the collapse of her romantic dreams and hopes. Elsie Leslie as Lydia Languish in The Rivals, 1899

The Rivals as a Comedy of Manners The Faulkland-Julia love-affair is undoubtedly a parody of the sentimental comedy of the eighteenth century. Julia is portrayed as an excessively sentimental girl, while Faulkland is portrayed as the most whimsical and eccentric lover. Sheridan also makes us laugh at some of the contemporary fashions. When Bob Acres comes to Bath, he decides to discard his country clothes and to dress himself according to the fashion prevailing in the city. He tries to practise some French dancing steps and discovers to his disappointment that his are “true-born English legs” which can never learn French dancing steps. A caricature of Sheridan as a bottle of sherry! (James Gillray, 1805)

The Rivals as a Comedy of Manners One of the most striking features of The Rivals is witty dialogue. The manner in which Sir Anthony snubs and scolds his son for disobeying his wishes, Captain Absolute’s dialogues with Mrs. Malaprop when he meets her first, Sir Lucius dealing with Acres in the rules of duelling are also witty. Humorous and farcical situations are also generally found in a comedy of manners. Captain Absolute’s disguising himself as Ensign Beverley and then unmasking himself when finally he has to face Lydia in his true character are an example of such situations. Instead of moral sentiments, Sheridan provides quick and witty dialogues, fast moving actions with highly comic situations and above all the absence of any serious complication or conflict.

The Rivals : Dramatic production https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwinpYJb4aw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjYNZj9QOjg