Monday 9 May 2011
Why does She Stoop? And Whom does she conquer?
Goldsmith uses a lot of contrasts in his play "She Stoops to Conquer". The moral contrast between Hardcastle and his wife, the social contrast between the Hardcastles and their rural neighbors, the gender contrast, the class contrast, and many others. What is the objective of all these contrasts and how do they foreshadow the main theme behind the play?
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In his play, She Stoops to Conquer, Oliver Goldsmith uses a lot of contrasts in an intelligent way to help him convey his moral message from the play, emphasizing Samuel Johnson's-the great essayist, poet, critic, and lexicographer-opinion of him when he said "No man was more foolish when he had not a pen in his hand, or more wise when he had." And as Goldsmith states in his "Essay on the theatre" that "if we are permitted to make comedy weep, we have an equal right to make tragedy laugh", he creates a brilliant source of laughter through those contrasts that he presents in the play.
ReplyDeleteOf the most important contrasts in She Stoops to Conquer, is the contrast between Mr. Hardcastle and his wife.Mrs. Hardcastle is an extravagant woman who has a lust for money and fashion, and who loves all that's new.On the other hand, Mr. Hardcastle is an old-fashioned man who loves "everything that's old; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine...And an old wife".Mrs. Hardcastle also envies her neighbours as they go out to town every winter, while Mr. Hardcastle believes they go and "bring back vanity and affectation to last them the whole year.".In addition,Mrs. Hardcastle wants her son, Tony, to marry her niece, Miss Constance Neville, only for her to keep Miss Neville's jewels to herself.She also deceives Tony by not telling him that he is of age and is responsible for his own fortune that he had inherited from his late father, simply because she wants it for herself as well.While on the other hand, Mr. Hardcastle reveals his honorableness when, by the end of the play, he reveals to Tony the fact that he is of age, and is eligible to receive his fortune, after he finds out that Mrs. Hardcastle has kept that fact from Tony only for her own sly purposes.
Another important contrast is that between the "Father-daughter relationship" of Mr.Hardcastle and Kate, and the "Mother-son relationship" of Mrs. Hardcastle and Tony.The relationship between Mr. Hardcastle and Kate is based on respect and love.Mr. Hardcastle wants his daughter to marry a man who is "very generous", "young and brave" and "very handsome".He only wants his daughter's happiness.While Mrs. Hardcastle-as mentioned earlier- wants to wed her son to her niece only to keep the fortunes of both of them to herself.It is obvious that Tony does not respect his mother, in contrary to the mutual respect between Mr. Hardcastle and Kate.And by the end of the play, Tony plays tricks on his mother and enjoys doing that, then justifies that by saying "all the parish says you have spoiled me, and so you may take the fruit on't".And from such relations the contrast between the persons of Tony and Kate are noticeable, where Tony is a "fat" man who "whoops like a trumpet", while Kate is a sensible and wise young woman, and a witty one as well.
Adding to those contrasts, there is a very significant contrast in the play, which is that of Marlow's contrast within himself.The inner contrast of Marlow with himself is obvious in Hasting's words, "I'm surprised that one who is so warm a friend can be so cool a lover."
Marlow is quite eloquent and flirting when conversing with women of lower classes, but when it comes to ladies of the upper aristocratic class, he turns into a bashful, reserved man.He says to Hastings "I'm doom'd to adore the sex, yet to converse with the only part of it I despise.".Throughout the incidents of the play, his confusing character is revealed gradually.During his first encounter with Miss Hardcastle, he does not look in her face, he stutters and is so shy that he can't put a full sentence together.But, after Kate disguises as a maid to unravel his true character, the knot that was present in his tongue before unwinds itself, and sweet words slip smoothly to embrace her in a series of unstoppable flirting.
ReplyDeleteMr. Marlow's character causes confusion to Kate and her father, where Kate says "he met me with a respectful bow, a stammering voice, and a look fixed on the ground.", while her father says "he met me with a loud voice, a lordly air, and a familiarity that made my blood freeze."
What is significant about this inner contrast in Marlow's character is the fact that it foreshadows some of the most important themes in the play, which are the theme of class distinction, and that of Appearance Vs. Reality.
During the 18th century, the Elite Aristocratic class was at the top of the hierarchy of classes, thus no member of the aristocratic class could wed a member of the lower classes.This is obvious in Mr. Marlow's eloquence in conversing with women of the lower classes, and his bashfulness when it comes to higher classes.And it is also obvious when he tells Kate-when she was dressed as a maid- "the difference of our birth, fortune and education make an honorable connexion impossible".Though he has fallen in love with her, the class distinction between them (as he thinks she is a maid) stands in the way between their marriage-although he gives up that idea by the end of the play when he tells her that the "disparity of education and fortune" and "the anger of a parent" have started to lose their weight in his consideration.
In addition, in relevance to the theme of Appearance Vs. Reality, there were a lot of mix-ups in the play.The contrast of Marlow's character was revealed when he met Kate for the second time while disguised as a maid.Marlow was deceived by Kate's appearance as a maid, and thus allowed his reality to emerge.On the other hand, during their first encounter, when Kate was present in her "real" character, Marlow's "real" character retreated, allowing his shy and bashful "appearance" to take place instead.Also, during the mix-up when he encountered Mr. Hardcastle and thought him the innkeeper, another "appearance" of him was present, which emerged due to class distinctions present during those times.And as a matter of fact, Marlow's character is significant as it represents Goldsmith's actual character.Goldsmith was shy when it came to talking to ladies of the upper class, yet he was very eloquent when he talked to bar-maids and other women of lower classes.
ReplyDeleteHence, it is obvious that Goldsmith was witty in his choice of contrasting characters, and inner contrasts of the same character representing his own self in the character of Marlow; and smartly relating those contrasts to the themes of his play to aid him in conveying his moral message present in that play.
And I am EXTREMELY sorry for that long long answer!!
ReplyDelete