School for Scandal Quiz

Dear all,

 I'm posting the quiz for those who could not take it. I will post the answer key shortly.


The School for Scandal Quiz

Circle the correct answers:
1.    In Sheridan’s time, manners were …………….; morals lax.
a. bad                b. good
c rigid                d. loose
2.    The School for Scandal is considered a ……………
a. comedy of manners        b. a sentimental comedy
c. a farce            d. a tragedy
3.    The character that resembles Sheridan’s personality is ……..
a. Joseph            b. Charles
c. Oliver            d. Trip
4.    “Tale bearers are as bad as tale makers” is said by ………..
a. Lady Teazle            b. Lady Sneerwell
c. Mrs. Clackitt        d. Mrs. Candour
5.    …………… wanted to pass a law against gossip if it was in his power.
a. Sir Oliver            b. Mr. Benjamin
c. Mr. Snake            d. Mr. Teazle
6.    ….. are used heavily in the play as most characters show what they do not believe.
a.    Monologues        b. Dialogues
c. Asides            d. Props
7.    From a simple country girl to a lady of fashion to a treacherous wife to a wise            woman. This describes the character of …………………… .
a. Lady Teazle            b. Lady Sneerwell
c. Maria            d. The French Milliner
8. “If the man be a shadow of his master, this is the temple of dissipation, indeed.” The man in this quote refers to ……………
a.    Moses            b. Stanley
c. Rowly            d. Premium
     9. The screen scene is an example of ………………
a. slapstick            b. situation comedy
c. romantic comedy        d. none of the above
     10. The play is accused of …. as it portrays the good Jew as an exception to the rule.
    a. anti-Semitism        b. anti-Romanticism
    c. anti-Tragedy        d. anti-Hypocrisy
     11. Sheridan was the ……………………. of his age.
    a. epitome            b. opposite
    c. contrary            d. all of the above
     12. In the initial incident, …………………. are presented.
    a. Joseph, Snake and Charles    b. Maria, Sneerwell and Snake
    c. Teazle, Snake and Maria    d. Sneerwell, Snake and Joseph
     13. The climax of the play occurs ………………..
    a. in the library scene        b. in the screen scene
    c. in the picture room scene    d. in the fight scene
14. The style of Sheridan is characterized by …………….
    a. biting satire            b. funny situations
    c. irony            d. all of the above
15. Rowly is in direct contrast to …………….
    a. Snake            b. Trip
    c. Snake and Trip        d. None of the above
16. The denumount of the play is ………………….
    a. open ended            b. close ended
    c. in flashback            d. none of the above
17. Lady Teazle handed Lady Sneerwell her gossip ………………..
    a. ability            b. diploma
    c. book                d. journal
18. Mr. Teazle wanted to leave his wife …………….. after his death.
    a. divorce papers        b. his house
    c. his library            d. his fortune
19. Sir Oliver is introduced to Joseph as ……………
    a. Premium             b. Stanley
    c. Moses            d. Careless
20. The biggest mistake Charles made was that ……………….
    a. He sold his family pictures    b. He kept Oliver’s picture
    c. He made fun of his family    d. He had an affair with Lady Teazle
21. Comedy of manners plays deal mainly with ……………….
    a. gossip and scandalizing    b. fragile reputation and hypocrisy
    c. relations between genders    d. all of the above
22. The 18th century people believed in the ……………..
    a. innate goodness of man    b. evil of humanity
    c. inevitability of hypocrisy     d. none of the above
23. A round character is the one who ……………… through the course of the play.
    a. repents            b. changes and develops
    c. represents one value     d. reflects the values of his society
24. Joseph has been described as a man of ……………..
    a. passion            b. hypocrite
    c. fortune            d. sentiment
25. Sheridan’s theatre is characterized by the use of realistic ………
    a. props            b. pictures
    c. time                d. clothing
26. The gossip scene, the disguise of Sir Oliver and the fight scene all belong to the …
    a. falling action        b. climax
    c. initial incident        d. falling action
27. Suspense in the play springs from ………………
    a. funny situations        b. uncertainty of the characters’ fate
    c. humorous dialogue        d. none of the above
28. Women of fashion are ………………. to nobody after they get married.
    a. hypocritical            b. controlled
    c. accountable            d. committed
29. Lady Sneerwell spreads rumors about others because she was a … of rumors herself.
a. victim            b. maker
c. avoider            d. bearer
30. “A character's dead at every word, I suppose” is said by ………..
a. Maria            b. Mr. Rowley
c. Mrs. Candour        d. Mr. Teazle
31. To arrive on time is a value that was ………………….. of the women of fashion.
    a. inappropriate        b. appropriate
    c. prevalent            d. attractive
32. “Wit loses its respect when I see it in company with …..” says Maria.
    a. avarice            b. hypocrisy
    c. gossip            d. malice
33. Lady Clackitt justifies the scandalizing she is involved in by repeating that ……..
    a. She has been a victim of scandalizing herself
b. She does it in good humor only
c. She does not mind people gossiping about her
d. Nothing would stop people from talking about others
34. Stereotypes are ……………. characters that have been used repeatedly in plays.
    a. round            b. dynamic
    c. static            d. stock
35. Lady Teazle is a ……….. character as she develops throughout the play.
    a. stock            b. flat
    c. round            d. none of the above
36. In comedy of manners plays, no ………………… of characters is provided.
    a. deep analysis        b. description
    c. praise            d. criticism
37. In sentimental comedy, the moral lesson is derived through ……….
    a. laughter            b. slapstick
    c. setting            d. tears
38. The setting of the play is the ……………………….
    a. costumes and accessories    b. sound and light
    c. place and time        d. plot and structure
39. “If he appears not very anxious for the supply, you should require only forty or fifty per cent; but if you find him in great distress, and want the moneys very bad, you may ask double,” this represents the philosophy of 18th century ………………..
    a. businessmen            b. higher class men
    c. moneylenders            d. servants
40. As a comedy of manners, the play succeeds in…........... the pretentions of the socially superior.
    a. ridiculing            b. emphasizing
    c. highlighting            d. none of the above



Best wishes

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?

Goldsmith's essay about comedy

Dear Students,

This is the link to the essay written by Goldsmith on his philosophy and view of Comedy.

http://www.theatredatabase.com/18th_century/essay_on_the_theatre_001.html

Please read carefully and apply to Goldsmith's play as we move forward.

Thanks

Study Questions on The School for Scandal

Dear All,
Thanks for commenting on the first quote. I liked your comments. Here are three important questions I wish you could answer fairly easily. Please answer the first question only on the blog and the other two in your personal notes. Please use quotations from the play to support your answer.

1. How far is Sheridan successful in using the "Aside" technique? and why is this dramatic technique suitable to the theme of the play?

2. During Sheridan's time "Manners were rigid, morals lax." Comment.

3. Describe the plot structure of the play clarifying the start of each part (initial incident, rising action, etc..)


Enjoy!!

Welcome and first Assignment

Dear Students,
I would like to welcome you all to our new blog. Please feel free to post your comments once you log in.


Our first assignment is to comment on the following quote in no more than 5 lines. (and by comment I mean you say who said the quote, when and why, and why you think it is important):

"If the man be a shadow of his Master this is the Temple of Dissipation indeed!"

What is The School For Scandal?

An Introduction to the Play

The School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.

Sheridan

The School for Scandal has been widely admired. The English critic William Hazlitt was particularly effusive in his praise of Sheridan's comedies in general ("everything in them tells; there is no labour in vain") and of this play in particular:

“

The 'School for Scandal' is, if not the most original, perhaps the most finished and faultless comedy which we have. When it is acted, you hear people all around you exclaiming, "Surely it is impossible for anything to be cleverer." The scene in which Charles sells all the old family pictures but his uncle's, who is the purchaser in disguise, and that of the discovery of Lady Teazle when the screen falls, are among the happiest and most highly wrought that comedy, in its wide and brilliant range, can boast. Besides the wit and ingenuity of this play, there is a genial spirit of frankness and generosity about it, that relieves the heart as well as clears the lungs. It professes a faith in the natural goodness as well as habitual depravity of human nature.

”

Edmund Gosse called the play "perhaps the best existing English comedy of intrigue", while Charles Lamb wrote that "This comedy grew out of Congreve and Wycherley," but criticized "sentimental incompatibilities" even while admitting that "the gaiety upon the whole is buoyant."

On the other hand, the play has also in modern times been criticized for some hints of anti-Semitism, specifically "the disparaging remarks made about moneylenders, who were often Jewish." It is true that the moneylender Moses is portrayed in a comparatively positive light, but the way he is described (as a "friendly Jew" and an "honest Israelite" by Rowley in III.1) suggest that he is in some way to be considered an exception to Jews in general; also, his own usurious business practices as stated to Sir Peter are clearly less than exemplary

Another criticism that has been made of the play involves the characterization. A writer in the 19th century periodical Appleton's Journal states that

“

The great defect of 'The School for Scandal' — the one thing which shows the difference between a comic writer of the type of Sheridan and a great dramatist like Shakespeare — is the unvarying wit of the characters. And not only are the characters all witty, but they all talk alike. Their wit is Sheridan's wit, which is very good wit indeed; but it is Sheridan's own, and not Sir Peter Teazle's, or Backbite's, or Careless's, or Lady Sneerwell's.