Themes - SS2 Literature Lesson Note
Themes: The play explores a number of themes, including:
Social class and status: The play satirizes the obsession with class and status in 18th-century England.
Love and marriage: The play celebrates the power of love and the importance of overcoming obstacles in order to be together.
Appearance versus reality: The play explores the difference between appearance and reality, and the importance of seeing people for who they truly are.
Style: Goldsmith’s writing style is characterized by its wit, humor, and social commentary. He uses a variety of literary devices, such as satire, irony, and double entendre, to create a humorous and thought-provoking play.
Appearances and Reality
Much of the comedy of Goldsmith’s play depends on confusion between appearance and reality. After all, Marlow’s misperception of Mr. Hardcastle’s house as an inn drives the narrative action in the first place. Ironically, Goldsmith’s comedy allows appearance to lead to the discovery of reality. Kate’s deception leads her to discover Marlow’s true nature. Falling in love when he thinks her a barmaid, he declares his decision to defy society and marry her in spite of the differences in their social class. Her falsehood allows him to relax with her and reveal his true self.
Truth and Falsehood
Thematically related to the theme of Appearance and Reality, Goldsmith uses falsehood to reveal the truth. Most obviously Tony’s lie about Mr. Hardcastle’s mansion being an inn produces the truth of the lovers’ affections. Lying also leads to poetic justice. When Constance asks to wear her jewels, Mrs. Hardcastle lies and tells her they have been lost. Tony takes the jewels to give to Hastings, and when Mrs. Hardcastle goes to find them, they have been lost. Her lie has become true.
Sex Roles
In many ways, Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquersatirizes the ways the eighteenth-century society believed that proper men and women ought to behave. While the play shows the traditional pattern of male-female relations in Hastings’s wooing of Constance, it also reverses the era’s sexual etiquette by having Kate pursue Marlow.
Goldsmith’s comedy raises serious issues, however. On the eighteenth century’s “marriage market,” many people married for money, land, or title. This practice often turned women into commodities, to be exchanged between fathers and prospective husbands more for economic than emotional reasons. In She Stoops to Conquer, the relationship between Mrs. Hardcastle and Constance depends entirely on her inheritance of colonial jewels, which provide Mrs. Hardcastle’s sole reason for pressing Tony and Constance to wed. In this sense, Constance’s jewels can be seen to symbolize the marketing of the female on the marriage market.
Relating the themes to personal life encounters
Social class and status: The play’s exploration of social class and status is still relevant today. In many societies, people are still judged by their social class and status. This can be a barrier to relationships and opportunities.
Love and marriage: The play’s celebration of love and marriage is also still relevant today. Love is a powerful force that can overcome many obstacles.
Appearance versus reality: The play’s exploration of appearance versus reality is also still relevant today. It is important to see people for who they truly are, not just how they appear on the outside.
Conclusion
“She Stoops to Conquer” is a witty and insightful comedy that explores a number of themes that are still relevant today. It is a play that can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages.