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The Critic | Introduction

The Critic first premiered at London’s Drury Lane Theatre on October 30, 1779. As its title suggests, the play follows a day in the life of a critic, Mr. Dangle, as he is entreated by members of the theatrical world for his patronage and support; the play’s second and third acts feature Dangle (and another critic, Mr. Sneer) watching the rehearsal of The Spanish Armada, an historical tragedy written by their acquaintance, Mr. Puff. Although Puff’s play is meant to arouse pity and fear—the two required tragic emotions according to classical standards— his play is a laughable hodgepodge of bombastic language and ludicrous events.

By the time of The Critic’s premiere, Richard Brinsley Sheridan had already enjoyed great success as a playwright: his first comedy, The Rivals, had opened at Drury Lane four years earlier and was followed by The School for Scandal (1777), widely regarded as his masterpiece. Sheridan had by this time also purchased an interest in Drury Lane and eventually became its manager; his experiences with actors, playwrights, directors, scenic designers and, of course, critics, all found their way into his play about Dangle, Sneer, and Puff. (Sheridan modeled some of the play’s characters on people with whom he had worked.) The play is notable for its depiction of a playwright unable to withstand any criticism, an unscrupulous writer of advertisements, and its thorough parody of theatrical conventions. Though some may feel that mocking a bad play is easier than composing a good one, many readers and viewers find The Critic an hilarious examination of an aesthetically terrible tragedy.

The Critic Summary

Act I, Scene i
The play begins with Mr. Dangle, the critic, at breakfast with his wife. Dangle finds the morning newspapers too full of irritating news about politics; he therefore turns to the Morning Chronicle to find news of the theatrical world that interests him as a man with great passions for the stage. After Dangle remarks that his friend Puff’s tragedy, The Spanish Armada, is being rehearsed at Drury Lane, Dangle’s wife scolds him for taking no interest in affairs of state; Dangle counters her argument by pointing out that his various powers as ‘‘the head of a band of critics’’ make him an important man. Mrs. Dangle remains unimpressed.

Sneer, a fellow critic and friend of Dangle, arrives with two plays and asks Dangle to persuade one of the theatre managers to accept them for performance. The three discuss the faults of the modern theatre, specifically that it has lost its capacity to morally instruct the public and that the comedies have become too sanitized.

A servant enters and announces the arrival of Sir Fretful Plagiary, a talentless playwright who, as described by Dangle and Sneer, asks for honest criticism yet rejects any unflattering observations. As the two men discuss Sir Fretful’s most recent ‘‘execrable’’ work, the playwright enters. Sir Fretful explains that he has sent his recent play to the manager of the Covent Garden Theatre, rather than Drury Lane, since Richard Brinsley Sheridan has his works performed there and might steal some of Sir Fretful’s work out of envy. Sneer, true to his name, mocks Sir Fretful’s worries and talents. Sir Fretful, slightly nonplussed, asks the men if there is anything they find that can be ‘‘mended’’ in his latest play—but, of course, he rejects all of their criticisms. Dangle and Sneer then invent a number of scathing complaints about Sir Fretful’s work that they pretend to have read in the newspapers; despite Sir Fretful’s claim that he disregards the opinions found there, he suffers ‘‘great agitation’’ from their words as he pretends to laugh at the imaginary critics’ complaints. Sneer asks Dangle if he can accompany him to the rehearsal of Puff’s tragedy; Dangle agrees but asks Sneer to help him judge the merits of a family of Italian singers who are seeking his patronage and who have just arrived in Dangle’s drawing room.

Act I, Scene ii
In the Dangles’ drawing room, Mrs. Dangle attempts to converse with Signor Pasticcio Ritornello, an opera singer, and his two daughters. The French interpreter who has accompanied Pasticcio explains, in a very awkward fashion, that Lady Rondeau and Mrs. Fuge, two patrons of the opera, have sent the singers. Dangle and Sneer arrive, and Dangle is beseeched—in French and Italian—to put in a good word for the singers with the theatre managers about town. When a servant announces that Puff has arrived, however, Dangle asks his wife to escort the Italians and their interpreter into the next room.

Puff arrives and becomes the focus of the scene. Puff explains to Sneer that he is ‘‘a Professor of the Art of Puffing’’: an author who has taught newspapermen and advertisers how to inflate their diction so they may ‘‘enlay their phraseology with variegated chips of exotic metaphor’’ and ‘‘crowd their advertisements with panegyrical superlatives.’’ Sneer asks if he can accompany Dangle to the rehearsal of Puff’s play; Puff tells the two men that they may meet him in the green room later that day, since Puff first has to ‘‘scribble’’ a few paragraphs for the newspapers on a number of topics.

Act II, Scene i
Later that day, Dangle and Sneer meet Puff at... » Complete The Critic Summary