The School for Scandal

School for Scandal, The

    Author: Richard Brinsley Sheridan

    First Performance: 1777, London

    Published: 1780; ‘good’ text 1799

    Genre: Com. in 5 acts; prose

    Setting: Lady Sneerwell's, Sir Peter Teazle's, Charles Surface's, and Joseph Surface's homes, London, 1770s

    Cast: 12m, 4f, extras

Although herself the victim of gossip, Lady Sneerwell plots with the hypocritical and sanctimonious Joseph Surface to discredit his extravagant but likeable brother Charles, so that Joseph can marry the rich heiress Maria, who loves Charles. To get closer to Maria, Joseph pays court to the pretty young Lady Teazle, wife to the elderly Sir Peter and Maria's guardian. Lady Teazle visits Joseph in his rooms, and when her husband arrives, she hides behind a screen. She overhears how Sir Peter has arranged to make a generous...

[The entire page is 488 words long]

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