The School Ior Scandal

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%0$.44147$.,3/,

Robert Baddeley as Moses
(painting by Johann ZoIIany, c.1781)
Written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Characters
Sir Peter Teazle
Lady Teazle
Sir Oliver SurIace
Joseph SurIace
Charles SurIace
Maria
Lady Sneerwell
Sir Benjamin Backbite
Sir Harry Bumper
Careless
Rowley
Snake
Trip
Mrs Candour
Crabtree
Moses
Date premiered
May 8, 1777
Theatre Royal
Original language English
Genre Comedy oI manners
Setting London, UK
This box: view talk edit
%0$.44147$.,3/, is a comedy oI manners written by Richard Brinsley
Sheridan. It was Iirst perIormed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 18, 1777.
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With principal themes oI "the deceptive nature oI appearances, the Iickleness oI
reputation, |and| the oIten disreputable guises behind which goodness and honesty
can conceal itselI," it has been noted that "The play remains to this day a crowd-
pleaser and one oI the standard repertory pieces in our dramatic literature."
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The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its
author to the audience. (Garrick was Sheridan's predecessor as manager oI Drury
Lane.)
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Contents
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O 1 Act I
O 2 Act II
O 3 Act III
O Act IV
O Act V
O Epilogue
O 7 Revisions and variant versions
O 8 Appraisal
O Actors who have appeared in "The School Ior Scandal"
O 10 ReIerences
O 11 External links
ct I
Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Snake discuss her
various scandal-spreading plots. Snake asks why she is so involved in the aIIairs oI
Sir Peter Teazle, his ward Maria, and Charles and Joseph SurIace, two young men
under Sir Peter's inIormal guardianship, and why she has not yielded to the attentions
oI Joseph, who is highly respectable. Lady Sneerwell conIides that Joseph wants
Maria, who is an heiress, and that 80 wants Charles, in spite oI his dissipated
conduct. Thus she and Joseph are plotting to alienate Maria Irom Charles by putting
out rumors oI an aIIair between Charles and Sir Peter's new young wiIe, Lady Teazle.
Joseph arrives to conIer with Lady Sneerwell. Maria herselI then enters, Ileeing the
attentions oI Sir Benjamin Backbite and his uncle Crabtree. Mrs. Candour enters soon
aIter Sir Benjamin and Crabtree, bringing a good deal oI gossip with them. One item
is the imminent return oI the SurIace brothers' rich uncle Sir Oliver Irom India, where
he has been Ior sixteen years; another is Charles' dire Iinancial situation.
Scene II: Sir Peter complains oI Lady Teazle's spendthriIt ways. Rowley, the Iormer
steward oI the SurIaces' late Iather, arrives, and Sir Peter gives him an earIul on the
subject. He also complains that Maria has reIused Joseph, whom he calls "a model Ior
the young men oI the age," and seems attached to Charles, whom he denounces as a
proIligate. Rowley deIends Charles, and then announces that Sir Oliver has just
arrived Irom India.
ct II
Scene I: Sir Peter argues with his wiIe, Lady Teazle, reIusing to be "ruined by |her|
extravagance." He reminds her oI her recent and Iar humbler country origins. Lady
Teazle excuses herselI by appealing to "the Iashion," and departs to visit Lady
Sneerwell. Despite their quarrel, Sir Peter still Iinds himselI charmed by his wiIe even
when she is arguing with him.
Scene II: At Lady Sneerwell's, the scandal-mongers have great Iun at the expense oI
Iriends not present. Lady Teazle and Maria arrive; Lady Teazle joins in, but Maria is
disgusted. So is Sir Peter, when he arrives, and rather breaks up the party with his
comments. He departs, the others retire to the next room, and Joseph seizes the
opportuniunity to court Maria, who rejects him again. Lady Teazle returns and
dismisses Maria, and it is revealed that she is seriously Ilirting with Joseph - who
doesn't want her, but cannot aIIord to alienate her.
Scene III: Sir Oliver calls on his old Iriend Sir Peter. He is amused by Sir Peter's
marriage to a young wiIe. Their talk turns to the SurIace brothers. Sir Peter praises
Joseph's high morals but Sir Oliver suspects that he may be a hypocrite.
ct III
Scene I: Sir Oliver describes his plan to visit each oI the brothers incognito in order to
test their characters. He will disguise himselI as their needy relative Mr. Stanley, and
ask each Ior his help. Rowley also brings in the "Iriendly Jew" Moses, a moneylender
who has tried to help Charles, to explain Charles' position. Moses mentions that he is
to introduce Charles to yet another moneylender ("Mr. Premium") that very evening.
Sir Oliver decides that with Moses' assistance, he will pose as Premium when visiting
Charles (still intending to visit Joseph as Stanley).
Sir Peter is leIt alone and when Maria enters, he tries to urge Joseph on her as a
worthier match than Charles, whom she Iavors. When she is not persuaded, he
threatens her with "the authority oI a guardian." She goes, and Lady Teazle enters
asking her husband Ior two hundred pounds. Sir Peter and Lady Teazle argue again,
and conclude that they should separate.
Scene II: Sir Oliver (as Mr. Premium) arrives with Moses at Charles' house. While
they are waiting in the hall, Trip, the servant, tries to negotiate a loan on his own
account Irom Moses. Sir Oliver concludes that "this is the temple oI dissipation
indeed!"
Scene III: Charles and his raucous guests drink heavily and sing merry songs, as they
prepare Ior a night oI gambling. Charles raises a toast to Maria. Moses and
"Premium" enter, and Sir Oliver is is dismayed at the scene. Charles doesn't recognize
his long-lost uncle. Charles Irankly asks "Premium" Ior credit, noting that Sir Oliver
(whom he believes is in India) will soon leave him a Iortune. "Premium" discounts
this possibility, noting that Sir Oliver may live many years, or disinherit his nephew.
He asks iI Charles has any valuables oI his own to sell Ior immediate cash. Charles
admits that he has sold the Iamily silver and his late Iather's library, and oIIers to sell
the Iamily portrait collection.
ct IV
Scene I: Charles sells all but one oI the Iamily portraits to "Premium", using the
rolled-up Iamily tree as an auction-hammer. However, he reIuses to sell the last
portrait, which is oI Sir Oliver, out oI respect Ior his beneIactor; Charles will not sell
it even when "Premium" oIIers as much Ior it as Ior all the rest. Moved, Sir Oliver
inwardly Iorgives Charles. Sir Oliver and Moses leave, and Charles sends a hundred
pounds oI the proceeds Ior the relieI oI "Mr. Stanley," despite Rowley's objection.
Scene II: Sir Oliver, reIlecting on Charles's character with Moses, is met by Rowley,
who has brought him the hundred pounds sent to "Stanley." Declaring "I`ll pay his
debts, and his benevolence too," Sir Oliver plans to go meet his other nephew in the
person oI Stanley.
Scene III: Joseph, anxiously awaiting a visit Irom Lady Teazle, is told by a servant
that she has just leIt "her chair at the milliner's next door" and so has the servant
drawn a screen across the window (his reason: "my opposite neighbour is a maiden
lady oI so curious a temper"). On her entrance, Joseph Iorswears any interest in
Maria, and Ilirts in earnest with Lady Teazle, perversely suggesting that she should
make a "faux pa8" Ior the beneIit oI her reputation. The servant returns to announce
Sir Peter, and Lady Teazle hides in panic behind the screen. Sir Peter enters and tells
Joseph that he suspects an aIIair between Charles and Lady Teazle (due to the rumors
spread by Joseph and Lady Sneerwell). Joseph hypocritically proIesses conIidence in
Charles' and Lady Teazle's honor. Sir Peter conIides his intention to give his wiIe a
generous separate maintenance during his liIe and the bulk oI his Iortune on his
demise. He also urges Joseph to pursue his suit with Maria (much to Joseph's
annoyance, as Lady Teazle is listening behind the screen).
Charles's arrival is announced. Sir Peter decides to hide, and have Joseph sound
Charles out about his relationship with Lady Teazle. He starts behind the screen, but
sees the corner oI Lady Teazle's petticoat there already. Joseph "conIesses" that he is
not as virtuous as he seems: "a little French milliner, a silly rogue that plagues me" is
hiding there to preserve her own reputation. Sir Peter then hides in the closet.
Charles now enters and Joseph questions him about Lady Teazle. Charles disclaims
any designs on her, noting that Joseph and the lady seem to be intimate. To stop
Charles, Joseph whispers to him that Sir Peter is hiding in the closet, and Charles
hauls him Iorth. Sir Peter tells Charles he now regrets his suspicions about him.
Charles passes oII his comments about Joseph and Lady Teazle as a joke.
When Lady Sneerwell is announced, Joseph rushes out to stop her Irom coming up.
Meanwhile, Sir Peter tells Charles about the "French milliner". Charles insists on
having a look at her and Ilings down the screen as Joseph returns, discovering Lady
Teazle. Charles, very amused, leaves the other three dumbstruck individuals. Joseph
concocts a phony explanation Ior Sir Peter oI why he and Lady Teazle are together.
But she reIuses to endorse it and admits that she came to pursue an aIIair with Joseph;
however, having learned oI Sir Peter's generosity, she has repented. She denounces
Joseph and exits, and the enraged Sir Peter Iollows as Joseph continues trying to
pretend innocence.
ct V
Scene I: Sir Oliver (as Mr. Stanley) now visits Joseph. Joseph, like Charles, does not
recognize his long-lost uncle. He greets "Stanley" with eIIusive proIessions oI
goodwill, but reIuses to give "Stanley" any Iinancial assistance, saying he has no
money to give. "Stanley" suggests that Sir Oliver would help him iI he was here, and
that Joseph might pass on some oI what Sir Oliver has given him. But Joseph tells
"Stanley" that Sir Oliver is in Iact very stingy, and has given him nothing except
trinkets such as tea, shawls, and "Indian crackers". Furthermore, Joseph has lent a
great deal to his brother, so that he has nothing leIt Ior "Stanley". Sir Oliver is
enraged, as he knows both statements are Ilat lies - he sent Joseph 12,000 pounds
Irom India. He stiIles his anger, and departs amid Iurther eIIusions. Rowley arrives
with a letter Ior Joseph announcing that Sir Oliver has arrived in town.
Scene II: At Sir Peter's house, Lady Sneerwell, Mrs. Candour, Sir Benjamin, and
Crabtree exchange conIused rumors about the Teazle aIIair. Sir Benjamin says Sir
Peter was wounded in a swordIight with Joseph SurIace, while Crabtree insists it was
a pistol duel with Charles. When Sir Oliver enters, they take him Ior a doctor and
demand news oI the wounded man. At that moment Sir Peter arrives to prove the
report wrong, and orders the scandalmongers out oI his house. Sir Oliver says he has
met both oI his nephews and agrees with Sir Peter's (Iormer) estimate oI Joseph's high
character, but then acknowledges with laughter that he knows the story oI what
happened at Joseph's with the closet and screen. When he leaves, Rowley tells Sir
Peter that Lady Teazle is in tears in the next room, and Sir Peter goes to reconcile
with her.
Scene III: Lady Sneerwell complains to Joseph that Sir Peter, now that he knows the
truth about Joseph, will allow Charles to marry Maria. They plot to use Snake as a
witness to a supposed relationship between Charles and Lady Sneerwell, and she
withdraws.
Sir Oliver arrives. Joseph takes him Ior "Stanley" and orders him out. Charles arrives
and recognizes "Premium". Despite the identity conIusion, both brothers want the
man out beIore Sir Oliver comes. As Charles and Joseph try to eject their incognito
uncle, Sir Peter and Lady Teazle arrive with Maria, ending Sir Oliver's pretense. Sir
Oliver, Sir Peter, and Lady Teazle together condemn Joseph, but Sir Oliver Iorgives
Charles because oI his reIusal to sell Sir Oliver's picture. Maria, however, declines to
give Charles her hand, citing his supposed involvement with Lady Sneerwell. Joseph
now reveals Lady Sneerwell. Charles is baIIled, and Joseph now summons Snake.
Snake, however, has been bribed to turn against Sneerwell, so her lie is exposed. AIter
Lady Teazle tells her that she (Lady Teazle) is withdrawing Irom the School Ior
Scandal, Lady Sneerwell leaves in a rage, and Joseph Iollows, supposedly to keep her
Irom Iurther malicious attacks. Charles and Maria are reconciled. Charles makes no
promises about reIorming, but indicates that Maria's inIluence will keep him on a
"virtuous path." The concluding line assures the audience that "even Scandal dies, iI
you approve."
Epilogue
The humorous epilogue, written by George Colman the Elder, is to be "Spoken by
Lady Teazle." It portrays her as somewhat regretIul oI leaving London society Ior
country domesticity, and includes an elaborate parody oI a Iamous speech in
Shakespeare's t0o.
#evisions and variant versions
In comparing editions oI the play, one will Iind several relatively minor textual
diIIerences. One reason is because Sheridan revised his text repeatedly, not only prior
to its Iirst production, but aIterwards.
In its earliest stages, as detailed by Thomas Moore, Sheridan developed two separate
play sketches, one initially entitled "The Slanderers" that began with Lady Sneerwell
and Spatter (equivalent to Snake in the Iinal version), and the other involving the
Teazles. He eventually combined these and with repeated revisions and restructuring
arrived at substantially the play that we have today.
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The play did not appear in an authorized edition during Sheridan's liIetime, though it
was printed in Dublin in 1788 Irom a copy that the author had sent to his sister.
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Because, as one recent editor has put it, "%0 Scoo for Scanda is the most
intractable problem Sheridan set his editors,"
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editions oI this play can vary
considerably. For example, the Penguin Classics edition gives a text based on the
1821 edition oI %0 Work8 of t0 Lat0 Rigt Honourab0 Ricard Brin80 S0ridan
published by Murray, Ridgeway, and Wilkie, but states that it has "been emended
Irom earlier manuscripts" and gives a detailed listing oI these emendations.
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The preIatory material to the Project Gutenburg text oI the play acknowledges that
"Current texts may usually be traced, directly or indirectly," to the 1821 edition, but
presents a Iar diIIerent text based on a manuscript in the author's hand.
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In the Project Gutenburg text's version oI I.1, Lady Sneerwell's accomplice is her
cousin Miss Verjuice, not the socially inIerior Snake (who appears only in V.3). Here
is the opening oI the play as given in that text (in which the editor has retained the
original spelling and punctuation oI Sheridan's manuscript Iound at Frampton
Court)
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:

LADY SNEERWELL at 0r dr088ing tab0 wit LAPPE% MISS
JERJUICE drinking cocoat0
LADY SNEERWELL. The Paragraphs you say were all inserted:
VERJUICE. They were Madam--and as I copied them myselI in a
Ieigned Hand there can be no suspicion whence they came.
LADY SNEERWELL. Did you circulate the Report oI Lady Brittle's
Intrigue with Captain Boastall?
VERJUICE. Madam by this Time Lady Brittle is the Talk oI halI the
Town--and I doubt not in a week the Men will toast her as a Demirep.
LADY SNEERWELL. What have you done as to the insinuation as to

a certain Baronet's Lady and a certain Cook.
VERJUICE. That is in as Iine a Train as your Ladyship could wish. I
told the story yesterday to my own maid with directions to
communicate it directly to my Hairdresser. He I am inIormed has a
Brother who courts a Milliners' Prentice in Pallmall whose mistress has
a Iirst cousin whose sister is Feme |Femme| de Chambre to Mrs.
Clackit--so that in the common course oI Things it must reach Mrs.
Clackit's Ears within Iour-and-twenty hours and then you know the
Business is as good as done.
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Sheridan later deleted Verjuice and gave Snake most oI her lines, as reIlected in the
1821 edition and those editions that Iollow it. Here is the opening in that text:

Lad SNEERWELLS Hou80.
Di8cov0r0d Lad SNEERWELL at t0 dr088ing-tab0 SNAKE drinking
cocoat0.
Lad Sn00r. The paragraphs, you say, Mr. Snake, were all inserted?
Snak0. They were, madam; and as I copied them myselI in a Ieigned
hand, there can be no suspicion whence they came.
Lad Sn00r. Did you circulate the report oI Lady Brittle's intrigue with
Captain Boastall?
Snak0. That's in as Iine a train as your ladyship could wish. In the
common course oI things, I think it must reach Mrs. Clackitt's ears
within Iour and twenty hours; and then, you know, the business is as
good as done.
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This is a signiIicant diIIerence, and some editors
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and perIormers
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have preIerred
the manuscript version that includes Miss Verjuice. However, the cast list oI the Iirst
production oI the play in 1777 has no "Miss Verjuice" listed,
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showing that the
change Sheridan made to combine her part with Snake's predates the premiere.
Another example oI strictly verbal diIIerences between the two texts can be Iound in
II.1, where the Project Gutenburg text has Lady Teazle rather more pointed in
suggesting that Sir Peter can oblige her by making her his "widow" (only implied by
her in the 1821 text, leaving him to Iill in "My widow, I suppose?" and her to add
"Hem! hem!").
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Also, interestingly, in Crabtree's recitation oI the imaginary duel
between Sir Peter and Charles SurIace (V.2), the shot oI Sir Peter bounces oII a "little
bronze Pliny" in the older version,
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but the bust is changed to one oI "Shakspeare
(sic)" in the 1821 text.
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Many other slight diIIerences oI a Iew words here and there
can be Iound throughout the play
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(though these do not impact the plot the way that
the deletion oI Miss Verjuice does).
ppraisal
%0 Scoo for Scanda has been widely admired. The English critic William Hazlitt
was particularly eIIusive in his praise oI Sheridan's comedies in general ("everything
in them t08; there is no labour in vain"
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) and oI this play in particular:

The 'School Ior Scandal' is, iI not the most original, perhaps the most
Iinished and Iaultless comedy which we have. When it is acted, you
hear people all around you exclaiming, "Surely it is impossible Ior
anything to be cleverer." The scene in which Charles sells all the old
Iamily pictures but his uncle's, who is the purchaser in disguise, and
that oI the discovery oI Lady Teazle when the screen Ialls, are among
the happiest and most highly wrought that comedy, in its wide and
brilliant range, can boast. Besides the wit and ingenuity oI this play,
there is a genial spirit oI Irankness and generosity about it, that relieves
the heart as well as clears the lungs. It proIesses a Iaith in the natural
goodness as well as habitual depravity oI human nature.
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Edmund Gosse called the play "perhaps the best existing English comedy oI
intrigue"
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, while Charles Lamb wrote that "This comedy grew out oI Congreve and
Wycherley," but criticized "sentimental incompatibilities" even while admitting that
"the gaiety upon the whole is buoyant."
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Samuel Barber composed his Iirst Iull orchestral work as an overture programmed Ior
the play.
On the other hand, the play has also in modern times been criticized Ior some hints oI
anti-Semitism, speciIically "the disparaging remarks made about moneylenders, who
were oIten Jewish."
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It is true that the moneylender Moses is portrayed in a
comparatively positive light, but the way he is described (as a "Iriendly 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 (e.g., his statement "II he appears not very
anxious Ior the supply, you should require only Iorty or IiIty per cent; but iI you Iind
him in great distress, and want the moneys very bad, you may ask double" |III.1|). It
may be signiIicant that in Johann ZoIIany's portrait oI Robert Baddeley as Moses, we
Iind that "Under his arm Moses holds a rolled parchment oI the SurIace Iamily tree
that is used as an auction hammer, and he seems to be ticking oII pictures in the
catalogue," although in the play Careless is the auctioneer in the relevant scene (IV.1)
and Moses has a relatively minor role.
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It is notable that at least one modern production (Los Angeles, 200) has "sanitized
most oI what could be deemed as anti-Semitic content" by changing reIerences to
"Jews" and "Jewry" to "moneylenders"--a practice that a reviewer termed "PC-
iIication" oI the play.
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Another production, by the Seattle Shakespeare Company in
2007, reportedly did not tamper with this aspect oI the text and was commended by a
reviewer Ior "the courage to Iace the script's unsavory side."
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Another criticism that has been made oI the play involves the characterization. A
writer in the 1th century periodical App0ton8 Journa states that

The great deIect oI 'The School Ior Scandal' the one thing which
shows the diIIerence between a comic writer oI the type oI Sheridan
and a great dramatist like Shakespeare is the unvarying wit oI 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 P0t0r %0a:08 or Backbit08 or
Car00888 or Lad Sn00rw08.
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The style oI the play has also made it at times a problematic work to make eIIective in
today's theater. In appraising a 1 staging oI Sheridan's comedy at the Guthrie
Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, one critic Iound the "staunchly orthodox
production" to be lacking, commenting that

Sheridan's satirical bite, which is as venomous as Moliere's and as
quick as Wilde's, comes not Irom epigrammatic Ilourishes, but Irom
the subtle undermining oI Georgian social mores... In this realm, gossip
is a Iorm oI social control, wielded by the essentially impotent elite to
Iorce conIormity among their peers...
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Another reviewer in Jari0t noted oI a 1 production starring Tony Randall as Sir
Peter Teazle that Sheridan's play was "such a superbly craIted laugh machine, and so
timeless in delivering delectable comeuppance to a viper's nest oI idle-rich
gossipmongers, that you'd practically have to club it to death to stiIle its amazing
pleasures" - beIore claiming that this is pr0ci80 what the production being reviewed
had done.
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But in the hands oI a talented director and cast, the play still oIIers considerable
pleasure. A New York production oI 2001 prompted praise in the N0w York %im08 Ior
being "just the classy antidote one needs in a celebrity-crazed world where the
invasion oI privacy is out oI control, but the art oI gossip is nonexistent."
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ctors who have appeared in "The School for
Scandal"
O John Palmer - created Joseph SurIace
O Ada Dyas - Irish actress as Lady Teazle
O William 'Gentleman' Smith (1730-181) (actor) - created Charles SurIace
O John Gielgud played Charles SurIace in a legendary season at the Queens
Theatre in 137, and repeated the role under his own direction in a 13
Broadway production