Study Questions for Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal

1. The School for Scandal is a comedy of manners, satirizing the social values, virtues, and vices of its time. What might a contemporary comedy of manners look like? What aspects of today’s values might you choose to satirize? Where might the play take place? What might the characters be named? Is there an equivalent in today’s world to Lady Sneerwell’s School for Scandal?

2. Consider the role of moneylending in The School for Scandal. How does debt lead to troubles for the characters? What is the relationship between debtor and creditor in the play? Is the issue treated in a serious or lighthearted fashion? What point(s) do you think Sheridan is trying to make about moneylending?

3. Make a list of all the names in The School for Scandal — not just the characters we see onstage, but also the people whose names come up in Lady Sneerwell’s gossip. What assumptions do you find yourself making about these people on the basis of their names? Choose one of these “unseen” characters and create a brief character sketch or visual portrait.

4. Entrances and exits are a common feature of farce, where they are often used for comic effect. Are there any scenes in the play in which farcical elements (apparent sight gags, entrances and exits, stage “business,” etc.) contribute as much, if not more, to the comedy than the witty dialogue does?

5. Near the end of play, Snake says, “…I live by the badness of my character — I have nothing but my infamy to depend on! and, if it were once known that I had been betrayed into an honest action, I should lose every friend I have in the world.” How does this statement reflect the morals of Lady Sneerwell’s circle? Can you think of a contemporary equivalent to Snake?

6. The prologue and epilogue were conventions of Restoration and 18th-century theatre; often they were composed separately from the play itself, and sometimes they were even composed by a totally different author. How do they function in The School for Scandal? Do you find that they add to your experience of the play when you read it, or do they feel too artificial? How might they have struck actual theatre-goers who heard them as part of the performance during its original time-period?

Think of a contemporary play that you have studied. Choose one character and write a prologue or epilogue for that character to deliver. You will want to consider form as well as content.

7. Sheridan was a male writer writing about marriage and women. See what you can discover about the roles of women in London society of the later eighteenth century and then consider whether or not Sheridan portrays women “accurately. ” Do you think that Sheridan’s portrait of marriage accurately reflects the historical reality of his times?

8. Sheridan seems to have made a great deal of money as a playwright. Was acting also a financially rewarding line of work? How about working in a theatre as a scene-painter or costumer – or even owning a theatre?