General Questions

Q1-In She Stoops to Conquer, which social conventions lead

Marlow to have two personalities, the first shy and the second
lively?
The social convention that Goldsmith is exploring is the way in
which women were treated in his time. Although this play is a
comedy, and it is clear that Marlow's exaggerated shyness and
reticence when faced with women of his own social standing
and then his outgoing, lustful advances when he believes he is with
a serving woman are deeply funny, at the same time they do point
out a social convention that is far more serious than the humour in
this play would suggest. Women of social standing were viewed
not as individuals in their own right but only in terms of what they
could bring to a marriage. This helps the audience understand by
Mrs Hardcastle is so set on the idea of her son marrying Constance
in order to secure her colonial jewels.
However, the opposite is also true, in that serving women, without
any wealth or property, were often subjected to harassment from
predatory males such as Marlow is presented as being when he
first meets Kate in her guise as serving woman. Note how Marlow
very quickly tries to make advance on Kate in this scene
The shyness of Marlow with women of his own social standing
and the contrast with his behaviour to serving women thus
highlights the way in which society and in particular male society
viewed women at the time of the play. They were either viewed as
nothing more than a financial transaction in the first place or easy
pickings in the second place, both of which demean the position of
women. Goldsmith presents Marlow's character in this way
precisely to highlight the treatment of women in his society.
Comedy is also used to explore a more serious theme in the play,
which is that of the roles ascribed to particular genders. This play
reverses the audience's normal expectations of these, as the
audience sees a woman pursuing a man, and not the other way
round. This highlights the way that women were seen as financial
commodities in that time, as exemplified by the example of
Constance, whose value only based on the jewels she will inherit.
By reversing the situation with Kate and Marlow, Goldsmith is
indirectly criticizing such views that dehumanize women and only
see their value as being financial
Q2-"She Stoops to Conquer" a comedy or a farce?
She Stoops to Conquer is both farcical and an example of a
"comedy of manners." Farce is defined as "boisterous
comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue which is intended
to excite laughter through exaggeration and extravagance rather
than by a realistic imitation of life." A comedy of manners pokes
fun at "the manners and conventions of aristocratic, sophisticated
society."

Q3- Who is the central character of "She Stoops to
Conquer" and why?
While the characters tumble over each other in this play of
mistaken instructions, mistaken behavior and mistaken identity,
the real story centers around Kate Hardcastle. Kate is determined
to marry for love, and not for social standing or convenience. She
is the title character, and she 'conquers' Marlow's heart by fooling
him into revealing his generous and unbiased nature. She
undergoes a change, from disliking him to truly respecting and
loving him, and in that change she sees the importance of crossing
the boundaries of class and society. She manipulates the
situation and she wins out in the end. With the action centering
around her, Kate is the protagonist.
Q4-Describe the major character, Marlow, of the comedy She
Stoops to Conquer.
The major character of She Stoops to Conquer is Marlow. Marlow
is the son of Sir Charles Marlow, an old friend of Mr. Hardcastle,
who has recommended Marlow as a suitable husband for
Hardcastle's daughter Kate. Hardcastle has never met Marlow but
has heard from Sir Charles that Marlow is a scholar, brave,
handsome, young, generous and painfully reserved and stand-
offish. Kate has her reservations about a suitor who is neither
warm nor affectionate but his good looks seem to ease the
difficulty if only he can be persuaded into affection by being
proud of his bride.
Marlow, is the one and only character who is willing to make the
decision to marry based on nothing except his emotions. When he
"courts" Kate, whom he believes to be nothing more than a
barmaid, he gradually comes to fall in love with her, and when
pressed by her in Act V, declares that love, saying that he will
marry her no matter what her connections and her lack of a title
and birth is.Note what he says:
By heavens, madam, fortune was ever my smallest consideration.
Your beauty at first caught my eye; for who could see that
without emotion? But every moment that I converse with you,
steals in some new grace, heightens the picture, and gives it
stronger expression. What at first seemed rustic plainness, now
appears refined simplicity. What seemed forward assurance, now
strikes me as the result of courageous innocence and conscious
virtue.
There is of course an irony in this speech, as Marlow sees Kate for
the dignified well-brought up lady that she actually is, yet what
distinguishes Marlow from everybody else is that he is not swayed
by money or by connections. An important theme in this play is
marriage and the way that Goldsmith satirizes it to be the social
contract that it was in his day rather than anything to do with
emotions. Note how reluctant Constant to marry without her
jewels. By contrast, Marlow is willing to marry a barmaid because
of his emotions alone, which makes him the most important
character simply because he is so honest. In a play that is all about
hypocrisy and appearances vs. reality, honesty is a virtue indeed.

Q5- What does Oliver Goldsmith want to show when Marlow
and Hastings behave rudely with Mr. Hardcastle when they
think that he is an innkeeper?
There are three reasons for the hilarious scene at the beginning of
Act II when Marlow and Hastings converse with Mr. Hardcastle
believing him to be an innkeeper. Firstly, there is immense humour
in this scene, which relates to the theme of appearances vs. reality
that is so predominant in this play. Marlow and Hastings believe
that Mr. Hardcastle is an innkeeper, whereas actually he is the
owner of the house and Marlow's future daughter-in-law. Thus to
have Marlow ignore him and to treat him dismissively as if he
were a servant is hilarious
Secondly, to support the theme of appearances vs. reality. Mr.
Harcastle has been led to believe that Marlow is shy and retiring.
This of course is completely at odds with his current behaviour, as
Mr. Hardcastle observes:
This is the most unaccountable kind of modesty I ever met with.
Of course, Marlow is not being "modest" at all, and this irony is a
chief source of humour as the true nature of Marlow is something
that both Mr. Hardcastle and his daughter, Kate, have to unfold in
the rest of the play.
Lastly, this scene exposes the class system in England at the time
and the ways in which the upper classes treated those below them.

Q5-Discuss the theme of reality versus appearance in She
Stoops to Conquer.
In this comedy as in many comedies, the theme of appearance vs.
reality is a key to its humour. Cases of characters and objects
appearing to be something that they not actually are in reality,
either through mistaken identity or through deliberate deceit, are
very common in this play. Perhaps one of the first that are revealed
to the audience is in Act I scene 2, when Tony deliberately tells
Hastings and Marlow that the house he is sending them to is an inn
and that his father-in-law is a character who is a member of the
working class but who has ideas above his station. Note what Tony
says for his reasons for doing this:
Father-in-law has been calling me whelp and hound this half-
year. Now, if I pleased, I could be so revenged upon the old
grumbletonian.
And revenged he certainly is, because Marlow and Hastings
initially at least believe his lie completely, acting in ways that are
very insulting to Mr. Hardcastle until they realize the truth.
Appearance vs. reality of course is chiefly discussed in the
relationship between Kate and Marlow, as Kate deliberately
disguises herself as a maid in order to win Marlow's affection, and
to make him less timid. Note her reasoning as she explains why she
is disguising herself to her maid:
But my chief aim is to take my gentleman off his guard, and like
an invisible champion of romance, examine the giant's force
before I offer combat.
Ironically, it is her disguise that brings out the reality of Marlow's
true character. Yet the theme of appearances vs. reality is
something that ironically helps reality emerge. Note how it is
Kate's deception and disguise as a barmaid that helps her to
discover what Marlow is truly like, and it also helps Marlow relax
and be himself with her, eventually deciding to marry her no
matter what society will think Appearances vs. reality is thus a key
theme that is central to this comedy.

Q6- what are Aristotle's three unities in the play?
Goldsmith uses the three unities:
The Unity of Action - This is the one Unity that Goldsmith does
not strictly follow; there is the inclusion of the Constance-Hastings
eloping sub-plot that distracts from the main story of the play.
However, it shares similar themes of relationships, for example
mutual attraction or the arrangement of a parent or guardian.
Furthermore, the sub-plot is inter-weaving with the main plot, for
example, when Hastings and Marlow confront Tony regarding his
mischief making.
The Unity of Time - The alternative title of Mistakes of the Night
illustrates that the Unity of Time is carefully observed. With all of
the events occurring in a single night.
The Unity of Place While some may question whether She
Stoops to Conquer contains the Unity of Place after all, the
scene at the "The Three Pigeons" is set apart from the house but
the similarity between the alehouse and the "old rumbling
mansion, that looks all the world like an inn" is one of close
resemblance; enough that in past performances, the scenes have
often doubled up the use of the same set backdrop. Also, there is
some debate as to whether the journey to "Crackskull common"
counts as a separate setting, but since the truth is that the travelers
do not leave the mansion gardens, the Unity of Place is not
violated.