Reading Order
The School for Scandal Reading Order
The School for Scandal (1777) by Richard Brinsley Sheridan is the greatest comedy of manners in English — a five-act play set in the drawing rooms of fashionable London society, in which the gossip and scandal-mongering of Lady Sneerwell's circle expose the moral corruption beneath polite appearances, while the virtuous but apparently dissolute Charles Surface is vindicated against his hypocritical brother Joseph. Sheridan's play is simultaneously a comedy of manners in the Restoration tradition (Congreve, Wycherley), a sentimental comedy about the vindication of innate virtue, and a theatrical argument (similar to Goldsmith's) for wit and genuine comedy over pretension and moral affectation. The characters are brilliant comic creations: Lady Sneerwell, Snake, Lady Teazle (who has married old Sir Peter Teazle for his money and is bored), and above all Joseph Surface — the hypocrite who has cultivated such a reputation for virtue that he is trusted by everyone while plotting to inherit his uncle's fortune by destroying his brother. The famous screen scene (Act IV, Scene 3), in which Lady Teazle hides behind a screen in Joseph's rooms and is discovered by her husband, is one of the great moments of eighteenth-century theatre and arguably the best single scene in English comedy.
Where to start
The School for Scandal (1777) — the New Mermaids edition edited by F.W. Bateson (1979) is the standard teaching text; the Oxford World's Classics edition of Sheridan's Plays edited by Eric Rump includes all the major works. The play is best experienced in performance — the wit requires delivery, and the screen scene is one of those theatrical moments that works differently on the page and on stage.
Complete The School for Scandal Book List
- 1Buy
The School for Scandal (New Mermaids)
Richard Brinsley Sheridan (ed. F.W. Bateson)·1979·The standard teaching edition — Bateson's introduction traces the play's relationship to Restoration comedy and its innovations within the sentimental tradition; the best text for a first reading. - 2Buy
Plays (Oxford World's Classics)
Richard Brinsley Sheridan (ed. Eric Rump)·2008·The best complete edition of Sheridan's dramatic works — includes The Rivals, The School for Scandal, The Critic, and The Duenna; Rump's introduction is the best short account of Sheridan's career. - 3Buy
The Rivals
Richard Brinsley Sheridan·1775·Sheridan's first great comedy — Mrs. Malaprop and her army of vocabulary disasters, Lydia Languish's romantic silliness, and the duel that never quite happens; read before The School for Scandal to see Sheridan finding his voice. - 4Buy
She Stoops to Conquer
Oliver Goldsmith·1773·The companion comedy from four years earlier — Goldsmith and Sheridan together define the golden age of eighteenth-century English stage comedy; the two plays are natural companions and are often read or performed together. - 5Buy
The Way of the World
William Congreve·1700·The Restoration comedy masterpiece from which Sheridan descends — Congreve's play of wit, love, and financial scheming among fashionable London society is the direct ancestor of The School for Scandal in its moral comedy and brilliant dialogue.
The School for Scandal — Frequently Asked Questions
What is The School for Scandal about?
The School for Scandal (1777) by Richard Brinsley Sheridan is a five-act comedy of manners set in fashionable London society. Lady Sneerwell and her circle of gossips plot to destroy the reputation of the apparently dissolute Charles Surface in order to advance the hypocritical Joseph Surface (who has cultivated a reputation for virtue while plotting to inherit his uncle's fortune). Meanwhile, old Sir Peter Teazle struggles with his young wife Lady Teazle, who has married for money and finds fashionable society more entertaining than her husband. The play vindicates Charles (innately virtuous despite appearances) and exposes Joseph (hypocritical beneath his virtuous surface) through a series of brilliant comic scenes, culminating in the famous 'screen scene.'
What is the screen scene in The School for Scandal?
The screen scene (Act IV, Scene 3 of The School for Scandal) is widely considered the greatest single scene in eighteenth-century English comedy. Joseph Surface has been entertaining Lady Teazle, apparently giving her 'moral advice' but actually attempting to seduce her, when her husband Sir Peter Teazle unexpectedly arrives. Lady Teazle hides behind a screen. Sir Peter and Joseph have a long conversation about the Surface brothers' characters (Joseph lying throughout), before Sir Peter, showing Joseph what he has given Lady Teazle in his will, mentions that a lady is hidden in the room behind a screen. He thinks she's a French milliner; Joseph pretends she is. When Sir Peter insists on seeing, the screen falls, Lady Teazle is revealed, and the full extent of Joseph's hypocrisy is simultaneously exposed. It is a masterpiece of theatrical construction.
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