Answer TWO of the following for Monday’s class:
Q1: Which characters or lines in the play reminded you the most of Dangerous Liasons? Why is this? What makes you know that both works are from the same general world, even if one takes place in France and the other in England?
Q2: In Act 2, Mrs. Candour defends her delight in gossiping by saying, “surely you would not be quite so severe on those who only report what they hear?” (214). Do you think there’s any merit to this defense? If they’re not actively causing harm to other people, but just repeating what others have already said—whether true or false—are they really to blame? Or are they equally guilty?
Q3: We meet Sir Peter and Lady Teazle in this play, which is a new take on the age-old joke of old men marrying young wives (which we also encountered in The Wife of Bath’s Prologue). What does Sheridan seem to be poking fun at in this relationship: just his age? Or some factor of marriage between unequal partners? (hint: Jane Austen will pick up on this theme herself)
Q4: Dangerous Liasons was a more serious work of satire, while The School for Scandal is more humorous and light-hearted. But where might the joke be less ‘funny’ in this play? In other words, why might Sheridan have the same intentions for the play as the film? Where is the comedy not really a comedy?
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