ملخص مسرحية (She Stoops to Conquer)

SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER or THE MISTAKES OF A NIGHT
A synopsis of the play by Oliver Goldsmith
SQUIRE HARDCASTLE'S second wife is quite determined that her spoiled and not too brilliant son, Tony Lumpkin, shall marry her niece, Constance Neville. In this way she will be enabled to keep in the family Miss Neville's fortune which consists of a casket of valuable jewels. The young people, however, have other plans, especially Miss Neville who is secretly pledged to one, Hastings.
Mr. Hardcastle, likewise, has plans for his own charming daughter, Kate, whom he wishes to marry the son of his old friend, Sir Charles Marlow. It is young Marlow's misfortune to be dumb in the presence of ladies of his own social status. He is, however, a master of clever repartee when talking to bar maids and girls of like station.
The Hardcastle family are momentarily expecting the arrival of young Marlow and his friend, Hastings. The approaching travellers stop at the village inn to inquire their way. Tony Lumpkin, who is there as usual with his cronies, conceives the idea of persuading the young men that they have lost their way and will have to spend the night at an inn. He directs them to the Hardcastle house which he highly recommends if they will excuse the eccentricities of the owner and his family.
Neither young Marlow nor Squire Hardcastle senses that both are victims of a hoax and the squire is much incensed at the bold and impudent behavior of his friend's son. Young Hastings, as soon as he sees Constance, puts two and two together. This pair agree to keep Marlow in ignorance and pretend that Constance and Kate simply happen to be stopping the night at the inn.
When introduced to Kate young Marlow can find little to say and stumbles over that. In his embarrassment he never once looks at her face. It is not surprising, therefore, that later in the evening when he sees her going about the house in the plain house dress her father insists on, he takes her for the bar maid. She encourages the deception in order to find out if he is really as witless as he seems. In her bar maid's guise she is pleasantly surprised to find him not dumb but, indeed, possessed of a graceful and ready wit. When she reveals herself as a well born but poor relation of the Hardcastle family he acknowledges his love for her.
Further comic situations are created by Tony's attempts to help Constance and her lover elope with her casket of jewels. When through ludicrous misunderstandings these come to naught, Squire Hardcastle benignly sets everything right for both pairs of lovers.

SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER
A synopsis of the comedy by Oliver Goldsmith
An exciting and romantic night is anticipated at the English country home of Kate Hardcastle. Kate is to be visited by her father's choice of a husband for her--young Marlow, the son of Charles Marlow, Mr. Hardcastle's oldest friend. Kate has not yet seen her intended. With him is to come young Mr. Hastings to call on his sweetheart Constance Neville, Mrs. Hardcastle's niece and Kate's dearest friend. Mrs. Hardcastle hopes for a match between her son, Tony Lumpkin, Kate's half-brother, and Constance, though both Constance and Tony detest each other.
Marlow and Hastings, having lost their way during the post-chaise trip from the city, stop for directions at the Three Pigeons Tavern--where Tony, as usual, is whiling away the evening with drink, flirtations and practical jokes. On hearing the travelers' destination, Tony gets the inspiration for what he conceives to be a great prank: he tells Marlow and Hastings that they can never reach the Hardcastle home at night over the dangerous path that lies before them, and that, since the Three Pigeons is crowded, they had best go a mile farther to Buck's Head, easily identified by a pair of horns on the door. He advises them to drive into the yard "and call stoutly about you." The young men thank him and leave, unaware that Tony has, in reality, sent them to the Hardcastles' home.
Upon arrival, Marlow and Hastings believe Mr. Hardcastle to be the innkeeper, and they order him brusquely about, demanding supper and ignoring his attempts at a host's affability. Marlow insists upon going upstairs to inspect his bed personally, and while he is absent, Constance walks into the room. When Hastings asks what she is doing at the "inn," she exposes the hoax. Hastings warns Constance that the sensitive Marlow must not be allowed to learn the truth, for he might leave at once, humiliated because of his rude conduct, and so spoil their plans.
These plans provide for the elopement of Hastings and Constance--just as soon as she can get possession of her fortune in jewels which Mrs. Hardcastle has carefully locked up. Until she does so, they decide to continue to carry out Tony's fraud, Hastings telling Marlow that, by chance, Constance and Kate also are guests at the inn. But the meeting of Marlow and Kate is hardly auspicious, for the bashful Marlow blushes and stammers stupid compliments. Kate later tells her father that she will have none of him: "His awkward address, his bashful manner, his hesitating timidity, struck me at first sight."
Her father is amazed at her words. Says he: "Then your first sight deceived you, child, for I think him one of the most brazen sights that ever astonished my senses. He met me with a loud voice, a lordly air, and a familiarity that made my blood freeze." He and Kate agree to await further developments before pronouncing judgment on Marlow's true nature, and Kate disguises herself as a maid. Marlow, looking at her closely for the first time, assumes her to be "a female of the other class" with which he has never been ill at ease, and he becomes the assured gallant. He tries to kiss her.
Kate protests: "Pray, Sir, keep your distance ... I'm sure you did not treat Miss Hardcastle that was here a while ago in this obstropalous manner." Marlow replies airily: "Who cares for Miss Hardcastle? A mere awkward, squinting thing!... But you--" He tries again to embrace her. Kate escapes, but not before the irate Mr. Hardcastle has arrived to see the scuffle. He demands that Marlow leave his house at once. Marlow tells him to bring his bill and make no more words about it.
Mr. Hardcastle replies: "Young man, from your father's letter to me, I was taught to expect a well-bred, modest man, but now I find you no better than a coxcomb and a bully! But Sir Charles will be down here presently and you shall hear more of it!" In bewilderment, Marlow calls to the "barmaid," Kate, to clear up the muddle. She tells him that he is, indeed, in the Hardcastle home, and that she lives there as "a poor relation." Marlow, covered with mortification, is prepared to leave at once, but begins to realize his love for the maid, and Kate begins to suspect that he is, after all, quite bearable.
In the meantime, the romance of Hastings and Constance is not doing well. To clear the path for their elopement, the helpful Tony, who wants Constance out of the way because she is a threat to his liberty, has stolen her jewels from Mrs. Hardcastle and has given them to Hastings. For safekeeping, Hastings has passed them along to Marlow. Marlow, who has thought Mrs. Hardcastle only the landlady of the inn, has turned them over to her to take care of. She thus learns of Constance's intended elopement.
To put an end to this plan and forward her hope that Tony shall be Constance's husband, Mrs. Hardcastle orders Constance off to her Aunt Pedigree's, summoning Tony to drive Constance and herself there at once. Tony agrees, and the three start off into the night.
Then Sir Charles arrives. He joins with Mr. Hardcastle in a hearty laugh over his son's bewilderment, though they assume that the youth, by now, is wholly aware of the truth. But young Marlow still thinks the maid and Kate are different persons, and when twitted by Mr. Hardcastle over his ardent behavior toward his daughter, replies: "By all that's just and true, sir, I never gave Miss Hardcastle the slightest mark of my attachment." He leaves the room, and now the fathers are completely bewildered. They ask Kate if Marlow has made love to her. "I must say he has," she declares. The fathers decide to watch when the young folk meet again, and they hear Marlow, still believing Kate to be the poor relation, declare his love for her and offer marriage.
The two men come forward to reproach him for his hypocrisy, and Hardcastle says: "What have you to say for yourself now, young man?... You can address a lady in private and deny it in public; you have one story for us and another for my daughter."
Marlow then learns that the maid, in reality, is Kate. He can say only: "Oh, the devil!" The tangle now unraveled, the young people are happily betrothed.
Good fortune also comes to Hastings and Constance. The irrepressible Tony, instead of taking the party to Aunt Pedigree's, has driven them for hours around the Hardcastle grounds, jouncing through every mud-hole to make the trip more miserable, before finally bringing the carriage to a halt at the end of the Hardcastle garden. The exhausted Mrs. Hardcastle is in no mood to reproach Tony or even to oppose the match between Hastings and Constance, although she does insist upon retaining Constance's jewels.
A condition of the custody of Constance's fortune, however, is that the jewels shall be released to her if Tony, upon coming of age, refuses to marry her. Mr. Hardcastle then tells Tony: "While I thought concealing your age was likely to conduce to your improvement, I concurred with your mother's desire to keep it secret. But since I find that she turns it to a wrong use, I must now declare that you have been of age these three months."
"Then," says Tony, "you'll see the first use I'll make of my liberty." He formally renounces Constance, removing the last barrier to the double match.

Summary & Analysis
She stoops to Conquer is a comedy by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith. The play was initially titled as Mistakes of a Night and the events in the play, indeed, happen during the time frame of one night.
Mr.Hardcastle, a rich countryman plans to marry his daughter Kate to the son of his old friend, Sir Charles Marlow. Hardcastle’s second wife is determined in marrying her spoiled son, Tony Lumpkin to her niece, Constance Neville in order to keep her fortune, a casket of jewels within the family. But Miss Neville has plans to marry Hastings, a friend of young Marlow.
While Hardcastle’s family is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Marlow and his friend, Hastings, the friends stop at the village Inn to inquire their way. Tony Lumpkin, who is present there, realizes their identity and plays a joke by telling them that they are far away from their destination and asks them to stay at an inn, recommending Hardcastle house as the best Inn around there. Thus the friends arrive there and treat Mr.Hardcastle as mere Inn keeper. This enrages Mr.Hardcastle and is convinced that Marlow is not suitable for his daughter.
On the other hand, Young Marlow who is nervous in the presence of ladies of his own social status, yet quite the quite opposite with lower-class women doesn’t look properly at Kate on their first meeting. Kate realizes this and stoops to conquer him, by posing as bar maid and putting Marlow at his ease so that he falls for her in the process.
However, he changes his mind when he realizes the truth behind Marlow’s behaviour. The play concludes with Mr.Hardcastle realizing the truth behind Marlow’s behaviour and changing his mind; Kate succeeding in her plan and getting engaged to Marlow; Tony Lumpkin discovering he is of age and receives his entitled money, which his mother hides from him. He refuses to marry Ms.Neville, who then gets her entitled jewels and gets engaged to Mr.Hastings. So all is well that ends well.

Another Summary

Goldsmith has shown a great skill in constructing the plot of she stoops to conquer. Its plot is made up of Marlow-Kate love-story, which is the main plot, Hastings-Constance love-story, which is the sub-plot, the casket-episode, and the intrigues of Tony which originate the action, and also bring it to a successful conclusion. The dramatist has shown great skill in inter-linking these separate actions into one organic whole.

In the main plot, the dramatist made Tony the one who originates the action of the play, and it is he who brings it to a successful close. It is he who inter-links the two stories. It is because Tony misdirects Marlow and Hastings to the house of Mr. Hard castle as to an inn, that all the complications of the main story arise. Marlow takes the house for an inn, and this initial mistake of Marlow leads to other mistakes which are his mistaking of Mr. hard Castle for the innkeeper and of Miss Hard Castle for the barmaid. The third mistake brings on the central situation of the play; Marlow falls in love with Miss Hard Castle, whom he has mistaken for the barmaid. The story then comes to a conclusion through a mistake; Marlow declares his love for Miss and begs her love on bended knees, under the delusion that she is a poor relation of Mr. Hard Castle. Miss Hard Castle has stooped to rise triumphantly in the end. Thus, the whole story begins, develops and ends through mistakes. And it is Tony who is responsible for all these mistakes.

In the sub-plot, Hastings-Constance love-story constitutes the sub-plot of the play and in it Tony’s role is even more crucial than in the main-plot. His intrigues develop the sub-plot, introduce complications in it, and then bring it to a successful conclusion. The episode of the Casket-which contains Miss Neville’s jewels-forms an integral part of the subsidiary story and is the source of much complications well as of much humor. Mrs. Hard Castle wants her niece Miss Neville to marry Tony, for the sake of her fortune. But neither Tony nor Miss Neville desire this marriage. For Tony wants to marry Bet Bouncer and Miss Neville wants to marry Hastings. But to deceive Mrs. Hard Castle, Miss Neville makes a pretence of loving Tony. When her lover Hastings arrives, Tony agrees to help him to carry off Miss Neville. He wouldn’t deprive Miss Neville of her jewels, though his mother wants to keep them for him. He steals the jewels, and hands them over to Hastings, but through the bungling of Marlow, they again fall in the hands of Mrs. Hard castle. The plan of elopement is just on the point of execution when it is discovered through a letter of Hastings, written to Tony. Hastings however accuses Tony of bungling the whole affair and calls him a ’’booby’’ and an ‘’insensible cub’’. But Tony doesn’t take offence; on the contrary he promises to help Hastings. As a punishment for Miss Neville’s disobedience, Mrs. Hard castle takes her to her aunt Pedigree. Here Tony drives them, but instead of driving it forward, he drives it round and round from their house. This trick of Tony, sets matters right. Hastings and Miss Neville are united, and Mrs. Hard castle is frustrated. Thus Tony is the central figure in the subsidiary story.

Another link that connects the main and sub plot is the part played by Mr. Hard castle at the end to resolve the tangle of Hastings-Neville affair. He declares that Tony is of age, and all the complications are resolved. At once Tony refuses to marry Constance; therefore she is free to marry Hastings, and get back her jewels.

The two love-stories are fused in to a single whole through an elaborate pattern of parallelisms and contrasts. In the main story there are Mr. Hard castle, miss hard castle and Marlow; in the other there are Mrs. Hard castle, Miss Neville and Hastings. Miss hard castle’s clever stratagem to win a husband a husband for herself is matched by the tricks of Tony to secure Hastings as miss Neville’s husband. In the main story we find Mr. Hard Castle trying to arrange a match between her son and Miss Neville, but Tony disapproving of Miss Neville, intrigues to get her married to Hastings. The main plot and the sub plot both deal with the same theme: both represents the story of a woman winning a husband. But in the former, it is the woman who chases the man, and in the latter it is the man who chases the woman. Thus the two love-stories and the two lovers are well-contrasted, and distinguished from each other.





Plot Summary of she stoops to conquer
.In a downstairs room of their old mansion, Dorothy Hardcastle tells her husband that they need a little diversion�namely, a trip to London, a city she has never visited. Their neighbors, the Hoggs sisters and Mrs. Grigsby, spend a month in London every winter. It is the place to see and be seen. But old Hardcastle, content with his humdrum rural existence, says people who visit the great city only bring back its silly fashions and vanities. Once upon a time, he says, London�s affectations and fopperies took a long time to reach the country; now they come swiftly and regularly by the coach-load.

.......Mrs. Hardcastle, eager for fresh faces and conversations, says their only visitors are Mrs. Oddfish, the wife of the local minister, and Mr. Cripplegate, the lame dancing teacher. What�s more, their only entertainment is Mr. Hardcastle�s old stories about sieges and battles. But Hardcastle says he likes everything old�friends, times, manners, books, wine, and, of course, his wife.
.......Living in their home with them is their daughter, Kate, a pretty miss of marriageable age, and Tony, Mrs. Hardcastle�s son by her first husband, Mr. Lumpkin. As a boy, Tony bedeviled his stepfather, Mr. Hardcastle, with every variety of mischief, burning a servant�s shoes, scaring the maids, and vexing the kittens. And, Hardcastle says, �It was but yesterday he fastened my wig to the back of my chair, and when I went to make a bow, I popt my bald head in Mrs. Frizzle�s face.�
.......Now as a young man, Tony has become a fat slob who spends most of his time at the local alehouse. Soon he will come of age, making him eligible for an inheritance of 1500 pounds a year with which to feed his fancies. Mrs. Hardcastle wants to match Tony with her niece and ward, Constance Neville, who has inherited a casket of jewels from her uncle. As Miss Neville�s guardian, Mrs. Hardcastle holds the jewels under lock and key against the day when Constance can take legal possession of them.
.......While Mr. and Mrs. Hardcastle discuss the London trip that is not to take place, Tony passes between them and sets off for the alehouse, The Three Pigeons. Mrs. Hardcastle chases out the door after him, saying he should find something better to do than associate with riffraff.
.......Alone, Mr. Hardcastle laments the follies of the age. Even his darling Kate is becoming infected, for now she has become fond of �French frippery.� When she enters the room, he tells her he has arranged for her to meet an eligible young man, Mr. Charles Marlow, a scholar with many good qualities who �is designed for employment in the service of the country.� Marlow is to arrive for a visit that very evening with a friend, Mr. George Hastings. Young Marlow is the son of Hardcastle�s friend, Sir Charles Marlow. Kate welcomes the opportunity to meet the young man, although she is wary about her father�s description of him as extremely shy around young ladies.
.......By and by, Constance Neville comes in for a visit. When Kate tells her about young Mr. Marlow, Constance tells her that her own admirer, Mr. Hastings, a friend of the Marlow family. Miss Neville welcomes the attentions of Hastings but laments Mrs. Hardcastle�s attempts to pair her with her �pretty monster,� Tony, in an effort to keep Miss Neville�s jewels in the family. Tony and Constance despise each other.

Tony Plays Trick

.......Meanwhile, at the alehouse, Tony is having a ripping good time singing and drinking when Hastings and young Marlow come in asking for directions to the Hardcastle home. Having just arrived in the area from London after a wearisome trip, they have lost their way. Tony, who resents Mr. Hardcastle�s treatment of him lately, sees a way to get even: He tells Marlow and Hastings that Hardcastle is an ugly, cantankerous fellow and that his daughter is a �tall, trapesing, trolloping, talkative maypole.� But, he says, Hardcastle�s son (meaning himself) is a �pretty, well-bred youth that everybody is fond of.� Marlow says he has been told otherwise, namely, that the daughter is �well-bred and beautiful; the son, an awkward booby, reared up and spoiled at his mother�s apron-string.�
.......Taken aback, Tony can only hem and haw. Then, deciding to work a mischief, he tells them the Hardcastle home is too far to reach by nightfall but that there is a nice inn just up the road. The �inn� is, of course, the Hardcastle home. When Marlow and Hastings arrive there, they note that the inn is old but commendable in its own way. Hastings comments that Marlow has traveled widely, staying at many inns, but wonders why such a man of the world is so shy around young women. Marlow reminds him that he is shy only around young ladies of culture and bearing. Around women of the lower classes, he is a nonstop talker, a wag completely at ease. Hastings replies: �But in the company of women of reputation I never saw such an idiot, such a trembler; you look for all the world as if you wanted an opportunity of stealing out of the room.�
.......When Mr. Hardcastle enters, he welcomes them as the expected guests�the Marlow fellow who is to meet his daughter and Marlow�s friend Hastings. However, the young men�believing that they are at the inn described by Tony�think Mr. Hardcastle is the innkeeper, and treat him like one, giving him orders to prepare their supper and asking to see the accommodations. Hardcastle is much offended by their behavior, thinking them the rudest of visitors, for he remains unaware that they think they are at an inn. He keeps his feelings to himself.
.......When Hardcastle goes upstairs with Marlow to show him his room, Hastings runs into Constance Neville and, through his conversation with her, realizes that he is at the Hardcastle home, not an inn. Hastings decides to keep the information a secret from Marlow, fearing that Marlow would react to the mix-up by immediately leaving. Thus, he allows Marlow to believe that Constance and Kate are also guests at the �inn.�
.......When Marlow finally meets Kate, his shyness all but tongue-ties him. Almost every time he starts a sentence, Kate has to finish it. But she compliments him on being so clever as to bring up interesting topics of conversation. All the while that they talk, Marlow lacks the courage even to look at her face. He does not even know what she looks like.
.......In another room, Tony, who has returned from the pub, and Constance are insulting each other, as usual, to the dismay of Mrs. Hardcastle. After Hastings observes their spitfire give-and-take, he tells Tony he will take the young lady off his hands if Tony will help him win her.
.......�I�ll engage to whip her off to France, and you shall never hear more of her,� Hastings says.
.......Tony replies: �Ecod, I will [help] to the last drop of my blood.�

Hardcastle Annoyed
.......Mr. Hardcastle, meanwhile, is becoming more and more annoyed with Marlow for treating him like a lackey. Alone on the stage, Hardcastle laments, �He has taken possession of the easy-chair by the fire-side already. He took off his boots in the parlour, and desired me to see them taken care of. I�m desirous to know how his impudence affects my daughter.�
.......Kate has been upstairs changing into casual clothes. When she comes down and talks with her father, she bemoans Marlow�s incredible shyness while Hardcastle, in turn, complains about Marlow�s rudeness. They wonder whether they are talking about the same person.
.......While they converse, Tony, who knows where his mother keeps everything, gets the casket of jewels Mrs. Hardcastle is holding for Constance and gives it to Hastings as an inducement for Hastings to run off with Constance. Later, Mrs. Hardcastle discovers it missing and thinks a robber is about.
.......Meanwhile, a maid tells Kate that Marlow believes he is at an inn. The maid also tells her that Marlow mistook Kate for a barmaid after she changed into her casual attire. Kate decides to keep up the charade, changing her voice and demeanor in Marlow�s presence.
.......When he strikes up a conversation with her, he says she is �vastly handsome.� Growing bold, he adds, �Suppose I should call for a taste, just by way of a trial, of the nectar of your lips.� (To audiences attending the play, Marlow�s bold behavior is not at all surprising, for they are aware that Marlow is a different man when in the presence of women of the servant class.) When old Hardcastle observes Kate and Marlow together, he sees Marlow seize Kate�s hand and treat her like a milkmaid. He�s thinking of turning Marlow out. When he makes his feelings known to Kate, she asks for an hour to convince her father that Marlow is not so bold and rude as her father believes he is. He agrees to her proposal.
.......The plot thickens at this point, for another visitor will shortly arrive�Marlow�s father, Sir Charles Marlow. It seems Miss Neville happened on a letter to old Hardcastle in which Sir Charles announced that he would arrive at the Hardcastle home a few hours after his son made his appearance. When she tells George Hastings of Sir Charles�s expected arrival at any minute, George worries that Sir Charles�who is aware of George�s fondness for Constance�will somehow upset their plans to run off together. Constance asks whether the jewels are safe. George assures her they are, for he has sent the jewels, via a servant, to Marlow for safekeeping.
.......Unfortunately, unknown to Hastings, Marlow has told the servant to give the casket of jewels to the �landlady� for safekeeping. So the jewels are back where they were originally, in Mrs. Hardcastle�s possession (as Miss Neville�s guardian). Tony tells his mother a servant was responsible for misplacing them. Satisfied, she returns to the task of promoting a romance between Tony and Constance, unaware that Hastings and the young lady are plotting to abscond.
.......Marlow is by now captivated by the barmaid and says to himself, �She�s mine, she must be mine.�

.......Meanwhile, old Hardcastle has had enough of impudent Marlow and orders him to leave. Marlow protests. Hardcastle rants and exits in a huff. When Kate enters, she realizes Marlow now knows something strange is going on, so she reveals that the inn is Hardcastle�s house. However, she describes herself as a �relative��a �poor relation� who helps out. As such, she knows, Marlow will continue to talk to her freely, since a �poor relation� is the same in standing as a barmaid. Marlow, shaken and deeply embarrassed, says, �To mistake this house of all others for an inn, and my father's old friend for an innkeeper! What a swaggering puppy must he take me for! What a silly puppy do I find myself!
.......Marlow tells the �poor relation� that he will be leaving, in view of the circumstances, but notes that she has been the only positive thing that happened to him during the confusing and disconcerting ordeal. His words help to identify the feeling she felt for him when they met: love. Her scheme of posing as a barmaid/poor relation to find out his real feelings�a scheme in which she stooped to conquer�has proved wise.

.......Further mix-ups develop involving Miss Neville�s jewels and Mr. Hastings� planned elopement with Constance. Tony is implicated as the trickster who set in motion the comedy of errors by telling Marlow and Hastings that the Hardcastle home was an inn.
.......When Sir Charles arrives, he and old Hardcastle have a laugh about the mix-ups, but Hardcastle tells Kate that he is still unconvinced that Marlow is anything but rude and insulting. To prove that Marlow is a worthy man, Kate enacts one final scene as the poor relative while Marlow converses with her and Sir Charles and Hardcastle listen behind a screen. In the end, Kate reveals her identity to Marlow, and everyone understands the mistakes of the evening.
.......But there is a further development: Old Hardcastle reveals that Tony is �of age��and has been for three months, meaning he has a right now to make up his own mind about his future. Immediately, as his first act as his own man, Tony goes against his mother�s wishes and refuses to marry Constance Neville, freeing her to marry Hastings�and qualifying her to receive the jewels. In the end, the young lovers�Kate and Marlow, Constance and Hastings�are betrothed.
.......Mrs. Hardcastle comments, �This is all but the whining end of a modern novel.�