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"SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL, THE" (RICHARD SHERIDAN).   Term Paper ID:23580 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Role & significance of symbolism in characterization & plot of comic play.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Role & significance of symbolism in characterization & plot of comic play. Paper Introduction: This study will examine symbolism and its role and significance in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The School for Scandal. Symbolism in the play will be examined in terms of its relationship to the characters and the light it sheds on the characters. Sheridan's play is a comedy about the viciousness of the human inclination to gossip and spread malicious rumors about others. As might be expected, the symbolism in the play is used in the service of that comic view of human nature. At the same time, however, the play should not be dismissed as a completely cynical look at a humanity lost in malice and deceit, for Sheridan also makes it clear that there is goodness in humanity as well. Still, he is not an angry writer using symbols to express that rage at humanity's vices. To the contrary, he even gently mocks his own imagined goodness in the Prologue to the Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Again, from thebeginning of the play in the exchange between Lady Sneerwell and Snake, itis made clear that the rumors they proudly spread are indeed symbols forthe meaning in their lives. . The school for scandal stands for all of humanity, in theplaywright's view, which seems to be addicted to spreading rumors andgossip, even if that gossip is made of whole cloth. Money, of course, is also a symbol of power and pleasure for a numberof the characters, such as Joseph Surface, who yearns for Maria's money.Again, a character's name---Surface, in this case---stands for hischaracter. The screen is symbolic of the line between simple honesty and complexdeviousness, between the good and the evil of human beings. Sheridan's play is a comedy about theviciousness of the human inclination to gossip and spread malicious rumorsabout others. . In the screen scene, she is badgered by Joseph who triesto persuade her that black is white and white is black. The old fellow has been very good to me, and egad I'll keep his picture while I've a room to put it in. There are no saints in this play, but there are people, like Charlesand Lady Teazle, who are relatively good, and who are able to maintaintheir virtue in the company of selfish scandalmongers. On first glance, it might appear that the play has a minimum ofsymbols. However, the names are proudly borne by the characters. . Sheridan even refers to ink as a symbol for blood, implying in asense that he spilling his own in an effort to stop scandalmongering, or atleast to bring "smiles" to the faces of his audience: "He'll fight---that'swrite---a cavalliero true,/ Till every drop of blood---that's ink---isspilt for you" (Sheridan 188). The school itself,the paintings, and the screen are among the symbols which provide bothlaughter and more serious lessons about deception and honesty, about goodand evil in the world. . The symbols of the family paintings play an importantrole because of the significance they have for Sir Oliver, particularly hisown portrait. Of course, Oliver is hurt personallyby the prospect of Charles selling his portrait, but more importantly,Oliver is deeply wounded because he had had hopes that Charles wasdifferent than the other characters, that he was, deep down, a good man. The symbol of the painting of oliver, then, becomes a sign of thegoodness in Charles, the goodness in Oliver, and the goodness in humanity.Despite the fact that Charles is selling the paintings to make money andfeels nothing about selling the paintings od the other relatives, he feelsa closeness and a gratitude toward Oliver because Oliver has been good tohim. . New York:Penguin, 1988.----------------------- 1 Symbolism in the playwill be examined in terms of its relationship to the characters and thelight it sheds on the characters. Theschool, then, symbolizes all of scandalmongering humankind. No need of lesson now, the knowing think; We might as well be taught to eat and drink (Sheridan 187). I tell you I'll not part with it and there's an end of it (Sheridan 241). The family portraits which Charles Surface sells at the auction canbe seen as symbols of traditional society. . Charles is a simple character who nevertheless is deceptive,precisely because he does not hide behind pretense and disguises like theother characters. Sneerwell, Snake and most of the others covetrumors the way that materialists covet Mercedes Benzes. Therefore, the screen becomes asymbol which can be seen as standing for both deception and revelation.Lady Teazle, a kind of novice in the school for scandal, never has hervirtue destroyed. Tell me, I beseech you, Needs there a school this modish art to teach you? . Joseph says thatshe is the subject of scandalmongering because she is too good. Oliver, still disguised, insists that Charles sell him thatparticular painting, but Charles refuses: No, hang it! . . It is not that Oliver is a vain man, or any more vain thanother characters. . What is important to him when he believes that Charles isabout to sell the paintings, including Oliver's portrait, is that Charlesis not the good man he thought he was. At the same time, however,the play should not be dismissed as a completely cynical look at a humanitylost in malice and deceit, for Sheridan also makes it clear that there isgoodness in humanity as well. I'll not part with poor Noll. Thequestion is whether humanity needs such a school, for people seem to bealready proficient in scandalmongering. In this play,however, the symbol of the school and the symbolic importance of the namesof the characters twist the real world into a symbolic context in whichrumormongering is seen not as a vice but as a virtue. He is a superficial man, as his name suggests, and a falsemoralizer. Still, he is not an angry writer usingsymbols to express that rage at humanity's vices. As might be expected, the symbolism in the play is used inthe service of that comic view of human nature. The playwright hascreated a comedy, in which most of the characters value not virtue butvice. To the contrary, he evengently mocks his own imagined goodness in the Prologue to the play: "Is ouryoung bard so young to think that he/ Can stop the full spring-tide ofcalumny?" (Sheridan 188). Oliver, disguised in order to assess his family'smorality, is truly disgusted and horrified that Charles would sell theportraits, and do so with such open eagerness, simply to gain money: I have got a room full of ancestors [i.e., the portraits] above, and if you have a taste for paintings, egad, you shall have 'em a bargain. The fact is, however, that the first obvious symbol is the scandalcollege itself. From the very firstlines of the play, Sheridan lets us know that we have entered a symbolicworld as we read of the deliberate intention of the characters toscandalmonger, led by Lady Sneerwell: Did you circulate the report of Lady Brittle's intrigue with Captain Boastall? Ofcourse, Oliver's hopes are saved when Charles does not sell the portrait ofOliver. In the realworld of human beings, as much as we all might want to spread and receiverumors and gossip, we at least pretend that we do not. . . The symbols are not entirelymocked or de-valued at the auction, however, because, finally, Charlesrefuses to sell the portrait of Sir Oliver, who is one of the decentcharacters in the play. . Every man of them to the best bidder. The rumors themselves---along with their creation and transmission---can also be seen as symbols of power and prestige. He tellsher that if she would only behave badly, the scandals would stop. . My great-grandfathers and grandmothers, too. The characters names are all symbolic of the traits of thecharacters, although those traits are not as varied as we might find inplays which do not focus so intensely on one issue. Wounded myself in the early part of my life by the envenomed tongue of slander, I confess I have since known no pleasure equal to the reducing others to the level of my own injured reputation (192). She says,"So, so; then I perceive your prescription is that I must sin in my owndefense, and part with my virtue to secure my reputation" (Sheridan 247). Certainly the characters in theplay could together speak the words of the Prologue: A School for Scandal! . The characters, as members of the school for scandal, are revealed inthis symbolic context to be varyingly proficient in scandalmongering. The screen is asymbol which, both in what it conceals and what it finally exposes when itfalls, allows the playwright to establish the damage which these evilscandalmongering people do in the world. Yes, my dear Snake, and I am no hypocrite to deny the satisfaction I reap from the success of my efforts. . But he also has a more serious purpose---to expose hypocrisy.Scandalmongering may be amusing, but it does great damage to people,especially those who are good, who try to resist evil. The school is meant to be a microcosm of humanity, which apparentlysuffers from a universal low self-esteem which drives its members to try todenigrate others to make themselves feel better about themselves. The School for Scandal. BibliographySheridan, Richard Brinsley. This study will examine symbolism and its role and significance inRichard Brinsley Sheridan's The School for Scandal. In otherwords, this is a special world into which we have entered. . When a man wants money, where the plague should he get assistance if he can't make free with his own relations (Sheridan 237). By refusing to sell the painting of Oliver, even when the disguisedOliver offers him a great sum of money, Charles has spoken for theplaywright who, after all, believes that it is possible for a good man toremain good even in the midst of a crowd of people who are dedicated todeceit and selfish pursuits. . In this play, again,rumormongering is the issue, and as might be expected the characters' namesreflect aspects of this particular human shortcoming: Teazle, Surface,Backbite, Snake, Careless, Sneerwell. A thoroughly shallow man, he is nevertheless shown to be wanteddesperately by Lady Sneerwell, who admires Surface for his very obviousvices and shortcomings, which are themselves symbols of pride andaccomplishment in the morally topsy-turvy world of the school for scandal. You certainly will not have it. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.