Richard Brinsley Sheridan
1751–1816
Biography
Richard Brinsley Sheridan was an Anglo-Irish playwright who also sat as a Whig politician in the House of Commons from 1780 until 1812. He owned the Theatre Royal at Drury Lane in London, and from 1806 to 1807 he was Treasurer of the Navy. He died in 1816 and was buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey.
His reputation rests on his comedies. Four of them are often named: The Rivals and The Duenna, both from 1775, and The School for Scandal and A Trip to Scarborough, both from 1777. The character Mrs Malaprop in The Rivals gave her name to the word malapropism. His plays have stayed in the repertory, and they are performed on stages around the world.
Two of his plays are on this site, The Rivals and The School for Scandal. Both are comedies of manners, in which the pretences of polite society and the romantic scheming of its young people are turned to ridicule, and both show why Sheridan remains part of the English-language stage.
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Books
The Rivals
by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Captain Absolute woos the romantic Lydia Languish while pretending to be a penniless ensign, and finds his own father promising him to her, so that he has to court her in both identities. The play also gave English the word malapropism, in the speeches of Mrs Malaprop. This book…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.The School for Scandal
by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Lady Sneerwell and her circle trade in malicious gossip, and the hypocritical Joseph Surface schemes against his generous, spendthrift brother Charles for the hand of a rich ward. The return of their wealthy uncle Sir Oliver, in disguise, tests both nephews, and the famous…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.