Here is a great piece of are ''The Rivals'' By Sheridan a Anti-Sentimental Comedy as I discribes a valuble way.

1. The Rivals as an AntiSentimental Comedy
~ Richard
Brinsley Sheridan

2. Paper II: The Neo-Classical Literature
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Student’s Name: Kaushal Desai
Class: M.A. Sem-1
Roll No. : 17
Year: 2013/14
Submitted To: Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji
Bhavnagar University

3. ◘ Richard Brinsley Sheridan
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Richard Brinsley Butler
Sheridan (30 October 1751 – 7 July 1816) was
an Irish playwright and poet and long-term
owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury
Lane. He is known for his plays such as The
Rivals, The School for Scandal and A Trip
to Scarborough. For thirty-two years.
He was also a Whig Member of the British House
of Commons for Stafford (1780–1806), Westminster (1806–1807)
and Alcester (1807–1812). He was buried at Poets'
Corner in Westminster Abbey.

4. ♣ Anti Sentimental Comedy
○
“Artificial comedy” is another name for the
comedy of manners which reached the height
of its achievement during the Restoration in
England. In the history of British drama, the
comic genius of the British nation has
expressed it self in several distinct forms. Its
most striking manifestation are: Romantic
comedy; comedy of humors; comedy of
manners etc.

5. ♦ MAJOR CHARACTERS
• Sir Anthony Absolute - A wealthy country gentleman
who assumes that those around him will naturally obey
his wishes, he has a terrible temper but is also quick to
forgive.
• Captain Jack Absolute - Sir Anthony’s son, he is
enamored of Lydia Languish, and has disguised himself as
Ensign Beverley in order to win her hand. Despite the
revelation of his deception, he and Lydia wind up together.

6. • Fag - Jack “gentleman’s gentleman,” he often
carries messages and transmits information.
• Julia Melville - Sir Anthony’s ward and Lydia’s
cousin, she is in love with Faulkland. She is easily the
most sensible of the four young lovers in the story.
• Mrs. Malaprop - Elderly aunt of Lydia who controls
her fortune, she butchers the English language in
accordance with her name.

7. • The Rivals
• The Rivals is a comedy of manners, a farce of mistaken identity that has much in
common
• Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer, which came out two years earlier. Like
Goldsmith’s comedy,
• A main character masquerades as someone of a lower class to gain romantic
advantage
• The young lovers must overcome the interference of a country bumpkin and an
elderly rich aunt
• And a second couple provides a subplot and foil to the main romance. Perhaps the
most memorable character
• In The Rivals is the elderly aunt, Mrs. Malaprop, who consistently butchers
•
The English language, taking her name from the solecism in which she so frequently engages
• After the first performance of The Rivals, it was panned by the critics, and Sheridan
hastily revised
•
It in less than two weeks, shortening it by over an hour, making some of the characters more
sympathetic
• And cleaning up the language, after which it was praised enthusiastically.

8. Sheridan’s intention was to poke fun at the
sentimental comedy of the time. We find both Faulkland and
Julia absurd. The true character of Faulkland is indicated to
us by Absolute’s description of him as the “most teasing,
captious, incorrigible lover”. Faulkland’s own description of
his state of mind about his beloved Julia also makes him
appear absurd.
►
He says that every hour is an occasion for him
to feel alarmed on Julia’s account. If it rains, he feels afraid
lest some shower should have chilled her. If the wind is
sharp, he feels afraid lest a rude blast should adversely affect
her health. The heat of the noon and the dews of the
evening may endanger her health.
►
All this is funny and certainly no to be taken
seriously. Sheridan is here ridiculing the excessive solicitude
and concern which an over-sentimental lover like Faulkland
experiences when separated from his beloved. Sheridan seems
to be pleading for mental equilibrium even in the case of an
ardent lover.
►

9. ○
The manner in which the other characters have
been portrayed is also evidence of the antisentimental character of the play. Captain Absolute is a
practical man and though he assumes the name and status
of Ensign Beverley, he would not like to forfeit the rich
dowry which Lydia will bring him. Mrs. Malaprop is a
conventional,
practical
woman
whose
attitude
to marriage is business-like. Sir Anthony to is a practical,
worldly man. Bob Acres is a country boor with no romantic
or sentimental pretensions but towards the end of the
play he shows that he is more practical than anybody else
by saying:
“If I can't get a wife without fighting
for her, by any valour, I’ll live a bachelor.”

10. ♀ Summing up
♠ Sheridan's models were the Restoration
masters; who in their comedies were guided
by a witty ,humorous and satirical portraiture
of their society .Sheridan, also, writes in the
same
vein-is
equally
satirical
in
characterization ,witty and brilliant in his
dialogues.

11. kaushaldesai123@gmail.com