Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Rivals

Christopher MacLachlan (University of St Andrews)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1775

Places

Ireland, Republic of (Eire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

The Rivals

is Sheridan’s first play, a regular five-act comedy set in the town of Bath which from the 1730s had become very popular with wealthy people who would take the medicinal waters at the Roman baths, see their friends, and seek to arrange appropriate marriages for their sons and daughters. It is quite a typical play of its time, with a conventional set of characters. There are two pairs of lovers, one in the main plot, the other in a secondary action. Lydia Languish, the main heroine, through reading novels, has decided that true romance is only to be found amongst the poor and so her lover, Captain Jack Absolute, has had to disguise himself as a poor officer, Ensign Beverley, to woo her. The other pair, Julia and Faulkland, are a more serious couple, but he is full of doubts…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

2639 words

Citation: MacLachlan, Christopher. "The Rivals". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 October 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7598, accessed 24 April 2024.]

Save this article