THE STORY: Sir Peter Teazle, a middle-aged, wealthy bachelor, has recently married a pretty maid from the country.

This edition discusses Sheridan's earlier drafts for the play and sets it into its theatrical context of anti-sentimentalism and its social context of the London High Society in which Sheridan had begun to move.

Often called the best comedy of manners in English, and one of the most produced of all theatre classics, this delightful play brilliantly displays Sheridan's mastery of the mechanics of stage comedy, his flair for witty dialogue, and his ...

... Lady Teazle , Nov. , 1840 ; Sadler's Wells , Phelps as Sir Peter , Marston as Joseph , Mrs. Warner as Lady Teazie . 27 June , 1844 ; Princess's , Compton as Sir Peter , Wallack as Charles , Lacy as Joseph , Charlotte Cushman as Lady ...

A theater classic, often called the best comedy of manners in English, is a delightful play that brilliantly skewers the affectation and pretentiousness of aristocratic Londoners of the 1770s.

... Lady Teazle has the virtues of a person of sensibility – her blushes disclose it — not a framer of sentiments . While Joseph Surface is only a sentimentalist on the surface — he fails Parnell's test and plays his double game con ...

... Lady Teazle- MARIA . Lady Teazle ! JOSEPH SURFACE . Yet were Sir Peter once to suspect- LADY TEAZLE . [ Aside . ] What's this , pray ? Does he take her for me ? — Child , * you are wanted in the next room . Exit Maria . What's all ...

... Lady Teazle— MARIA. Lady Teazle! JOSEPH SURFACE. Yet were Sir Peter once to suspect— LADY TEAZLE. [Aside.] What's this, pray? Does he take her for me?— Child,* you are wanted in the next room. Exit Maria. What's all this, pray ...

Sheridan R. LADY TEAZLE . Oh , no - there - my note of hand will do as well . [ Offering her hand . ] SIR PETER . And you shall no longer reproach me with not giving you an independent settlement . I mean shortly to surprise you : but ...