The School for Scandal is the most celebrated and enduring dramatic comedy by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816), first performed at Drury Lane Theatre in May 1777. The title alludes to the coterie of scandalmongers headed by Lady Sneerwell, a group that disperses malicious and often fabricated gossip about the London beau monde. As well as Sir Benjamin Backbite, Crabtree, Snake, and the ironically named Mrs Candour, Lady Sneerwell’s club includes a newer recruit, Lady Teazle, a young woman arrived from the country as the wife of the older Sir Peter Teazle. He thought he was getting a docile and demure bride, but she promptly throws herself into fashionable society, causing comical squabbles between the m…
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Citation: Grasso, Joshua. "The School for Scandal". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 April 2018 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7652, accessed 18 April 2024.]
