Section B: NON - AFRICAN DRAMA SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER - OLIVER GOLDSMITH Assess the role of Tony Lumpkin in the play.

Answer Details

Tony Lumpkin is the comic mainspring of Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. Though idle and unlettered, he is the character whose mischief sets the plot in motion and keeps it turning, so that his role is central both to the humour and to the structure of the play.

Character. Tony is the spoilt, pleasure-loving son of Mrs Hardcastle by her first marriage. He detests study, loves the ale and company of the Three Pigeons, and delights in practical jokes. His mother dotes on him and pretends he is sickly, while he is in fact robust and cunning in his own rough way.

The great deception. The whole action springs from Tony's trick at the alehouse. When Marlow and Hastings, travelling to the Hardcastle house, ask the way, Tony directs them to it as though it were an inn. This 'mistake of a night' causes Marlow to treat his host Mr Hardcastle as an innkeeper and to behave with a boldness that drives the comedy of manners at the heart of the play.

Helper to the lovers. Tony has no desire to marry Constance Neville, whom his mother intends for him. To free himself and to aid the lovers, he steals Constance's jewels from his mother's keeping to give to Hastings, and later leads his mother on a wild, circular night journey in the coach, convincing her they are far from home.

Agent of resolution. At the close, on learning that he is already of age, Tony formally renounces Constance, releasing her to marry Hastings. His decision completes the happy ending.

In conclusion, Tony Lumpkin is far more than a foolish country lad. As trickster, catalyst and helper he generates the central misunderstanding, sustains the intrigue and secures the resolution, making him indispensable to the comedy.