NON AFRICAN DRAMA OLIVER GOLDSMITH: She Stoops to Conquer Assess the character of Mrs. Hardcastle in the play.

Answer Details

Mrs Hardcastle is one of the chief comic figures in Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. Vain, foolish, greedy and doting, she is the object of much of the play's satire, and her follies contribute greatly to its humour.

A foolish and affected woman. Mrs Hardcastle is silly and pretentious. Though she lives quietly in the country, she longs for the fashion and sophistication of London and affects a refinement she does not possess. Her ignorance and vanity make her ridiculous, and Goldsmith uses her to mock provincial pretensions to town elegance.

A doting and foolish mother. Her love for her son, Tony Lumpkin, is excessive and blind. She spoils and indulges him, refuses to admit his faults, and treats the grown, mischievous young man as though he were a delicate child. Ironically, it is this very son who repeatedly deceives and torments her, so that her doting is repaid with trickery.

Greedy and scheming. Mrs Hardcastle is grasping over money. She wishes to marry her niece Constance Neville to Tony in order to keep Constance's jewels within the family and under her own control. She schemes and connives to prevent the match between Constance and Hastings, revealing a selfish, calculating streak beneath her foolishness.

A domineering wife. She is also something of a nagging and domineering figure in the household, contrasting sharply with her sensible, good-natured husband, Mr Hardcastle. Their mismatched temperaments add to the comedy.

Victim of comic deception. Much of the play's laughter comes at her expense. In the celebrated episode of the night journey, Tony drives her round in circles and convinces her that she is lost on dangerous Crackskull Common, when in fact she is in her own back garden. Her terror and gullibility make her supremely ridiculous and deliver a fitting comic punishment for her greed and folly.

Significance. Through Mrs Hardcastle, Goldsmith satirises vanity, snobbery, materialism and foolish parental indulgence. She is a source of laughter but also a moral example of the follies the play gently condemns.

In conclusion, Mrs Hardcastle is a vain, foolish, greedy and doting woman whose pretensions and schemes make her both a leading comic character and a target of Goldsmith's satire in She Stoops to Conquer.