Section B: NON - AFRICAN DRAMA OLIVER GOLDSMITH - SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER Discuss the view that Tony is to blame for the failure of Hastings’ plan to elope wi...

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The plan of Hastings to elope with Constance Neville, taking her jewels beyond the reach of Mrs Hardcastle, breaks down in She Stoops to Conquer, and it is fair to ask how far Tony Lumpkin is responsible. A balanced view shows that Tony both helps the plan and, through a careless blunder, causes its immediate failure, yet he finally redeems it.

The case that Tony is to blame:

• The mishandled letter. Hastings sends Tony a letter revealing the elopement scheme. Tony, a poor reader, hands the letter over and it comes into Mrs Hardcastle's possession. Once she reads it, she discovers the plot, is enraged, and resolves to whisk Constance away to safety, wrecking the elopement at the very moment of its attempt.
• This blunder is the direct trigger of the failure, and it springs from Tony's carelessness and lack of learning.

The case that Tony is not wholly to blame:

• Tony had already helped the lovers by stealing Constance's jewels from his mother and passing them to Hastings, showing his goodwill toward the plan.
• The deeper cause of the crisis is Mrs Hardcastle's greed and her scheme to marry Constance to Tony to keep the jewels in the family; the lovers' difficulties begin with her, not with Tony.
• Above all, Tony repairs the damage. Through the famous horse-ride hoax he drives his mother round in circles in the dark and returns her, exhausted, to her own garden, keeping her helpless while matters are set right. Finally, on coming of age and formally refusing Constance, he frees her to marry Hastings.

Conclusion. Tony is to blame for the immediate failure of Hastings' plan, since his mishandling of the letter exposes the elopement. Yet this is an accidental blunder rather than betrayal, and his earlier help and later cunning ultimately secure the lovers' happiness. Tony is therefore the cause of a temporary setback, not of any lasting ruin, and the comedy turns his very mistakes into the means of a happy ending.