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False Identities and Artifice
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Rivals, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The best comedy in the play is a result of the witty dialogue and rhetorical tricks that Sheridan employs. The characters in the play whom Sheridan portrays with respect – Captain Absolute, Julia, even Lydia – all have a mastery of language, while those he holds up for mockery lack such skill and, therefore, their use of language betrays their vain attempts to appear better than they are. This quality of the play makes it a comedy of manners, in which the pretensions of society people are skewered and satirized, largely when their use of language betrays those pretentions.
In particular, Bob Acres and Mrs. Malaprop try to communicate their own sophistication, intelligence, and good breeding through the words that they choose to use. But these efforts only end up revealing how little they actually know, and how little mastery of language they have. Indeed, the term “malapropism,” which means the accidental substitution of a similar-sounding but altogether different word for the word intended, is named after Mrs. Malaprop because she is such a good – and funny – example of this comedic trait. Her speech is so full of malapropisms that most of what she says is either the opposite of what she means or utterly zany, unintelligible, or unrelated to the topic at hand.
Mrs. Malaprop is especially sensitive to being teased about the way she speaks, and especially susceptible to flattery about it, because she believes that her large vocabulary displays her superior intellect. Malapropisms, then, are a sure sign of pretension. Like the old joke about Groucho Marx who would never want to belong to any club that would be so unselective as to allow him to join, Mrs. Malaprop views any word she knows well enough to use correctly as too common to impress her listeners. So she instead tries to use big words that she believes she knows, but actually mixes up to great comic effect.
Acres is Mrs. Malaprop’s male counterpart for silliness in speech. He peppers his speech with swears, employing what he thinks is a fashionable new form of oath that specifies the topic being exclaimed about. He thinks this slang will make him look sophisticated and impress his listeners, but it is clear from Captain Absolute’s reaction that Acres is the only person he has ever heard speak this way, and that rather than showing himself to be on the cutting-edge of fashion, Acres makes himself ridiculous.
Finally, neither Acres nor Mrs. Malaprop can tell when Captain Absolute is humoring them, speaking sarcastically, or subtly mocking them to their faces. They are so preoccupied with their attempts to impress with their “refined” speech and manners that they fail to pick up on his actual reactions to them. In a play that portrays a well-crafted deception positively, failing to notice how your words are being taken by your listener is the ultimate sin against the intelligent use of language.
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Language and Pretension ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Language and Pretension appears in each scene of The Rivals. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Language and Pretension Quotes in The Rivals
Below you will find the important quotes in The Rivals related to the theme of Language and Pretension.
Act 1, Scene 1 Quotes
FAG
I had forgot.—But, Thomas, you must polish a little—indeed you
must.—Here now—this wig!—What the devil do you do with a wig,
Thomas?—None of the London whips of any degree of ton wear wigs now.
THOMAS
More's the pity! more's the pity! I say.—Odd's life! when I heard how the lawyers and doctors had took to their own hair, I thought how 'twould go next:—odd rabbit it! when the fashion had got foot on the bar, I guessed 'twould mount to the box!—but 'tis all out of character, believe me, Mr. Fag: and look'ee, I'll never gi' up mine—the lawyers and doctors may do as they will.
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Bath was a thriving town full of people who hoped to move up in the world, becoming both more stylish and respectable. Here Fag, who represents an ambitious member of the servant class, shows all his pretentions to being fashionable and sophisticated. He urges Thomas to stop wearing a wig, saying that none of the carriage drivers in London – who were seen as fashionable members of the servant class - wear wigs these days. He also uses the French word for tone to convey his worldliness, even though he is speaking to a simple country servant. Thomas lacks Fag’s Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates.
Act 1, Scene 2 Quotes
What business have you, miss, with preference and aversion? They don't become a young woman; and you ought to know, that as both always wear off, 'tis safest in matrimony to begin with a little aversion. I am sure I hated your poor dear uncle before marriage as if he'd been a blackamoor—and yet, miss, you are sensible what a wife I made!—and when it pleased Heaven to release me from him, 'tis unknown what tears I shed!—
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Mrs. Malaprop, ever unable to read her audience, attempts to convince Lydia to obey her elders and marry a man that they choose for her by telling Lydia that she herself hated Lydia’s uncle (while using a racist slur to emphasize her point) before she married him. One would expect her to say that their marriage turned out well, but because of the way she garbles her speech, she communicates the opposite. She says “Heaven released me from him” instead of “Heaven released him from me,” which was a poetic way to describe someone’s death. Instead of saying that she Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolo
Mrs. MALAPROP
I would have her instructed in geometry, that she might know something of the contagious countries;—but above all, Sir Anthony, she should be mistress of orthodoxy, that she might not mis-spell, and mis-pronounce words so shamefully as girls usually do; and likewise that she might reprehend the true meaning of what she is saying. This, Sir Anthony, is what I would have a woman know;—and I don't think there is a superstitious article in it.
Sir ANTHONY
Well, well, Mrs. Malaprop, I will dispute the point no further with you; though I must confess, that you are a truly moderate and polite arguer, for almost every third word you say is on my side of the question.
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Sir Anthony has said that women should not be taught to read, because reading exposes them to harmful ideas. Mrs. Malaprop objects and Sir Anthony asks her to give an account of the proper course of education for a woman. The assumption at the time was that women needed to be educated only for their role in society, and any further knowledge would ruin or pervert their feminine virtues. No one is a less fit advocate for the importance of education for women than Mrs. Malaprop, who fancies herself to be eloquent and well-educated, but mixes up the large words Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa.
Act 2, Scene 1 Quotes
ACRES
Ha! ha! you've taken notice of it—'tis genteel, isn't it!—I didn't invent it myself though; but a commander in our militia, a great scholar, I assure you, says that there is no meaning in the common oaths, and that nothing but their antiquity makes them respectable;—because, he says, the ancients would never stick to an oath or two, but would say, by Jove! or by Bacchus! or by Mars! or by Venus! or by Pallas, according to the sentiment: so that to swear with propriety, says my little major, the oath should be an echo to the sense; and this we call the oath referential, or sentimental swearing—ha! ha! 'tis genteel, isn't it?
ABSOLUTE
Very genteel, and very new, indeed!—and I dare say will supplant all other figures of imprecation.
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When gentlemen swore in the late 18th century, they generally minced their oaths, which meant they changed the pronunciation of a word so that they would not be breaking the religious taboo against using the Lord’s name in vain. “God’s sake” became “odds,” just as today the word “darn” is a politer version of “damn.” Acres, though, wishes to fit in among fashionable people and seeks to change how he speaks to gain acceptance. He is not observant and intelligent enough to discern the way fashionable city people speak, but instead takes on an odd new way of cursing that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim ne
Act 2, Scene 2 Quotes
Sir LUCIUS
[Reads.] Sir—there is often a sudden incentive impulse in love, that has a greater induction than years of domestic combination: such was the commotion I felt at the first superfluous view of Sir Lucius O'Trigger.—Very pretty, upon my word.—Female punctuation forbids me to say more, yet let me add, that it will give me joy infallible to find Sir Lucius worthy the last criterion of my affections. Delia. Upon my conscience! Lucy, your lady is a great mistress of language. Faith, she's quite the queen of the dictionary!—for the devil a word dare refuse coming at her call—though one would think it was quite out of hearing.
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Lucy has just delivered a letter from “Delia” to Sir Lucius, whom she has deceived to believe that Delia is Lydia’s pseudonym, when it is actually Mrs. Malaprop’s. The situation provides a perfect study of the ease with which a practiced deceiver like Lucy can manipulate two people who are not perceptive about the world around them. Mrs. Malaprop, besides being unaware that she makes a fool of herself through her scrambled use of language, does not realize that the pseudonym “Delia” is actually a scrambled version of the name “Lydia,” which will lead Sir Lucius to assume he is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. M
Act 3, Scene 3 Quotes
ABSOLUTE
Ah! my soul, what a life will we then live! Love shall be our idol and support! we will worship him with a monastic strictness; abjuring all worldly toys, to centre every thought and action there. Proud of calamity, we will enjoy the wreck of wealth; while the surrounding gloom of adversity shall make the flame of our pure love show doubly bright. By Heavens! I would fling all goods of fortune from me with a prodigal hand, to enjoy the scene where I might clasp my Lydia to my bosom, and say, the world affords no smile to me but here—[Embracing her.] [Aside.] If she holds out now, the devil is in it!
LYDIA
[Aside.] Now could I fly with him to the antipodes! but my persecution is not yet come to a crisis.
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In this scene, Absolute puts his skill as an eloquent speaker who knows exactly what people want to hear to good use. He speaks with the lyrical language used by lovers in the sentimental novels that Lydia loves to read and pledges to make love the most important aspect of his life, and to prioritize it over comfort and money, as those romantic characters generally did. Although his speech does move Lydia, she is determined to draw out their situation and enjoy the drama of being kept cooped up in the house and separated from her lover. True to her Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis
Act 3, Scene 4 Quotes
ACRES
But he has given me no provocation.
Sir LUCIUS
Now, I think he has given you the greatest provocation in the world. Can a man commit a more heinous offence against another than to fall in love with the same woman? Oh, by my soul! it is the most unpardonable breach of friendship.
ACRES
Breach of friendship! ay, ay; but I have no acquaintance with this man.
I never saw him in my life.
Sir LUCIUS
That's no argument at all—he has the less right then to take such a liberty.
ACRES
Gad, that's true—I grow full of anger, Sir Lucius!—I fire apace! Odds hilts and blades! I find a man may have a deal of valour in him, and not know it!
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Acres has told Sir Lucius that the woman he was courting is now being pursued by another man, and Sir Lucius encourages him to challenge his rival for her affection to a duel. Both men have a flawed approach to the institution of dueling. Sir Lucius sees no reason why contradictory arguments should not do equally well to serve as the pretext for fighting a duel. Meanwhile, Acres is shocked at the idea of dueling a rival, which shows that he does not understand the institution of dueling that was expected of a gentleman. Yet because Acres wishes to seem Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt
Act 4, Scene 1 Quotes
I say then, it would be but civil in honour never to risk the loss of a gentleman.—Look'ee, master, this honour seems to me to be a marvellous false friend: ay, truly, a very courtier-like servant.—Put the case, I was a gentleman (which, thank God, no one can say of me;) well—my honour makes me quarrel with another gentleman of my acquaintance.—So—we fight. (Pleasant enough that!) Boh!—I kill him—(the more's my luck!) now, pray who gets the profit of it?—Why, my honour. But put the case that he kills me!—by the mass! I go to the worms, and my honour whips over to my enemy.
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Acres has written a challenge to Beverley with the encouragement of Sir Lucius, but has not yet sent it. His servant David is trying to convince him not to send the letter at all. As members of the lower classes did not settle difference through dueling, David brings his folksy common sense ideas to bear on the (rather ridiculous) upper-class tradition of dueling. Although David talks like someone from the country, he has sound logic on his side as he gives his speech exposing the futility of dying for an immaterial value like honor. In fact, his position seems even Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam
Act 4, Scene 2 Quotes
Then he's so well bred;—so full of alacrity, and adulation!—and has so much to say for himself:—in such good language, too! His physiognomy so grammatical! Then his presence is so noble! I protest, when I saw him, I thought of what Hamlet says in the play:— "Hesperian curls—the front of Job himself!— An eye, like March, to threaten at command!— A station, like Harry Mercury, new——" Something about kissing—on a hill—however, the similitude struck me directly.
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Mrs. Malaprop is praising Absolute to Lydia, in the hopes of convincing Lydia to fall in love with him over Beverley. Absolute’s eloquence and flattery of her have prompted Mrs. Malaprop to reach for the most elevated language she can think of: the language of Shakespeare’s plays. But, of course, she misquotes the lines from Hamlet horribly. These lines are: “Hyperion’s curls, the front of Jove himself, / An eye like Mars to threaten and command, / A station like the herald Mercury / New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill.” Mrs. Malaprop’s mispronunciation of the names of ancient Roman Gods is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occa
Act 4, Scene 3 Quotes
FAULKLAND
What can you mean?—Has Lydia changed her mind?—I should have thought her duty and inclination would now have pointed to the same object.
ABSOLUTE
Ay, just as the eyes do of a person who squints: when her love-eye was fixed on me, t'other, her eye of duty, was finely obliqued: but when duty bid her point that the same way, off t'other turned on a swivel, and secured its retreat with a frown!
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Absolute has run into Faulkland and tells him that he has been rejected by Lydia after she found out his true identity. Despite his disappointment, Absolute can still speak with eloquence and wit about his predicament, coming up with a fine and detailed analogy for Lydia’s behavior in the condition of a person with a “lazy eye.” Often, if the two eyes do not work together properly, a person with a lazy eye will close one eye to block out the visual inputs from the eye which is not pointing in the correct direction. Lydia, Absolute contends, similarly cannot simultaneously Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. V
Act 5, Scene 3 Quotes
Sir LUCIUS
Upon my conscience, Mr. Acres, your valour has oozed away with a vengeance!
ACRES
Not in the least! Odds backs and abettors! I'll be your second with all my heart—and if you should get a quietus, you may command me entirely. I'll get you snug lying in the Abbey here; or pickle you, and send you over to Blunderbuss-hall, or anything of the kind, with the greatest pleasure.
Sir LUCIUS
Pho! pho! you are little better than a coward.
ACRES
Mind, gentlemen, he calls me a coward; coward was the word, by my valour!
Sir LUCIUS
Well, sir?
ACRES
Look'ee, Sir Lucius, 'tisn't that I mind the word coward—coward may be said in joke—But if you had called me a poltroon, odds daggers and balls——
Sir LUCIUS
Well, sir?
ACRES
I should have thought you a very ill-bred man.
Sir LUCIUS
Pho! you are beneath my notice.
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Here, Acres and Sir Lucius, the play’s two ungentlemanly combatants, show the distinct ways each lacks honor. Acres, who truly had been losing his nerve as the time to begin the duel approached, now says that it is not cowardice that keeps him from fighting, but rather the fact that Beverley has not shown up to the duel. In fact, he is perfectly in the right. Sir Lucius wishes for Acres to fight Faulkland without any cause, and it is not cowardice, but sound logic, that makes Acres refuse to do this. At the same time, Acres is a coward. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a.
