Skip to main content

What personality traits would characterize Lady Teazle in The School for Scandal?

Lady Teazle is a young, flirtatious wife, hence the name "Tease-all" to convey how she relates to men, but she is good at heart. She is married to a wealthy older man, Sir Peter, an "old bachelor" who complains that his wife has a "teasing temper." He also says she is involved too much in the "extravagant fopperies" of high society. Much of this comes from the fact that she is a simple country girl...

Lady Teazle is a young, flirtatious wife, hence the name "Tease-all" to convey how she relates to men, but she is good at heart. She is married to a wealthy older man, Sir Peter, an "old bachelor" who complains that his wife has a "teasing temper." He also says she is involved too much in the "extravagant fopperies" of high society. Much of this comes from the fact that she is a simple country girl who has been temporality taken in by the London high life. She means well but doesn't yet have good judgment about the extent to which London society might lead her astray. Her personality is one that on the surface looks more shallow than it really is underneath. This is important in a play about appearance versus reality, in which the people who seem the worst can turn out to be the best and vice versa.


The malevolent Lady Sneerwell will use Lady Teazle's frivolous and flirtatious reputation against her to spread gossip that she is having an affair with Charles Surface. But though tempted to have an affair with Charles' wicked brother, Joseph, Lady Teazle's essential goodness of character saves her. She is distressed at the way Lady Sneerwell tries to ruin her, and by the end rejects the "college" (or school) of scandal London society has tried to train her in, saying to Mrs. Sneerwell she is giving back her "diploma."


By the end of the play, Lady Teazle has decided to become a loyal wife. At core a good person, she was simply led towards temptation for a time from being dazzled by the new world of London society. Once she sees how false it is, she rejects it. She says at the end that though she "was late so volatile and gay" she will now "bend" her "cares" to her husband.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...
Post a Comment
Read more