Sir Lucius in the Play: Deception and Intrigue Unfold

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Lectures 7 & 8 Hello Dear Students In this lecture you will be introduced to another rival in the play, namely, Sir Lucius. He is an impecunious (impoverished, penniless), bellicose(quarrelsome, opposite of calm) Irish baronet who lost, probably by gambling, his mansion house and dirty acres. So Sir Lucius belongs to the polite world and he can only cure his want of money by marrying an heiress like Lydia. 2

In Act II, scene ii, we see Lucy waiting out on the street, looking for Sir Lucius. Lucy hands him the letter that Mrs. Malaprop sent. But definitely Lucy will deceive him about the identity of the correspondent by assuring him that the letter is from Lydia. 3

Sir Lucius reads the letter: Sir- there is often a sudden incentive (is a noun which means encouragement or provocation) impulse in love, that has a greater induction than years of domestic combination: such was the commotion (means excitement or agitation)I felt at the first superfluous view of Sir Lucius O Trigger ; yet let me add, that it will give me joy infallible to find Sir Lucius worthy the last criterion of my affections. - Delia . 4

The letter has a flirtatious tone, but makes very little sense. After reading the letter Sir Lucius comments on the words, saying: Upon my conscience, your lady is a great mistress of language . Lucy was about to lose track of her lies when she responds saying: Aye, Sir, A lady of her experience . Sir Lucius astonishingly asks: Experience! What, at seventeen? But Lucy tells him that she only meant that Delia s use of such pompous words is because she reads so much. (P. 45, ll. 30-41). 5

Notice how Lucy always acts as a simpleminded maid in order to get a good tip. Sir Lucius continues the chat with Lucy, saying: O tell her, I ll make her the best husband in the world . And according to him only poverty prevents him from eloping with Lydia. And that s why he has to get Lydia s aunt s permission to guarantee Lydia fortune. 6

Sir Lucius leaves, and Fag appears. Fag has already seen Lucy handing the letter to Sir Lucius and threatens to tell his master Ensign Beverley that Sir Lucius is a competitor. Although Lucy assures Fag that the letter is from Mrs. Malaprop and that Sir Lucius is not a rival, Fag does not give up his master s secret to Lucy, so he laughs at this and hurries to tell his master of it. Both Lucy and Fag are servants of the same kind, for they see opportunities to win the trust of their masters. 7

Now we move to Act III, Scene I : the scene is in the North Parade. Let me tell you that Sheridan uses real names of places such as the North parade in the play since he himself lived in the city of Bath for about two years. Jack Absolute is seen wandering there and reflecting upon his luck. Fag has informed him that his father wants to force[him]marry the same very girl [he] is plotting to run away with! He decides that his father must not know of [his] connection with [Lydia], and that Lydia shall not lose her hopes of an elopement . 8

Jack wanted to keep his relation with Lydia a secret in return for the harsh treatment he received from his father. And now he runs into his father to make up with him: Absolute: Sir, you see a penitent before you. Sir Anthony: I see an impudent scoundrel before me. Absolute: a sincere penitent to acknowledge my error, and to submit entirely to your will .(P. 49, ll. 22-25). 9

Jack tells his father that after he reflected upon his father s wish to marry him, he decided to sacrifice every inclination of [his] own to [his father s] satisfaction . But this is untrue. For we know that Jack wanted to make up with his father after he knew that his father would marry him to the same girl he is plotting to run away with. The scene between Jack and his father is quite comedic. 10

The audience who knew the truth behind Jacks change of behavior will roar with laughter. Now Sir Anthony, so pleased with his son s dutifulness, reveals the name of the girl that he wants his son to marry, and starts describing her beautiful eyes, her smiling lips, and her neck. 11

After giving a full description of Lydias beautiful features, Jack, in a quite playful way, asks his father : And which is mine, Sir, the niece or the aunt? (P.50, l. 70) Here, Jack stretches out his deception and refuses to make his father have a sort of satisfaction by failing to show any excitement. 12

Sir Anthony despises his son for not showing any interest in the girl s beauty, and that he never minds marrying the aunt instead of the niece. And he tells him that when [he ran] away with [Jack s mother] [he] would not have touched anything old or ugly to gain an empire . Sir Anthony s hypocrisy is revealed when he tells his son that he himself defied his own father to marry Jack s mother while he refused to give his son the freedom of choice. 13

Moreover throughout this conversation, and when speaking about beauty and love, Sir Anthony shows himself nostalgic for young love and lust and his eagerness to live vicariously through his son. Read the whole scene, students, for it is very amusing. 14

Now we move to Act III, Scene ii: This is Julias dressing room, and Faulkland is sitting alone waiting for Julia to come. Faulkland thinks that he is ungenerously fretful(distressed, upset), and madly capricious(whimsical, wayward, temperamental), but yet he cannot correct himself. Once Julia enters, she asks Faulkland why his greeting had been cold and why he looks angry. 15

Faulkland says that he is acting like he was not excited to see her after he heard from Acres that she had been enjoying herself in his absence and that he considers this a a treason to constancy . Julia explains that she has often dressed sorrow in smiles, lest [her] friends should guess whose unkindness had caused [her] tears . But to Faulkland, the situation is completely different for he thinks Julia had been happy in his absence because she loves him less than he loves her. Julia sees protecting Faulkland s reputation as one of her priorities. 16

She is acting as an example of Sheridans view of feminine virtue. Faulkland is still unsure of Julia s affections towards him and he thinks that she is only grateful to him, and does not love him. He wishes that he were deformed: And for person- I have often wished myself deformed, to be convinced that I owed no obligation there for any part of your affection . (P. 55, ll. 63-65). 17

Julia tells him that there are men who are more handsome than he is, yet she never looks at them because she loves him. Now he is much more resentful that she does not think him the most handsome man in the world and he doubts that she accepted him because her father arranged for their engagement. Annoyed by his words, Julia tells him that they can break off their engagement and she would still never consider making a relationship with someone else. 18

But now Faulkland is angered at the idea that she would think of leaving him. Julia bursts into tears after all these insults and rushes out of the room. Faulkland and Julia s quarrel reflects their different conceptions of themselves. Julia respects her future husband. She is reasonable and frank with him, but he believes that if their love is real, they ought to be consumed by passion and indifferent to rational arguments. Julia s view represents a more traditional view of the role of women. 19

Faulklands expectations are drawn from the sentimental ideas which filled some of the literature of the time. As we see Faulkland s character is a male reflection of Lydia s- not on the ground of its appearance but on the ground of its motivation. But while Sheridan did not try to expose the human heart in Lydia, in Faulkland he attempted to plumb the emotional depths of jealousy, particularly that sort of jealousy arising from insecurity. And he evidently wanted to achieve both depth and comic amusement. 20

The audience is supposed both to sympathize with Faulkland and to laugh at him when he allows his awareness that Julia was promised to him by her now-dead father to lead him into exaggerated fears that she may now feel no real love but an obligation to that promise and to his having saved her life from drowning. 21

In Act III, Scene iii, Jack Absolute visits Mrs. Malaprop in her lodgings. She welcomes him with complimentary remarks about his noble origin and the ingenuity of his appearance . He flatters her by saying that although he never met Lydia, his attraction to the family comes from what he heard about Mrs. Malaprop s intellectual accomplishments, elegant manners, and unaffected learning .(P. 57, ll. 8-10) . 22

This is quite ridiculous and funny for we know that Mrs. Malaprop always affects in her speech to give the impression that she is a well-learned woman. Mrs. Malaprop praises his gentlemanly behavior and says: Ah! Few gentlemen, nowadays, know how to value the ineffectual qualities in a woman!....Men have no sense now but for the worthless flower of beauty! (p. 57, ll. Pp. 12- 16) Notice the word ineffectual is misapplied here and is an example of malapropism. The word should be intellectual. 23

Absolute charms Mrs. Malaprop with his expressive speech about her eloquence. He tells her that a few women are both beautiful and wise, like her. The conversation goes on between Mrs. Malaprop and Jack Absolute, and we read: (P. 58, ll. 25-31) Mrs. Malaprop: You are not ignorant that this giddy girl has somehow contrived to fix her affections on a beggarly, strolling, eavesdropping Ensign, whom none of us have seen.. . Absolute: .I m not at all prejudiced against her on that account . 24

Mrs. Malaprop: ..I thought she had persisted (malapropism: she meant desisted) from corresponding with him; but behold ., I have interceded(malapropism: she meant intercepted) another letter from the fellow . . Absolute(aside): ..O the little traitress Lucy . Mrs. Malaprop gives him the letter to read. As Jack begins reading the letter, she interrupts to scoff at its content. He reads the lines in which Beverley makes fun of Mrs. Malaprop s vanity, her looks, pretentions, her wrinkled face, and dry skin. 25

Absolute: As for the old weather-beaten she dragon who guards you- who can he mean by that? Mrs. Malaprop : Me, Sir- me .. This is quite funny and humorous. Absolut e continues reading the letter in which Mrs. Malaprop s senseless way of speaking is being attacked. At last we come to the plan that Beverley has suggested in his letter: 26

Absolute: ..so that I have a scheme to see you shortly with the old harridan s (old woman) consent, and even to make her a go-between in our interviews .. . (P. 60, ll. 78-80) Of course Mrs. Malaprop does not suspect that these plans are being carried out that very minute. Notice how the letter is meant to excite Lydia with his proposal to deceive her aunt, but is, at the same time, also a deception of Lydia, who believes her lover to be someone he is not. 27

We come to the end of the lecture. Next time you will see what will happen when Jack Absolute meets Lydia, and what kind of complications may result from their meetings! Until then Good bye. Good bye End of lectures 7 & 8 28

Good bye End of lectures 7 & 8 29