Hugh Holman wrote: "Satire is directed in the main against the follies and deficiencies of typical characters, such as fops, would-be wits, jealous husbands, coxcombs, and others who fail somehow to conform to the conventional attitudes and manners of the elegant society of the time." In The Rivals what "conventional attitudes and manners of the elegant society of the time" are violated? Are those manners also criticized?
Some of you got a few chuckles out of this play. Why? Pick some funny moment and do a little psychological inquiry. Have you recognized some traits of yourself and been enabled to laugh them off? Have you recognized some traits of others that are worthy of mockery, but are taken seriously in real life?
What does this play have to say about women and the relationships between men and women? In this respect, how does it compare to other works we have looked at in this unit?