A review by mallory_minerva
She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith

2.0

Comedy ages poorly, and comedy also typically has an intended audience in mind. I, not being a rich person from 1770's Britain, found this supposed laughing comedy to be devoid of any laughs. I don't think that is because of She Stoops To Conquer's age, as it is very readable and its humor is based in substance rather than dated jokes. Instead, I found this play unfunny, and also boring and contemptible because I find it sheerly unrelatable. The character of Marlowe, who is intelligent, shy and prudish, I could somewhat relate too, but even then he's still a posh, rich heir. I also related to the servants but perhaps not for the intended reasons. Otherwise the characters are all rich snobs who I failed to care about or take seriously as characters. Kate Hardcastle in particular I could not suspend my disbelief, and it seems that Goldsmith had no idea what real young women are actually like. Furthermore, this play fails at storytelling. The B-story centered around Tony and Miss Neville is very boring, and the A-story spends most of the play setting up and then skips straight to the climax at the end. The lack of actual action other than a neat and unsatisfying climax is simply bad storytelling. There's no stakes as I don't care about the characters and there's no tension as 80% of the play is a nothing-burger. I found it readable, memorable, and the parts with Marlowe to be somewhat enjoyable, but I can't say I enjoyed it or walked away having gained anything other than a better sense of how not to write a comedy.