英国文学

返回首页

美国文学

课程概述

教师简介

课程学习

学习资源

复习题库

Sheridan<-drama<-chapter 5<-contents<-position

2. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816)
Life
   Richard Brinsley Sheridan was born in 1751 in Dublin, Ireland. His father was an actor, the theatre manager and elocutionist and his mother is a novelist. Sheridan studied at Harrow then settled with his family in Bath where Sheridan fell in love with a famous singer, fought two duels and married her. In 1775, Sheridan staged his first comedy The Rivals. In 1776, he became the owner of the Drury Lane Theatre and a member of Samuel Johnson’s Lterary Club. In 1777, his masterpiece The School for Scandal was published. In “The School for Scandal” Sheridan carried the comedy of manners to the highest point it has reached in England. In the permanence of its hold on the public it is surpassed only by the plays of Shakespeare; and in characters like Joseph Surface, Sir Peter, and Lady Teazle, and in the scandal scene and the auction scene the author added to the lasting glories of the English stage
    In 1780, Sheridan began his career in politics. He first was elected M.P. for Stafford, and then he held various posts for thirty-two years. In 1812, he ended his political career because he had no money for re-election. In the same year, he was put into prison for debt because his Drury Lane Theatre was burnt down in a fire in 1809. Sheridan died in 1816 in neglect and poverty and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

  previous page                  next page