Key Quotations (OCR A-Level English Literature): Revision Notes
Key quotations
This revision note provides essential quotations from Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer, organised to help you analyse key themes, characters and literary techniques. Each quotation is explained with reference to its dramatic significance and the techniques Goldsmith employs.
Understanding the context of comedy in the play
The prologue: laughing versus sentimental comedy
Pray, would you know the reason why I'm crying? / The Comic Muse, long sick, is now a-dying!
Speaker: Narrator (written by David Garrick)
Location: Prologue
This opening rhymed couplet establishes the play's purpose through an extended metaphor. The 'illness' of comedy represents how traditional laughing comedy had been overtaken by sentimental comedy in the 18th century. Goldsmith wrote this play specifically to revive genuine humour and wit in drama, moving away from the overly emotional and moralising sentimental plays that dominated the theatre. This sets audience expectations for a return to comedy focused on laughter rather than tears.
Exam tip: Reference this quotation when discussing Goldsmith's dramatic intentions or the play's genre. Consider how the entire play exemplifies laughing comedy through its farcical situations and witty dialogue.
City versus country life
Mrs Hardcastle's complaint
Is there a creature in the whole country but ourselves, that does not take a trip to town now and then, to rub off the rust a little?
Speaker: Mrs Hardcastle
Location: Act 1, Scene 1
This rhetorical question introduces one of the play's central thematic conflicts immediately. The metaphor of 'rubbing off the rust' demonstrates Mrs Hardcastle's view that country life causes stagnation and decay, whilst the city offers refinement and excitement. Her figurative language reveals both her dissatisfaction with rural existence and her social pretensions. The phrase is elegant yet pointed, showing her impatience with the monotonous routine of country living.
Key theme: This quotation establishes the city versus country debate that runs throughout the play, ultimately resolved when Kate proves that genuine worth exists independent of location.
Character revelation through dialogue
Mr Hardcastle on Tony Lumpkin
No, no, the alehouse and the stable are the only schools he'll ever go to.
Speaker: Mr Hardcastle
Location: Act 1, Scene 1
Mr Hardcastle's dismissive assessment of his stepson reveals his disapproval of Tony's behaviour, characterising him as a wastrel who frequents taverns and lacks ambition. However, Goldsmith presents Tony more sympathetically than this judgement suggests, portraying him as a witty, clever character whose unconventional intelligence drives much of the plot. The contrast between Mr Hardcastle's view and Tony's actual role in the play creates dramatic irony.
Character development: Consider how this early negative portrayal contrasts with Tony's ingenuity in orchestrating the central deception and ultimately helping the lovers unite.
Tony Lumpkin's self-interest
As for disappointing them, I should not so much mind; but I can't abide to disappoint myself.
Speaker: Tony Lumpkin
Location: Act 1, Scene 1
Tony's rebellious refusal to obey his mother demonstrates his independent spirit and wit. His clever phrasing reveals his self-awareness and honesty about his motivations. Rather than pretending concern for others, he openly prioritises his own desires, which paradoxically makes him more honest than the socially conventional characters who hide their true feelings.
Literary technique: Notice Goldsmith's use of antithesis (disappointing them versus disappointing himself) to create memorable, epigrammatic dialogue.
Tony's comic descriptions
The daughter, a tall, trapesing, trolloping, talkative maypole, the son, a pretty, well-bred, agreeable youth, that everybody is fond of.
Speaker: Tony Lumpkin
Location: Act 1, Scene 2
This quotation showcases Tony's distinctive linguistic style through exaggerated, alliterative language. The string of adjectives beginning with 't' creates a comic rhythm whilst deliberately misleading Marlow and Hastings about Kate and himself. The contrast between his unflattering description of Kate (actually accurate about himself) and flattering description of himself (actually describing Kate) drives the deception forward. No other character possesses such creative, colourful vocabulary, establishing Tony's unique comic voice.
Dramatic function: This misdirection initiates the central confusion, demonstrating how Tony's wit creates the play's complications.
Modesty, impudence and social behaviour
Kate's observation on love
A reserved lover, it is said, always makes a suspicious husband.
Speaker: Kate Hardcastle
Location: Act 1, Scene 1
This concise, epigrammatic statement exemplifies Goldsmith's elegant prose style and Kate's perceptiveness. The balanced phrasing makes the comment sound proverbial, giving it authority. Kate's judgement here foreshadows her concern about Marlow's reserved behaviour towards her when they first meet, establishing her goal to test his true character before committing to marriage.
Theme connection: Links to the play's exploration of appearance versus reality, and the need to see beneath social masks to discover genuine character.
Marlow's antithetical statement
An impudent fellow may counterfeit modesty, but I'll be hanged if a modest man can ever counterfeit impudence.
Speaker: Charles Marlow
Location: Act 2
This statement highlights two central concepts in the play's social world. Impudence suggests shamelessness and forward behaviour, whilst modesty connotes proper decorum and restraint. The antithetical structure creates a memorable statement that ironically describes Marlow's own situation - he genuinely possesses modesty but struggles to demonstrate appropriate confidence with women of his own class. Kate's challenge becomes proving to her father that Marlow's behaviour stems from genuine modesty rather than shameless impudence.
Character insight: This quotation reveals Marlow's self-awareness about social behaviour whilst showing his blindness to his own contradictory conduct.
Class prejudice and social snobbery
Mr Hardcastle's instructions to servants
You must not be so talkative, Diggory ... You must hear us talk, and not think of talking; you must see us drink, and not think of drinking; you must see us eat, and not think of eating.
Speaker: Mr Hardcastle
Location: Act 2
This parallel structure emphasises the rigid class boundaries and double standards of the era. The repetitive phrasing ('you must... and not think of...') reinforces the strict hierarchy that Goldsmith satirises throughout the play. Whilst Mr Hardcastle is not portrayed as cruel, his automatic enforcement of class-conscious values demonstrates the ingrained social prejudices that the play gently mocks. The servants must essentially become invisible, denying their own human needs whilst serving their betters.
Satire: Goldsmith uses this quotation to expose the absurdity of class distinctions without being overtly critical, maintaining the play's comic tone.
Hastings's sarcastic aside
His uncle a colonel! We shall soon hear of his mother being a justice of the peace!
Speaker: George Hastings
Location: Act 2
Hastings's sarcastic comment, believing Mr Hardcastle to be an innkeeper, reveals his social snobbery and class discrimination. The exclamation expresses disbelief that someone of supposedly lower status could have respectable family connections. This attitude characterises Hastings throughout the play, showing how the upper-class visitors casually dismiss and belittle those they perceive as social inferiors. The dramatic irony - that Hardcastle genuinely is a respectable gentleman - makes Hastings appear foolish.
Dramatic irony: The audience's awareness of the true situation creates comedy at Hastings's expense.
Love and courtship
Constance on Tony
You'd adore him if you knew how heartily he despises me.
Speaker: Constance Neville
Location: Act 2
Constance reassures Hastings that Tony has no romantic interest in her, using Goldsmith's characteristically concise and pointed prose style. The brevity makes the statement memorable whilst efficiently conveying information about the relationship between Constance and Tony. The paradoxical idea that despising someone makes them adorable reveals Constance's relief that Tony shares her lack of interest in their arranged match.
Plot function: This establishes that both Tony and Constance oppose their mothers' matchmaking, justifying their alliance to thwart Mrs Hardcastle's plans.
Mrs Hardcastle's question about fashion
Pray, Mr. Hastings, what do you take to be the most fashionable age about town?
Speaker: Mrs Hardcastle
Location: Act 2
This naive question reveals Mrs Hardcastle's superficial and vain personality. Her obsessive concern with London fashion extends even to wondering what age one should be to appear stylish. The question demonstrates how her love of urban sophistication has become ridiculous, suggesting she values appearance over substance. Goldsmith gently satirises her character without making her entirely unsympathetic.
Characterisation: Shows Mrs Hardcastle's foolishness whilst maintaining her as a comic rather than villainous figure.
Kate's witty response to flirtation
O! sir, I must not tell my age. They say women and music should never be dated.
Speaker: Kate Hardcastle
Location: Act 3
Disguised as a barmaid, Kate demurely resists Marlow's flirtation with this elegant and witty response. The parallel between women and music creates a memorable epigram that sounds proverbial. Her clever deflection maintains her disguise whilst demonstrating the intelligence and wit that make her the play's heroine. The quotation exemplifies Goldsmith's polished, epigrammatic style.
Technique: Notice how Kate maintains control of the conversation through wit, revealing her superiority over the situation.
Tony's wit and pranks
The proverbial response
Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no fibs.
Speaker: Tony Lumpkin
Location: Act 3
Tony's clever response when Hastings asks how he obtained the jewel casket sounds proverbial and memorable. The rhyming of 'questions' with the following line creates a rhythmic, folk-saying quality. This quotation demonstrates Tony's quick wit and ability to avoid direct answers whilst maintaining good humour. His ingenuity in stealing the jewels from his mother's bureau advances the plot by helping Constance and Hastings's elopement plans.
Character trait: Establishes Tony as clever and resourceful despite others underestimating him.
The highwayman deception
Ah, it's a highwayman with pistols as long as my arm. A damned ill-looking fellow.
Speaker: Tony Lumpkin
Location: Act 5, Scene 2
Tony's climactic prank involves convincing his mother they face danger from a highwayman whilst actually driving in circles near their own house. The exaggerated description ('pistols as long as my arm') heightens the comic effect, whilst the threatening figure is actually Mr Hardcastle on his evening walk. This elaborate deception demonstrates Tony's theatrical imagination and completes his rebellion against his mother's control.
Dramatic climax: This prank resolves multiple plot threads, freeing Tony from his unwanted engagement and exposing Mrs Hardcastle's foolishness.
Dramatic irony and social commentary
Mrs Hardcastle's advice to Constance
You must learn resignation, my dear; for though we lose our fortune, yet we should not lose our patience.
Speaker: Mrs Hardcastle
Location: Act 3
This statement employs zeugma, a rhetorical device using contrasting objects ('fortune' and 'patience') with the same verb ('lose'). The advice sounds morally elevated, but becomes dramatically ironic when Mrs Hardcastle completely loses her composure upon discovering her bureau has been robbed and the jewel casket stolen. Constance's dry response - 'People are generally calm at the misfortunes of others' - anticipates this irony, highlighting the gap between Mrs Hardcastle's advice and her actual behaviour.
Literary device: The zeugma creates an elegant, balanced phrase that makes the subsequent reversal more comic.
Key Points to Remember:
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Context matters: Many quotations gain significance from their dramatic context and the speaker's situation. Consider who speaks, when, and what they believe versus reality.
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Goldsmith's style: Note the concise, epigrammatic phrasing throughout. Brief, memorable statements often carry thematic weight or reveal character efficiently.
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Dramatic irony: Several quotations work through the audience's superior knowledge - we know what characters don't, creating comedy.
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Thematic connections: Quotations often link to multiple themes simultaneously. City versus country, appearance versus reality, and class prejudice frequently intersect.
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Character voice: Pay attention to how different characters speak distinctively. Tony's elaborate, creative language contrasts with Kate's elegant wit and Marlow's formal awkwardness.