SOURCE: "Goldsmith's Comic Skills," in Costerus: Essays in English & American Language & Literature, Vol. 9, 1973, pp. 195-217.

In the following essay, Styan argues that the "ingrained attitude[s of sophisticated London society" are the targets of Goldsmith's satire in his comedies.]

In 1773, almost at the end of his life, when Goldsmith was acclaimed at last by the public as the completely successful comedian, when he no longer felt obliged to fight another battle against the tearful exponents of the comédie larmoyante, he put together a final play for Covent Garden, The Grumbler. He was still impecunious, but he wrote after his own heart. He looked back to his beloved Molière and chose to write farce. What resulted was a one-act adaptation of the three-act play of the same name by Sir Charles Sedley, which had been produced in 1702. Sedley's play was an English version of a very successful...