Samuel Johnson called The Rivals and Sheridan's The Duenna "the two best comedies of the age." Indeed, as reported in Walter Sichel's 1909 biography of Sheridan, Sheridan: From New and Original Material, the play "never left the stage" from its inception until a slowdown in the latter nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, revivals have been sporadic, but successful. The first night, however, was a disaster. The theater was packed; the London Chronicle of January 21-24, 1775, as noted in Sichel, proclaimed "there had not been seen so many ladies and people of fashion at a first night's representation for a long time." Most of the audience abhorred the play. Sichel summarizes the effect: "A whole chorus hissed disapproval.... The play itself was damned. Its blemishes—length, exuberance, and drawn-out sentiment."
As quoted in Sichel, the Morning.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 497 words. This
study guide contains 22,943 words (approx. 76 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our The Rivals Access Pass.
