In this introduction to Goldsmith's play, Kronenbergerproposes that She Stoops to Conquer is a prime example of the theatre era from which it emerged, as well as evidence of the playwright's disdain for Sentimental comedy.

Kronenberger served as a drama critic for Time magazinefrom 1938 to 1961, and was regarded as an expert on eighteenth-century English literature and history.

Oliver Goldsmith stands quite high in English literature, and a little apart, by reason of his three-pronged claims to recognition. There is his extremely famous poem, The Deserted Village; his extremely famous novel, The Vicar of Wakefield; his extremely famous play, She Stoops to Conquer. To have achieved three unquestioned classics that jointly run to about the length of an average-sized book is a notable example of how to travel down the ages with the lightest of luggage.

But though all three remain unquestioned classics, they no longer—if we...