Good title, good book, I always say. Sheridan is an 18th-century Oscar Wilde. His characters have fabulous names like Joseph Surface, Sir Benjamin Backbite, Lady Brittle, Captain Boastall, Lady Sneerwell, Dowager Lady Dundizzy, Snake, and Lady Stucco. (Though I was disappointed the “School for Scandal” isn’t an actual school, like the School of Seven Bells, where Colombian orphans are taught pickpocketing.*)
The one word I learned from this book was “licentiate.” (“A person who has received a license to practice an art or profession.”)
Sheridan is one of the few playwrights who was able to quit the literary biz. After becoming a member of Parliament in 1780, he more or less ceased writing (except for an occasional poem – and, of course, numerous speeches). Eventually he was Treasurer of the Navy!
*The School of Seven Bells may be mythical, though it is an actual rock band.
