In the country, people are forced to confront their faults and lead a more honest way of life. Consider She Stoops to Conquer in the light of this comment

Tradition onlyy the pastoral genre celebrates the virtues of simple, unsophisticated life removed from the city. The rural solid groundside hosts a nostalgic population thirst for a bucolic paradise w here people live in peace, harmony and honesty, similar to the existence of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden beforehand the fall. This depiction of idyllic rural life is toasted by goldsmith in She Stoops to Conquer, however the incantation of characters through and throughout the play can be seen to distort this get wind of traditional country life. goldsmith uses the character of Mr Hardcastle to epitomise the honest nature of country folk. Mr Hardcastle is presented as a traditional, old country squire, who is characterised as open and direct. He confesses honestly that he loves everything thats old and that hes non interested in vanity. Vanity suggests superficiality and that true character traits ar omitted by jewels and or summonsnts in order to deceive those around and promote a dishonest appearance.Hardcastle associates this vanity with the town, which is seen traditionally in pastoral literature as wicked and corrupt compargond to the simple, pragmatic country setting. It could be interpreted that Mr Hardcastles long life spent in the country, shown through use of the name squire which has connotations of a rural existence, has resulted in his genuine personality, to be plain with you. However, Goldsmith uses asides in Hardcastles speech to show his anguish over the impudence of such a brazen dog, Marlow.The asides present Hardcastles true feelings of turn ones stomach towards the town folk which contrasts his direct speech to Marlow which remains dignified and respectful, shown through the address of sir. These asides present Hardcastle as a less direct character than originally perceived, suggesting country dwellers can be just as malicious as those from the town and subsequently, a country existence doesnt necessarily equate to an honest way of life. Despite this, it is the rudeness of Marlow and Hastings which arouses these feelings in Hardcastle through curt demands for warm cattleman.This reflects a primary theme in the pastoral genre of the town corrupting the country, since Hardcastle is cordial towards his servants as Goldsmith refers to each by their first name in Hardcastles speech, Diggory, and Hardcastles rude asides are presented to be spawned from the impudence of the town characters, thus suggesting that the country promotes courteous manners meanwhile the town corrupts and ruptures characters. Goldsmith characterises some characters as self-deceiving and deluded, which is technically a weakness.Unlike Mr Hardcastles love of old, Mrs Hardcastle contrarily speaks positively of the town, commenting on its ability to rub off the eat up, rust suggests that Mrs Hardcastle finds country life dull, contrasting the excitement of London and the fashions. Goldsmith uses references to places in London to sugge st that Mrs Hardcastle is informed on every tete-a-tete, precisely to later reveal that ironically Mrs Hardcastle only enjoy(s) London at second-hand, through the Scandalous Magazine, which comically illuminates the fact she has never truly visited London.To enforce this irony, Goldsmith utilises some references to sinister settings in London in Marlows speech, bred at Tower Wharf, which was not a fashion commensurate area in the eighteenth century and was notorious for thievery which Mrs Hardcastle is ignorant to, shown by her grateful response pleased to say so. This mockery of Mrs Hardcastle presents her as a pathetic womanhood who has deluded herself into believing she is astute to all the fashions, which can further be interpreted as a fault in her character which remains present at the end of the play, therefore suggesting the country isnt necessarily a utopic landscape of retribution.Further much, Goldsmith characterises many of the rural characters as simple and stubborn, un testamenting to change chip which is mimetic of the unyielding nature of the country, therefore any faults that they may have are irreversible. In Tonys song at the Three Pigeons pub, he toasts heres the Three Jolly Pigeons for ever, for ever has a sense of routine which cannot be altered, reflecting that his life will never change and his tricks and mischief will continue for ever. Consequently Goldsmith highlights the unyielding characteristic of the country which can nourish pre-existing traits in characters instead of correcting them.The gentlemen of the town Marlow and Hastings are initially presented by Goldsmith to be sophisticated and scholarly, which was how most men of the town were perceived in the 18th century. However, it soon becomes apparent that both characters give birth faults underneath the posh urban veneer. Goldsmith reveals, through Hastings, that Marlow is such a trembler when he is around women of high status, which is ironic considering he should be ab le to converse easily with facets of high society to which he himself belongs.Goldsmith then augments this fault in Marlows character through stage directions, gathering resolution, which reveals Marlows awkward address as he talks to Kate. Nonetheless, through Kates deception Marlow is forced to amend his bashful manner. Once Marlow mistook (Kate) for the barmaid and a woman of low status, because of her attire that every lady wears in the country, he was able to look her full in the face and speak without hesitation, shown through Goldsmiths use of stichomythia, and consequently overcome his faulted nature.Therefore Goldsmith shows that through the simple bucolic, country and its inhabitants, Marlow could relax and correct his imperfections, developing into a more confident character. Furthermore, when its revealed to Marlow that Kate is in fact Hardcastles daughter, Marlows embarrassment which he describes as worse than death, proves to Hardcastle Marlows earlier impudence was a ll a mistake, which resolved the tension between Hardcastle and Marlow formed from Marlows supposed brazen manner.Despite this, Kates deception of Marlow could be considered an unresolved fault especially considering a previous title of the play was Mistakes of the Night suggesting Kates actions were faulted mistakes, which contradicts the stereotype of rural folk being welcoming and honest. However, Kates deception was not malicious, which Goldsmith shows through interjections of laughter in Kates speech ha ha ha The ruse ensured their romance, he loves you, which would have gone amiss out-of-pocket to Marlows mauvaise honte and inability to communicate with upper class women.Moreover, during the denouement of the play, Kate revealed to Marlow she was that very identical lady he first met. Therefore Kates deception was last uncovered in total honesty and thus concluded the play in a traditionally comedic and light hearted manner, with Hardcastle giving his blessing to Marlow, bo y, take her. Similarly, Tony could be considered as the opposite of the simple, honest doric characters in the play, since he tricks Marlow and Hastings into believing his house is one of the best inns in the country. Tonys jest actually creates faults in Marlow in Hastings, since they are exploitative of Hardcastles good will, he has taken possession of the easy chair already. The use of already shows Hardcastles disgust at the impudence of the two men, which was only uncovered because of their belief they were staying at an inn which they were paying for, bring me my bill, the use of the imperative in Marlows speech highlights his insolence towards Hardcastle.Although Tonys jest created more faults in characters and led to Marlows lack of respect towards Hardcastle, Tonys trick like Kates, wasnt criminal nor did it have any lasting effects. Clive Fuller reviewed the stage performance in Birmingham and said there is great farce as the deception unfolds reflecting the comedy of t he event which proves no great harm is caused.Once the ruse had been discovered, everything was settled and the characters resolved their issues, shown through the stage directions joining their hands which represents unity in the household. Moreover, Tonys deception of Marlow enabled Kate to pretend to be the barmaid at the inn, which ultimately resulted in her romance with him, he loves you, thus Tonys trick can be viewed as intending to lark rather than destroy, suggesting the country does promote honest living.Throughout She Stoops to Conquer, Goldsmith illuminates many faults in each character, most of which are amended at the end of the play, subsequently ending the piece in a light-hearted manner and in the style of a traditional Shakespearean comedy, with which Goldsmiths work was associated. Therefore overall, the country and its many inhabitants do often lead a more honest life and encourage other faulted characters to do the same.