She Stoops to Conquer

Oliver Goldsmith, 1773

A-level set text AQA A-level (Lit B)OCR A-level

Visitors and hosts misunderstand one another in a country-house comedy of courtship, disguise and social confidence.

Read the book Contents

Listen free: the LibriVox audiobook, read by volunteers.

Length: 8 scenes
Reading time: About 1 hr 37 min
Words: 23,085

About the book

Mr and Mrs Hardcastle disagree about the attractions of town life before their expected visitors arrive. Their household already contains different ideas of fashion, marriage and proper behaviour. Those differences prepare a setting in which a mistaken assumption can quickly gather consequences.

Goldsmith's comedy lets conversation reveal how people alter their manners according to the company they think they are keeping. Young suitors and their hosts do not always share the same understanding of an encounter. The interest lies in watching confidence change hands as pretence and misunderstanding complicate ordinary introductions.

On these lists

Plays Irish writers Comic classics

This edition

Text from Standard Ebooks, who proofread and typeset it and dedicate their edition to the public domain. Oliver Goldsmith died more than 70 years ago, so the work is out of copyright in the UK. Includes the original dedication, dramatis personae.