A duel with one of
her former admirers was the result.
As a dramatist, he began by presenting _A Trip to Scarborough_, which was
altered from Vanbrugh's _Relapse_; but his fame was at once assured by his
production, in 1775, of _The Duenna_ and _The Rivals_. The former is
called an opera, but is really a comedy containing many songs: the plot is
varied and entertaining; but it is far inferior to _The Rivals_, which is
based upon his own adventures, and is brimming with wit and humor. Mrs.
Malaprop, Bob Acres, Sir Lucius O'Trigger, and the Absolutes, father and
son, have been prime favorites upon the stage ever since.
In 1777 he produced _The School for Scandal_, a caustic satire on London
society, which has no superior in genteel comedy. It has been said that
the characters of Charles and Joseph Surface were suggested by the Tom
Jones and Blifil of Fielding; but, if this be true, the handling is so
original and natural, that they are in no sense a plagiarism. Without the
rippling brilliancy of _The Rivals, The School for Scandal_ is better
sustained in scene and colloquy; and in spite of some indelicacy, which is
due to the age, the moral lesson is far more valuable.
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