Right
off the bat, the stock characters that we discussed while looking at Commedia dell’arte
were very apparent in the story. Some of
the characters didn’t have just one of those stock character roles but it was
clear that Jack Absolute and Lydia were the young lovers and, of course, Jack
was also the Captain (in both senses!). Lydia reminded me of Lydia from Pride and Prejudice because of her naiveté,
youth, and slight bratty-ness. I loved all the classic misunderstandings with
Mrs. Malaprop and Sir Anthony because it was very much in the style of Comedy
of Manners. The love story between Jack
Absolute/Ensign Beverley and Lydia Languish reminded me of a reverse Aladdin because
instead of Aladdin (a poor guy) pretending to be Prince Ali (a rich prince,
worthy of Jasmine’s affection and attention), Captain Jack (a rich guy)
pretended to be Ensign Beverley (a poor guy). Although the premise was ridiculous, it seemed
a bit admirable for Lydia to be more interested in a poor, romantic man, even
if the idea of him came from her books. I enjoyed Faulkland’s character as well,
mostly because he reminded me of a Neville Longbottom type.
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Because
“The Rivals” is a Comedy of Manners, like Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of
Being Ernest,” I saw many similarities based on discussions I had in my Intro
to Theatre class when we went over English theatre. Even though Oscar Wilde wrote his plays about
a hundred years later, the plot line was still fairly similar to that of
Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s. I was also
able to notice several stock characters in the play after we acted out our
Commedia dell’arte scenes last week in class.
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