Sources for She Stoops to Conquer

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    Some Sources of Goldsmith's She Stoops to ConquerAuthor(s): Gertrude van Arsdale IngallsSource: PMLA, Vol. 44, No. 2 (Jun., 1929), pp. 565-568Published by: Modern Language AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/457481 .

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    XXIISOME SOURCES OF GOLDSMITH'S SHE STOOPSTO CONQUER

    MONG nineteenth century critics it was the fashion to con-sider Oliver Goldsmith one of the most original of writers;and The Vicar and She Stoops to Conquerwere always cited asexamples of that originality. Modern scholarship, which hasdestroyed so many of the traditions concerning Goldsmith, hasthus far left these two works intact.In She Stoops to Conquer one of the most striking incidentsis the trick played by Tony on his unsuspecting mother, wherebyshe is driven about her own garden, yet made to think that shehas travelled far from home, and is wrecked on the dangerousheath. No hint has ever been offered that this curious bit of in-vention was not Goldsmith's own. Yet in No. 427 of the SpectatorSteele, after arraigning gossips and tale-bearers, tells the follow-ing story about the worst of them, Lady Bluemantle:

    She is so exquisitelyrestless and peevish, that she quarrelswith allabouther,andsometimesn a Freakwillinstantlychangeher Habitation.To indulgethis Humour,she is led aboutthe Groundsbelonging o thesameHouse she is in, and the Persons o whomsheis to remove,beinginthe Plot, arereadyto receiveher at her own Chamberagain. At statedTimes,the gentlewoman t whoseHouse she supposes he is at the Time,is sent for to quarrelwith,accordingo hercommonCustom: Whentheyhave a Mind to drive the Jest, she is immediatelyurgedto that Degree,that she will board n a Familywith which she has neveryet been;andaway she will go this instant, and tell them all that the rest have beensayingof them. By this meansshehas been anInhabitantof everyHousein the Place, withoutstirringfrom the sameHabitation;and the manyStorieswhicheveryBodyfurnishesher with to favourthat Deceit, makeherthe generalIntelligencer f the Town.Here is an astonishing concurrence, not only of action, but ofcharacter-for it is evident that both Mrs. Hardcastle and LadyBluemantle have the same "humour"-and there is even a simi-larity in the formation of the two names. It will hardly be doubted,therefore, that Steele's story furnished Goldsmith with the directsuggestion for the correspondingincident in his comedy.Another story in the Spectator (No. 289)-this time from thepen of Addison-furnishes an interesting analogue to the main

    565

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    566 Some Sources of "She Stoops to Conquer"incident in the plot of She Stoops to Conquer: young Harlow'smistaking the home of Mr. Hardcastle for an inn. Addison con-cludes a discourse on the brevity of human life with the followinganecdote which, he states, he had somewhere read in the "Travelsof Sir John Chardin:"

    A Dervise, travelling through Tartary, being arrived at the town ofBalk, went into the King's Palace by a Mistake, as thinking it to be apublick Inn or Caravansary. Having looked about him for some Time, heentered into a long Gallery, where he laid down his Wallet, and spreadhis Carpet, in order to repose himself upon it, after the Manner of theEastern Nations. He had not been long in this Posture before he was dis-covered by some of the Guards, who asked what was his Business in thatPlace? The Dervise told them, he intended to take up his Night's Lodging,in that Caravansary. The Guards let him know, in a very angry Manner,that the House he was in, was not a Caravansary, but the King's Palace.It happened that the King himself passed through the Gallery during theDebate, and smiling at the Mistake of the Dervise, asked him how he couldpossibly be so dull, as not to distinguish a Palace from a Caravansary?Sir, says the Dervise, give me Leave to ask Your Majesty a Question ortwo. Who were the Persons that lodged in this House when it was firstbuilt? The King replied, His Ancestors. And who, says the Dervise, wasthe last Person that lodged here? The King replied, His Father. And whois it, says the Dervise, that lodges here at present? The King told himthat it was he himself. And who, says the Dervise, will be here after you?The King answered the young Prince, his Son. 'Ah Sir,' said the Dervise,a House that changes its Inhabitants so often, and receives such a per-petual Succession of Guests, is not a Palace, but a Caravansary.'

    In this case, it may be granted, the resemblance to the sit-uation in the play is by no means so close as in Steele's story ofLady Bluemantle. Setting, atmosphere, purpose, tone are alteredto such an extent that if Goldsmith made use of this story of thedervish he obviously took it merely as a point of departure.Indeed, were it not for our discovery that Goldsmith, in con-structing the plot of his comedy, appropriated the other storyfrom the Spectator we might be disposed to dismiss the resem-blance as simply a literary coincidence. In considering the pos-sibility of a literary source for the incident of the house mistakenfor an inn one must not overlook the existence of a current tradi-tion that this owed its origin to an actual experience in Gold-smith's own youth. The tale is told by Forster in his biographyof Goldsmith and is said to have been current among the author's

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    Gertrude Van Arsdale Ingallsold neighbors at Ballmahon. It was vouched for by Jack Fitz-simmons. It runs as follows:

    At the close of his last holidays,then a lad of nearlyseventeen,he lefthomefor Edgeworthstown,mounted on a borrowedhack whicha friendwasto restore o Lissoy,andwith a guinea,storeof unaccustomedwealth,in his pocket. The delicious taste of independencebeguiledhim into aloitering, lingering,pleasant enjoymentof the journey;and instead offindinghimselfunderMr. Hughes'sroofat nightfall, night fell uponhimsome two orthree miles out of the directroad, n the middleof the streetsof Ardagh. But nothingcould disconcert he owner of the guinea,who,with a lofty confidentair, inquiredof a person passingthe way to thetown'sbest house of entertainment. The man addressedwas a wag ofArdagh,a humorousencing-master,Mr. CorneliusKelly,andthe school-boyswaggerwas irresistible rovocationo a jest. Submissivelyhe turnedbackwith horseandridertill they camewithina paceor two of the greatSquire Featherstone's,to which he respectfully pointed as the "besthouse"of Ardagh. Oliverrangat the gate, gave his beast in chargewithauthoritativerigour,and was shown,as a supposedexpectedguest, intothe comfortableparlourof the squire. Thoseweredays when Irish inn-keepersand Irishsquiresmorenearly approximatedhan now; and Mr.Featherstone,unlike the excellent but explosiveMr. Hardcastle, s saidtohaveseenthemistake,andhumouredt. Oliverhad a supperwhichgavehim so muchsatisfactionthat he ordereda bottle of wineto follow;andthe attentive landlordwasnot only forced to drinkwith him, but, withlike familiarcondescension,he wifeandpretty daughterwere invited tothe supper-room.Goingto bed, he stoppedto give specialinstructionsfora hot caketo breakfast;andit was not tillhehaddispatched hislattermeal, and was regardinghis guinea with a pathetic last look, that thetruth was told him by the good-natured quire. The late Sir ThomasFeatherstone,grandsonto the supposedinn-keeper,had faith in theadventure;and told Mr. Grahamthat as his grandfatherand CharlesGoldsmithhadbeencollegeacquaintance,t mightthe betterbeaccountedfor.Forster, however, clearly had his doubts as to the truth of thestory. "On which, if true," he concludes, "the leading incident ofShe Stoops to Conquerwas founded." And it must be confessed

    that when scrutinized the story looks apocryphal-would Oliverhave been likely to keep the guinea in his pocket until the nextmorning after breakfast?However, it is more than likely that some such experience of hisown lay at the bottom of the incident in She Stoops. It is an inter-esting phenomenon of Goldsmith's genius, not yet sufficiently

    567

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    568 Some Sources of "She Stoops to Conquer"noted, that he never knows which of his own experiences con-stituted literary material. He had to be guided by similar incidentswhich he found in print. In this case, the mistake of the dervish,as found in the Spectator,pointed the way to the use of his own boy-hood mishap.

    Interesting as inquiries as to sources may be, however, it isonly when they are interpreted in their bearing on an author'smethod that their real significance appears. In the case of Gold-smith such interpretation is especially necessary. The fact haslong been known that he made use of French writings in manyworks: The Chinese Letters, and The Animated Nature in parti-cular; but it has generally been supposed that his obligations toEnglish writers have been confined to phrases, figures, and turnsof speech,-the sort of thing to be found in any writer. Again,while he is known to have translated verbatim rom the French attimes, his usual method has been supposed to be one of conden-sation,-never of expansion or development. Yet in the twoinstances cited he is found doing exactly this. In each case hetakes a slight illustration, and makes of it a major incident. Heseizes upon an idea, and works it up into a story. These cases,to be sure, are slight. But it may well be that further comparisonof his writings with those of other English authors may yieldresults that will compel a revision of judgments long consideredsettled.

    GERTRUDEVAN ARSDALE NGALLSWesternState College of Colorado.

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