She Stoops to Conquer provides a comedic look at the behavior and marital expectations of the upper classes in England during the eighteenth century
Reading and Writing Workshop: She Stoops to Conquer & Restoration Comedy Motifs
Workshop Overview:
This workshop will explore Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer (1773), while connecting key themes and motifs found in Restoration comedies. Participants will engage with She Stoops to Conquer alongside other public domain Restoration-era plays to develop an understanding of dramatic techniques, social satire, mistaken identities, class dynamics, gender roles, and romantic entanglements typical of the period.

Session 1: Introduction to Restoration Comedy & The World of Goldsmith
Primary Text: Paired Reading: Motif: Wit, Satire, and the Comedy of Manners
  • Explore how both plays use wit and social satire to critique the upper classes and manners of their time.
Writing Activity:
  • Compare the use of wit in She Stoops to Conquer and The Man of Mode. How do characters manipulate language to achieve personal goals?

Session 2: Mistaken Identities and Comic Confusion
Primary Text: Paired Reading: Motif: Disguises, Misunderstandings, and Comic Irony
  • Examine how misunderstandings drive both plots and create humorous situations.
Writing Activity:
  • Write a short comedic scene inspired by She Stoops to Conquer where a misunderstanding causes chaos between characters.

Session 3: Gender Roles and Power Dynamics
Primary Text: Paired Reading: Motif: Female Agency and Courtship
  • Focus on how women navigate restrictive gender roles and influence romantic outcomes.
Writing Activity:
  • Analyze Kate Hardcastle’s strategy of "stooping to conquer" compared to Millamant’s negotiations in The Way of the World. How do both characters subvert expectations?

Session 4: Class and Social Mobility
Primary Text: Paired Reading: Motif: Social Hierarchies and Marriage as Transaction
  • Discuss how characters seek upward mobility through marriage and deception.
Writing Activity:
  • Write a character analysis comparing how She Stoops to Conquer and Love for Love critique or reinforce social climbing and marriage for status.

Session 5: Fathers, Guardians, and the "Blocking Figure"
Primary Text: Paired Reading: Motif: Authority Figures as Obstacles to Romance
  • Explore how older characters act as comedic antagonists who delay or block the protagonists’ romantic ambitions.
Writing Activity:
  • Create a character sketch of Mr. Hardcastle and compare him to Lord Foppington in The Relapse. How do their attempts to control the younger generation drive the plot?

Session 6: Resolution and Theatrical Conventions
Primary Text: Paired Reading: Motif: Happy Endings and Moral Ambiguity
  • Discuss how comedies resolve conflicts with marriages and reconciliations, often leaving moral questions unresolved.
Writing Activity:
  • Draft an alternate ending for She Stoops to Conquer where the resolution does not involve marriage. How would this shift the comedic tone?

Final Project:
​Participants will write a comparative essay or short play incorporating at least two motifs explored in the workshop (e.g., mistaken identity + female agency). The project should demonstrate how Restoration comedy conventions still influence modern comedic storytelling.
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