Historical Context in She Stoops to Conquer

Goldsmith was rumored to have practiced medicine without being a doctor, so this is a bit of humor at his expense.  Before the play's production, Goldsmith preferred to be referred to as "Doctor Goldsmith."  

Ned (Edward) Shuter (1728–1776) was considered by the theater community to be one of the best comic actors of the time. 

Henry Woodward (1714–1777) was a comic actor who specialized in plays similar to She Stoops to Conquer.

David Garrick (1717–1779) was one of Samuel Johnson and Goldsmith's closest friends.  He began his career as an actor and later managed the Drury Lane Theater, one of the most successful theaters in London during the mid 18th century.  Garrick authored several successful farces and comedies.  Along with Goldsmith and several others, he was part of a group now known as Johnson and His Circle, essentially a social and literary club.

At the time of the play's composition and production, England's Royal Navy had been trying to find a way to determine longitude for decades because longitude is critical for navigation.  It wasn't until later in 1773 that a watchmaker named John Harrison developed the technique and won a 20,000 Pound prize from the Admiralty.

"Zounds!" is an exclamation that abbreviates the phrase "By God's wounds," a reference to Christ's wounds at his crucifixion.

These directions are meant to confuse—murrain is a common disease among cattle.

Lumpkin is describing his sister, Kate, as someone who moves ungracefully; is generally untidy and sloppy; and is tall and thin.  Among the upper-middle class in 18th century England, being thin is a sign of not having enough to eat and is not a compliment.

The word "bustards" refers to large game birds similar to turkeys. They went extinct early in the 19th century.

Founded by Joh Wesley (1703–1791) and his younger brother Charles (1707–1788), the Methodists were strong advocates of banning the consumption of alcohol.

As with Constance Neville's inheritance of 1500 pounds a year, Lumpkin's inheritance has a value (in 2014 USD) of between $80,000–$100,000 per year, an amount that puts him well into the upper middle class or lower upper class.

"Grumbletonian" is another play on words.  Men who graduated from English private (public) schools such as Eton and universities like Oxford were called Etonians and Oxonians, respectively. Lumpkin has created a new word, modeled on established words, to describe his stepfather.

The "Water Parted" is an aria from the opera *Artaxerxes *(1762) by Thomas Augustine—a popular contemporary opera.  "Ariadne" refers to the main character in Handel's opera Arianna in Creta (1734).  G. F. Handel was most well known in England for his oratorio *The Messiah *(1745) and the "Hallelujah" chorus.

The song contains a number of satirical references to the uselessness of education and the "evils" of Methodism, a Protestant sect that was gaining a lot of followers at mid-18th century.  Lumpkin singles out Methodist preachers because they preach against the use of alcohol.

The landed gentry were known for constantly making changes to their house and gardens—the "improvements"—and a walk to view the improvements was a standard daily aspect of life in the country.

The phrase "Allons!" is French for "Let's go!"  Well-educated members of the landed gentry, especially women, were expected to be at least conversant in French.

At this time, one's fortune was based in land and cash. Jewels, though valuable, were not easily converted to cash, and their value fluctuated considerably.

In other words, the servants are like new recruits in the army—they need training.  As a member of the landed gentry, Mr. Hardcastle would have some responsibility for the funding, organization, and training of local militia.

Arranged marriage, usually a marriage of strangers, was common among the landed gentry (the upper-middle and upper classes).

A common belief of those who live in rural areas is that visits to or lengthy stays in London corrupt men and women, young and old.

"Little Aminadab" is the biblical name of a Hebrew prophet and would be most likely used for a person of color or a Jew, in this case, a child of perhaps 10 years old.

A typical punishment for someone creating a public nuisance (such as drunkenness) in the mid-18th century was be to be dunked in a pond.

Mrs. Hardcastle is referring to a well-known ballad by Henry Woodfall (1739–1805), featuring an old married couple, Darby and Joan.

Prince Eugene is Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736), an ally of the British in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), a war fought over who had the right to succeed Charles II as King of Spain.  One of the most important battles in the war took place at Blenheim (Belgium), fought against the French by the Duke of Marlborough (1650–1722), one of Winston Churchill's most famous ancestors.

Goldsmith is making a play on words.  Cripplegate is an area of London, and it may have gotten its name because of the numerous cripples who used to beg near the gate.  Goldsmith's use of Cripplegate for the name of a "lame dancing-master" would have drawn a lot of laughs from the audience.

A "curate" is a clergyman who has responsibility for a parish church, often appointed to the position by the wealthiest landowner in the parish.

The basket is the luggage rack on top of the coach or sometimes behind the passenger compartment.  Servants traveling with their masters often sat with the luggage in the basket.

No matter where one is in England, going to "town" means going to London.

This is a subtle criticism by Goldsmith of the novel, which was a popular genre among the upper classes, because it appealed to the sentiments—that is, it made its readers cry.

Pharmacoepia Officinalis et Extemporanea is John Quincy's book on a wide variety of common medical conditions, widely used by home makers in the 18th century to diagnose and attempt to cure common diseases.  Keep in mind that such works were next to useless but gave people the illusion of control over illnesses.

A typical task for a young girl of even the upper class was to learn how to embroider. One of the common pieces of embroidery is called a "sampler" because it requires a number of different styles of embroidery.

This refers to the inoculation against small-pox, a disease that often disfigured the face.

The annual publication "The Ladies' Memorandum" often showed the most stylish ways to dress hair.

A fictitious magazine, probably modeled on a magazine like Town and Country Magazine, which detailed affairs and other scandalous behavior among the wealthy.

Mrs. Hardcastle's list of places is, like Hasting's, a mix of the fashionable and crime-ridden.  Hastings was making a joke; Mrs. Hardcastle is speaking from ignorance.

The Pantheon, which was in a fashionable part of town on Oxford Street, had rooms (called salons) where fashionable people met to discuss politics, art, literature, and town gossip.  The Grotto Gardens, located in St. George's Fields, was not quite such a fashionable place as The Pantheon on Oxford Street.  The Borough, which was located in Southwark, a poor, crime-ridden area, was not the kind of place fashionable people visited.

Hastings is giving Mrs. Hardcastle a back-handed compliment: Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens, in the Chelsea area of London, were frequented by the upper class and royalty, as was St. James's Park.  The Tower Wharf, on the other hand, was associated with thieves, prostitutes, and vices in general.

Hastings refers to Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BCE–43 BCE), a powerful political figure and philosopher during Julius Caesar's reign. Cicero was also well known for his writing style, and many contemporary and later writers imitated his style.  

Constance's uncle was a Director of the East India Company, a powerful and wealthy company that controlled trade with India and other British colonial possessions.

Hastings is most likely referring to England's Marriage Act of 1753, which required marriages to take place in a church. The marriage had to be "advertised" ahead of time by *banns, *and the couple had to obtain a license. Couples who wanted to avoid the requirements of the Marriage Act often eloped to a little town across the Scottish border, Gretna Green, to be married.  Scotland had very easy marriage requirements.

The English generally believed the French to be enslaved by their government before the French Revolution in 1789.

The English are not known for complicated cooking, so they look upon French cooking as unnecessarily complex because of the number of colorful ingredients.

Still unaware that they are at a private house, they are shocked at the amount of food on hand.  A "Joiner's Company" refers to a union of carpenters and cabinet makers.   The Corporation of Bedford refers to the town leaders of the city of Bedford.

Prince Eugene of Savoy defeated the Ottoman Turks at Belgrade in 1717.

Marlow refers to the area of London where legal disputes were heard and settled.

Hardcastle is referring to two key rulers in India in the latter half of the 18th century when England was taking full control of India.  Hyder Ali and Ali Khan ruled two of India's largest cities (Mysore and Bengal, respectively) as the British gained control of India.

Hardcastle is unknowingly helping to convince Marlow and Hastings that he is an innkeeper.

In rural areas, inns were centers of political discourse and election activities, so Marlow assumes that Hardcastle, being an innkeeper, has a lot of business during elections, which explains why he has such good punch to offer visitors.

Hardcastle's tale runs counter to history.  The battle was a disaster for the allies, so it is unclear whether Hardcastle participated in the battle or is just recounting something that he has heard.

No scholar has been able to identify anyone with this name close to Marlborough.

This first-person account of the battle at Denain in 1712 indicates that Hardcastle was with Marlborough during the War of the Spanish Succession. The battle resulted in a defeat of the allied forces by the French, which included the English troops under Marlborough.

It was common among royalty for marriages to take place with the groom in one place and the bride in another, with a third party representing the groom and bride, especially when there was a significant age difference.  Sometimes, the married couple did not meet for several months or even years.  Such marriages occurred for political reasons and had nothing to do with romantic love.

Goldsmith is alluding to a comet that appeared in 1769, just four years before the play's opening, and, most likely, the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius (near Naples, Italy) in 1767.

Marlow means that the expense of keeping up a mansion bankrupts the owner, and it must be turned into an inn to support itself.

Servants in upper-class households were forbidden to put their hands in their pockets, a custom that carried over from military customs for enlisted personnel.  Putting one's hands into pockets implied that one was at leisure, a gesture completely inappropriate for the servant class.

Rooms in homes often had embroidered screens used to block off certain areas.  When fireplaces were not in use, for example, a screen was often placed to screen the view from the room's occupants.

This may be a play on long horns, which could mean that Mrs. Langhorns is an American (comparing her to long-horn cattle from Texas).  Among cultivated people in 18th century London, Americans were almost always considered the equivalent of country bumpkins.

Marlow refers to a real club in London on Albemarle Street, which was for women members only, but men were often invited to participate in discussions.

A horse's approximate age can often be determined by looking at the condition of the mouth and teeth.

Named after St. Catherine of Alexandria who was killed by being tied to a revolving wheel, this is a wheel that has fireworks at the end of each spoke of the wheel, and the fireworks make the wheel revolve.

"Morrice" may refer to Morris Dancers, a group of dancers from certain areas of England who make a lot of noise while they dance. Tony is telling Hastings to run away as fast as he can.

A cracker is a toy used during celebrations.  It's a foil-wrapped paper cylinder with a small cap inside that explodes when the two ends of the cylinder wrappers are pulled, creating a cracking sound.  Usually, there are several small, cheap toys inside the cylinder.

Bully Dawson was a notorious man-about-town and gambler during the Restoration, the reign of Charles II (1660–1685).  His behavior was so outrageous that he became the symbol of an unscrupulous pleasure-seeker with no honorable traits.

Marlow is serious enough about this to request a duel with Hastings.  If the explanation is not satisfactory, the next step is a challenge.  Even as late at the 1770s, duels were quite common among the upper class.

This refers to St. Mary of Bethlehem Royal Hospital in London, which took care of the mentally ill and from which we get the modern word bedlam, meaning utter chaos.

Like a dog pound, stray horses were kept there until redeemed by their owners for a fee.

Owned by Lord Rockingham, Whistle-Jacket was a famous racehorse in the 1760s. He is immortalized in a painting by George Stubbs (who specialized in painting horses), which is in the National Portrait Gallery.

Dullissimo is a made-up Italian-sounding word meaning really stupid, and Maccaroni, a real Italian word, was used for young Englishmen who traveled to the Continent and came back wearing Italian fashions and imitating Continental behavior.

In the late 18th century, Fleet Street in London was a hot-bed of political unrest and violence.

A guinea, a small gold coin, was worth about a Pound Sterling, a considerable sum in the 18th century.

Marlow implies that a miser would never spend something as valuable as a guinea.

Mrs. Hardcastle's comment is most likely Goldsmith's dig at the novel, which, even as late as the 1770s, was not considered "serious" literature.

Tony refers to the very real threat of highwaymen in rural areas, who were often armed and routinely held up passengers on horse and in coaches.  Because these outlaws did not want to be identified, they often executed those they stopped.  When caught and tried, they would be hanged and their bodies left on the gallows to serve as a deterrent to others.

Sir Charles is pointing out the Marlow is wealthy and doesn't need Kate to bring money to the marriage.  In the upper class during the 18th century, marriage for economic reasons was far more common than marriage for love.