The Rivals: A Comedy

About

Sheridan's 1775 debut comedy — written at twenty-three — gave the English language the word 'malapropism' through the immortal Mrs. Malaprop, whose confident misuse of language ('She's as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile') is the play's most enduring gift to comedy. The romantic plot — Captain Absolute pursuing Lydia Languish under false pretenses — is less original than the surrounding character comedy, but the play manages its ensemble with admirable clarity. The Rivals is one of the most reliably entertaining comedies of the period and never fails to land its central comic creation.