Richard+Brinsley+Sheridan

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

R. B. Sheridan was born in 1751 in [|__Dublin], [|Ireland__], where his family had a house on then-fashionable [|__Dorset Street__]. The family moved permanently to England in 1758 when he was age seven. He was a pupil at [|Harrow School] outside London from 1762 to 1768. His mother, [|__Frances Sheridan__], was a playwright and novelist. She had two plays produced in London in the early 1760s, though she is best known for her novel //The Memoirs of Sidney Biddulph// (1761). His father, [|__Thomas Sheridan__], was for a while an actor-manager at the [|__Theatre Royal, Dublin__] but, following his move to England in 1758, he gave up acting and wrote a number of books concerning education and, especially, the standardisation of the English language in education. In 1772 Richard Sheridan fought a famous duel against Captain Thomas Mathews. Mathews had written a newspaper article defaming the character of Elizabeth Linley, the woman Sheridan intended to marry, and honour dictated that a duel must be fought. A first duel was fought in London where they agreed to fight in Hyde park, but finding it too crowded they went to the Castle Tavern in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. Far from its romantic image, the duel was short and bloodless. Mathews lost his sword and, according to Sheridan, was forced to 'beg for his life' and sign a retraction of the article. The apology was made public and Mathews, infuriated by the publicity the duel had received, refused to accept his defeat as final and challenged Sheridan to another duel. Sheridan was not obliged to accept this challenge, but would have become a social pariah if he had not. The second duel, fought in August 1772 at Kingsdown near Bath, was a much more ferocious affair. This time both men broke their swords but carried on fighting in a 'desperate struggle for life and honour'. Both were wounded, Sheridan dangerously, being 'borne from the field with a portion of his antagonist's weapon sticking through an ear, his breast-bone touched, his whole body covered with wounds and blood, and his face nearly beaten to jelly with the hilt of Mathews' sword'. Fortunately his remarkable constitution pulled him through, and eight days after this bloody affair the Bath Chronicle was able to announce that he was out of danger. Mathews escaped in a post chaise Mathews escaped in a post chaise. When Sheridan settled in London, he began writing for the stage. His first play, The Rivals_, produced at [|__Covent Garden__] in 1775, was a failure on its first night. Sheridan cast a more capable actor for the role of the comic Irishman for its second performance, and it was a smash which immediately established the young playwright's reputation. It has gone on to become a standard of [|__English literature__]. In 1776, Sheridan, his father-in-law, and one other partner, bought a half interest in the [|__Drury Lane__] theatre and, two years later, bought out the other half. Sheridan was the manager of the theatre for many years, and later became sole owner with no managerial role. His most famous __play The School for Scandal_(Drury Lane, 8 May 1777) is considered one of the greatest [|__comedies of manners__] in English. It was followed by The Critic (1779), an updating of the satirical [|__Restoration play__] //The Rehearsal//, which received a memorable revival (performed with _Oedipus_ in a single evening) starring [|__Laurence Olivier__] as Mr Puff, opening at the [|__New Theatre__] on 18 October 1945 as part of an [|__Old Vic__] Theatre Company season. Having quickly made his name and fortune, in 1776 Sheridan bought [|__David Garrick__]'s share in the [|__Drury Lane__] patent, and in 1778 the remaining share. His later plays were all produced there. But on 24 February 1809 (despite the much vaunted fire safety precautions of 1794) the theatre burned down. On being encountered drinking a glass of wine in the street while watching the fire, Sheridan was famously reported to have said: "A man may surely be allowed to take a glass of wine by his own fireside." In 1773, Richard Sheridan at age 21 married [|__Elizabeth Ann Linley__] and set up house in London on a lavish scale with little money and no immediate prospects of any—other than his wife's [|__dowry__]. The young couple entered the fashionable world and apparently held up their end in entertaining. Less than two years later, his first play, [|the] rivals, was produced at London's [|__Covent Garden Theatre__]. It was a success and established him in the favour of fashionable London.

Shortly after the success of //The Rivals//, Sheridan and his father-in-law [|__Thomas Linley__], a successful composer, produced the opera, //The Duenna//. This piece was accorded such a warm reception that it played for seventy-five performances. (Source:__ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Brinsley_Sheridan). __ Richard Brinsley Sheridan Born October 30,1751

__Plays__ //The Rivals// //The Duenna// //A School For Scandal//

__Links__ [|__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Brinsley_Sheridan__]

[|__http://www.nndb.com/people/253/000101947/__] []