“Tale-bearers are as bad as the tale-makers.”
In this quote, Mrs. Candour raises one of the central questions of the play. Are those who spread rumors and scandal, as she says, as bad as those who create them purposefully to harm the reputations of others? While Sheridan seems to believe so, that Mrs. Candour suggests this is ironic and hypocritical since she is one of the major spreaders of gossip in the play.
“To pity, without the power to relieve, is still more painful than to ask and be denied.”
Throughout the play, the audience has been led through the conversations of many characters to believe that Joseph is the more moral and worthy of the two Surface brothers. However, in Act V Scene I, Joseph refuses to give any money to Sir Oliver, who has disguised himself as Joseph's poor relative, Mr. Stanley. In this quote, Joseph even tries to spin the situation as if it is more difficult for him, who supposedly feels deep pity for Mr. Stanley but simply does not have money to give, a fact which Sir Oliver knows is not true.
"Wounded myself in the early part of my life by the envenomed tongue of slander I confess I have since known no pleasure equal to the reducing others to the level of my own injured reputation"
In Act I Scene I, Lady Sneerwell directly tells Snake and the audience about why she is willing and eager to spread rumors she knows could ruin others' reputations. This kind of honesty, especially so early in the play, is surprising because of how guarded and deceitful the play's characters generally are in the public sphere. This quote and the surrounding scene set up one of the major conflicts of the play: the rumor that Charles and Lady Teazle are having an affair, which causes both Sir Peter and Maria to doubt their lovers.
"If you wanted authority over me you should have adopted me and not married me"
This quote is representative of the ongoing arguments that plague Lady Teazle and Sir Peter's marriage, but it also alludes to the theme of gender and the role of females in the play. See the discussion in the "Themes" section for more on the theme of gender and this quotes' relation to it.
In this quote, the word "appearances" alludes to a number of different themes and events in the play. First, physical appearance itself is of high importance since looking youthful and fashionable was important to maintaining one's social status. In this and other scenes in the play, small groups of people gossip ruthlessly about people's appearances, and especially their use of makeup, which is criticized if it is too heavy or improperly done, since this reveals one's failures to appear beautiful, youthful, and in fashion. Second, this quote reminds the audience of the theme of disguises in the play. This is seen both literally through Sir Oliver's visits to his nephews in two different disguises, and figuratively in the social act of disguising one's flaws, as Joseph does by pretending to be moral and caring but actually being selfish and greedy.
"A School for Scandal! tell me, I beseech you,
Needs there a school this modish art to teach you?
No need of lessons now, the knowing think;
We might as well be taught to eat and drink."
This quote begins the prologue to the play, given after the "portrait" (p.5) but before the play truly begins with Act I Scene I. In this prologue, themes of gossip and gender, among others, are foreshadowed and discussed ironically. Specifically, this quote asks the audience whether anyone actually needs to be taught how to spread scandals in society at that time, since it seemed to come as naturally to people as eating and drinking.
"If they were to consider the sporting with reputation of as much importance as poaching on manors, and pass an act for the preservation of fame, I believe many would thank them for the bill."
The political nature of the play's morals becomes clear in Sir Peter's discussion of a bill for the preservation of fame. Though Sheridan's play is humorous and entertaining, at its heart it is a satire, which means Sheridan sought social awareness and change. Specifically, he sought to shed light on the devastating effects of gossip and scandal on individuals and society at large, and suggested through the character of Sir Peter that there should be harsher laws to punish rumor-spreaders and to protect those whose reputations might be threatened.
"There’s no possibility of being witty without a little ill-nature: the malice of a good thing is the barb that makes it stick."
Another major question the play raises is whether smart, funny people could have an entertaining conversation without judging and gossiping rudely about others. While Sir Peter and Maria suggest that this could and should be the case, many other characters seem to believe that being mean is simply part of normal conversation, especially if the conversation is meant to be humorous. They do not care about the negative effects of their speech on those present or on those whom they discuss.
"I’ll not debate how far scandal may be allowable; but in a man, I am sure, it is always contemptible. We have pride, envy, rivalship, and a thousand motives to depreciate each other; but the male slanderer must have the cowardice of a woman before he can traduce one."
Maria's character is a symbol of moral purity in the play. Even when she is in a large group of people all gossiping about someone, she refuses to engage with them and often speaks up against what is happening. In this quote, she shames the other characters for their rumor-spreading and underscores the interplay of the themes of gossip and gender. She seems to suggest that women are more prone to gossip, though Sheridan also, perhaps pointedly, shows that many of the characters who create and help to spread rumors in the play are male.
"I have got a room full of ancestors above: and if you have a taste for old paintings, egad, you shall have ‘em a bargain!"
The portraits of Charles's ancestors are a symbol of his apparent disregard for family in pursuit of money. This is a major event in the play since Sir Oliver needs to decide which of his nephews are worthy of inheriting his fortune and many characters have argued throughout the first three acts of the play about whether Charles is actually devoid of morals. Sir Oliver promises himself that he will never forgive Charles after the young man agrees to sell his family's portraits, thereby symbolically giving up the family's proud lineage, especially for "a bargain"(p.124), but he soon forgives his nephew when he refuses to sell the portrait of Sir Oliver for any price.
