Summary
Act III Scene I opens again on Sir Oliver, Sir Peter, and Rowley. Rowley tells them of a man named Mr. Stanley, who is a relative of Joseph and Charles through their mother. Mr. Stanley has fallen on hard times financially and Charles has tried to help him, whereas Joseph has only made promises but not actually given anything. Rowley also announces that a "friendly Jew" (p.83) named Mr. Moses, who has been counseling Charles with his financial situation recently, is here to meet with them. Rowley says that Mr. Moses has an incentive to work with him because Charles owes him money, and he also tells them that he has information from Snake regarding the rumors Sir Peter has heard about Charles and Lady Teazle.
Mr. Moses enters and meets Sir Oliver. Mr. Moses tells Sir Oliver about Charles's incredible spending habits, and how he is deeply in debt. He says that that evening he is bringing a man from the city to advance Charles money. Sir Oliver clarifies that Charles has never met this man, Mr. Premium, before, and Sir Peter schemes that Sir Oliver might go to Charles disguised as Mr. Premium to find out what Charles is really like. Sir Oliver likes this idea; he has the thought that he might also go to Joseph disguised as Mr. Stanley. The men banter about how to get Sir Oliver prepared to play the part of Mr. Premium, and then he leaves with Mr. Moses.
Rowley tells Sir Peter to go get Snake so they can hear what he knows about the rumors regarding Lady Teazle and Charles. In the meantime, he sees Maria approaching and wants to talk to her.
Rowley exits and Maria enters. Maria and Sir Peter talk about how he wants her to love Joseph despite her persisting love for Charles. He scolds her for never listening to him and for loving Charles, perhaps because of his flaws. Maria exits angrily and Sir Peter laments how much he fights with both his wife and his ward.
Lady Teazle approaches and the couple tries to be good-natured with one another. They keep up the act for a short while, but then they fall back into fighting, even arguing about which one of them usually starts their fights. They decide that it might be better for them to separate.
Scene II opens with Sir Oliver, Mr. Moses, and one of Charles's servants at Charles's house. The servant wants to do business with Mr. Moses himself, which Sir Oliver thinks is strange. Trip tells them a bit about how lavishly Charles has been living. Trip leads them to where Charles and his friends are relaxing.
Scene III shows Charles and his friends drinking and talking about some gentlemen's unwillingness to drink alcohol recently. They also talk about love, and Charles brings up Maria. They sing a song about loving all kinds of women. Trip enters and tells Charles about his guests' arrival. Trip goes off and then re-enters with Sir Oliver (disguised as Mr. Premium) and Mr. Moses. Charles's friends soon leave out of boredom, going into the next room to play dice. Sir Oliver tells Charles his rehearsed story, and Charles even tells Sir Oliver about his rich uncle who plans to leave him everything. They discuss putting "a post-obit" (p.120) on Sir Oliver's life, but Sir Oliver advises against this.
Sir Oliver asks about various other ways Charles might make money by selling things from the house, but finds that Charles has already sold them. Charles offers to sell the collection of paintings of his family members. Sir Oliver is shocked by this proposal, but he pursues it, asking to see the portraits. Charles's friend Careless is swept up in the scene to play auctioneer in the room where the portraits are kept. They all leave the stage to go look at the portraits, with Sir Oliver vowing to himself that he'll never forgive Charles for this.
Analysis
Sheridan makes many allusions in the play during characters' dialogues with one another. This both shows Sheridan's own learnedness and underscores the education and high social status of the characters that make these references. One allusion of note comes early in Act III, made by Rowley. In conversation with Sir Oliver and Sir Peter about the young Surface boys, Joseph and Charles, he says, "as our immortal bard expresses it, -- 'a heart to pity, and a hand open as day for melting charity'" (p.81-2). This quote comes from Shakespeare's Henry VI. Rowley says this to the men to support Charles's remaining moral character. However, Sir Peter quips back, both as a response to Rowley and perhaps to Shakespeare himself, that having an open hand means nothing when one has spent all he had.
It is important to read this section with historical context in mind, specifically as applies to anti-Semitism and the role of Jews and Judaism in society. In Sheridan's time and before, many Jews were involved in money-lending, the Jewish faith, unlike Christianity, did not forbid this job. Nevertheless, the play presents a stereotyped character, a Jewish money-lender who is willing to be involved in deceit, and who likely was dressed and made up to comply with a stereotypical Jewish appearance. Productions since Sheridan's time, especially contemporary productions, have had to decide whether to edit out these references to Judaism entirely or perform the play as it was written but provide relevant historical context to the audience.
Sheridan uses a humorous scene to show Sir Oliver's transformation into the money-lender Mr. Premium. This humor is mostly created through repetition. For example, part of the interaction with Mr. Moses as he teaches the man how to play the role of Mr. Premium is as follows:
"MOSES
Then, you know, you haven’t the moneys yourself, but are forced
to borrow them for him of a friend.
SIR OLIVER
Oh! I borrow it of a friend, do I?
MOSES
And your friend is an unconscionable dog: but you can’t help
that.
SIR OLIVER
My friend an unconscionable dog, is he?" (p.90.)
The fact that Sir Oliver is not particularly good at acting his role, along with the fact that while acting his role he gives many asides to himself or the audience, increases the humor and dramatic irony in those scenes.
Of the motivations to convince Maria to marry Joseph, Sir Peter's seem the most conscionable. While Lady Sneerwell wants to see Maria with Joseph because she loves Charles, Sir Peter seems to simply want what he sees as best for the ward for whom he has recently assumed responsibility. Sir Peter and Maria discuss the role of a father, with her saying that she has respected his wishes in not corresponding with Charles, but that she cannot regard him as a father if he forces her to marry Joseph, "compel[ling her] to be miserable" (p.93). Though Lady Teazle told Sir Peter earlier in the play that he should have adopted her, not married her, if he wanted to control her, Maria shows still another example of a strong female character who will protest the dynamics of gender and power within families.
