Maria (Symbol)
Maria is a symbol of purity in a story where purity is in short supply. Despite the ubiquitousness of gossip in The School for Scandal, Maria refuses to gossip. She also remains faithful to her love, Charles, even after she is forbidden from marrying him. In this way she might be considered a moral baseline in a play rife with slander.
The Surface Family Portraits (Symbol)
Charles is, at least in the beginning of Sir Oliver's visit to him in disguise, shown to care more about money and fun than about family. This is shown in large part through the symbol of the portraits of the Surface family that are kept upstairs in Charles's residence. These portraits, showing relations both living and deceased, represent the long and proud lineage of the family, and Sir Oliver is appalled when Charles is willing to sell them, especially for the relatively small sums of money he accepts for each. However, Sir Oliver forgives Charles when Charles refuses, even for a large sum of money, to sell the picture of Sir Oliver. This action shows, through the symbol of that particular portrait, Charles's respect and care for Sir Oliver and what he has given to him.
Names (Motif)
In The School for Scandal, Sheridan uses names to create meaning, humor, and irony. Some names, such as Snake and Lady Sneerwell, reveal negative characteristics to the audience and underscore Sheridan's intended themes and morals in the play. In other cases, complexity and irony are added to certain characters, such as Mrs. Candour, who seems to be as much of a gossip Lady Sneerwell, but whose name literally means honesty. Similarly, the name Surface seems to indicate openness, an idea that interacts with the characters of Charles, Joseph, and Oliver differently throughout the play.
Books (Motif)
Books are a minor motif in The School for Scandal, but nevertheless they are important for the playwright's understandable relationship with the ideas of books, knowledge, and learning. Early in the play, we see the character of Benjamin Backbite, who is clearly one of the most educated characters in the play—a notable fact, since education was reserved for upper-class males at the time. He tries to woo Maria with his poetry, some of which is supposedly about her, and promises to put the poems together in a book, making him and Maria like Petrarch and Laura (Petrarch's famous love interest and poetic inspiration). Later in the play, the symbol of books returns when Sir Oliver is spying on Charles in disguise. Sir Oliver finds that Charles has already sold the family's large collection of books, and he mourns the loss of knowledge that had been passed down in the family. This again links the symbol of books with family/relationships and social class.
Makeup (Symbol)
Makeup is a symbol of beauty and youth. In The School for Scandal, makeup plays its most prominent role in a scene of gossip between a group of men and women. They discuss the makeup habits of a few women, making witty and judgmental comments such as, " ‘tis not that she paints so ill—but, when she has finished her face, she joins it on so badly to her neck, that she looks like a mended statue, in which the connoisseur may see at once that the head’s modern, though the trunk’s antique!"(p.59.) Through the symbol of makeup, this conversation combines many of the play's themes, such as gender, age, and social status.
