Analysis Pages

Character Analysis in She Stoops to Conquer

Charles Marlow: Charles Marlow, the play’s central male character, is a modest and well-educated man who has set out to court Kate Hardcastle. Believing the Hardcastle home to be an inn, Marlow is rude to Mr. Hardcastle, whom he thinks is the innkeeper. Marlow is extremely shy around upper-class women, becoming a nervous, bumbling fool in their presence. But around women below his status, he becomes a confident and dashing rogue.

Miss Kate Hardcastle: Miss Hardcastle is the other central character and the one who does the titular stooping. The daughter of Mr. Hardcastle, she shows her father great respect and love. Unlike Mr. Hardcastle, she appreciates the town and all it offers. Kate is cunning, posing as a maid to deceive Marlow—attracted as he is to women of lower status—into falling in love with her. Kate sees that in order for her relationship with Marlow to blossom, she must drastically alter her personality.

George Hastings: George is a friend of Marlow’s and the lover of Miss Constance Neville. He intends to elope to France with Constance, but she will not leave without the jewels she inherited. Therefore, George and Constance enter into an agreement with Tony Lumpkin to retrieve the jewels.

Tony Lumpkin: Tony Lumpkin is Mrs. Hardcastle’s son and Mr. Hardcastle’s stepson. He is a mischievous and uneducated playboy who is fond of gambling and performing at the alehouse. Lumpkin is promised in marriage to Constance Neville, his cousin. However, because he despises Constance, he goes to great lengths to help her and Hastings elope to France. The joke that he plays on Marlow—convincing him that the Hardcastle home is an inn—is the central deception that drives the plot forward.

Mr. Hardcastle: Mr. Hardcastle is a level-headed man who is in love with all things old. He despises the town and its follies, preferring instead to recount the tales of his time at war. He cares very deeply for his daughter, and he is the one who arranges the marriage between Kate and Marlow. Despite being greatly insulted by Marlow’s initial treatment of him, he manages to keep his temper and, after realizing the deception and misunderstanding at work, forgives Marlow and consents to Marlow’s marriage to Kate.

Mrs. Hardcastle: The mother of Tony and the wife of Mr. Hardcastle, Mrs. Hardcastle is a corrupt and greedy widow. She desires the socialite lifestyle of the London elite and often complains that she and her husband never entertain. She spoils Tony, and her love for him blinds her to his flaws. She promises Tony to Constance in marriage in an attempt to keep her inheritance within the family and to take advantage of Constance’s social standing. Mrs. Hardcastle’s greed and vanity prevents her from seeing Tony’s dislike of Constance.

Miss Constance Neville: Constance is in love with Hastings and wants to elope with him. However, she is hesitant because she does not want to lose her precious jewels, which she inherited from her uncle, an East India Company director. Therefore, she and Hastings collaborate with Tony agree to take the jewels away from the greedy Mrs. Hardcastle.

Sir Charles Marlow: A minor character, Sir Charles Marlow is the one who recommended his son, the other Charles Marlow, to his old friend Mr. Hardcastle as a suitable husband.

Character Analysis Examples in She Stoops to Conquer:

Act The First

🔒 21

"trapesing, trolloping, talkative maypole..."   (Act The First)

Lumpkin is describing his sister, Kate, as someone who moves ungracefully; is generally untidy and sloppy; and is tall and thin.  Among the upper-middle class in 18th century England, being thin is a sign of not having enough to eat and is not a compliment.

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"unaccountable reserve..."   (Act The First)

Marlow is so shy that he doesn't even ask for directions.

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"fifteen hundred a year..."   (Act The First)

As with Constance Neville's inheritance of 1500 pounds a year, Lumpkin's inheritance has a value (in 2014 USD) of between $80,000–$100,000 per year, an amount that puts him well into the upper middle class or lower upper class.

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"grumbletonian..."   (Act The First)

"Grumbletonian" is another play on words.  Men who graduated from English private (public) schools such as Eton and universities like Oxford were called Etonians and Oxonians, respectively. Lumpkin has created a new word, modeled on established words, to describe his stepfather.

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"as they mayn't be good enough company for you..."   (Act The First)

Lumpkin means just the opposite. His drinking buddies are not good company for these men from London.

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"I'll be no bastard..."   (Act The First)

Lumpkin is saying that when he's 21, he will follow in his father's footsteps and be a true son.

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"SONG..."   (Act The First)

The song contains a number of satirical references to the uselessness of education and the "evils" of Methodism, a Protestant sect that was gaining a lot of followers at mid-18th century.  Lumpkin singles out Methodist preachers because they preach against the use of alcohol.

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"though I am obligated to dance a bear..."   (Act The First)

The third fellow is acknowledging that he is poor by comparing himself to a typical carnival act, a dancing bear, and that he has no grace or talent.

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"Besides, as she has the sole management of it..."   (Act The First)

Mrs. Hardcastle apparently controls Constance's fortune until she reaches a certain age, usually 18 or 19, which means she has substantial control over Constance's behavior.

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"but his acquaintance give him a very different character among creatures of another stamp..."   (Act The First)

Constance is hinting that Marlowe loses his modesty when he is with women of a lower station than his, presumably, those from the servant class.

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"Yet now I look again..."   (Act The First)

Constance is trying to undermine Kate's confidence in her looks—a typical rivalry between two eligible (for marriage) young women.

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"sheepish..."   (Act The First)

Note that Hardcastle says "reserved," which means modest. Kate changes that to "sheepish," a word that describes an overly modest (withdrawn) person who has no self-confidence.

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"they want as much training as a company of recruits the first day's muster..."   (Act The First)

In other words, the servants are like new recruits in the army—they need training.  As a member of the landed gentry, Mr. Hardcastle would have some responsibility for the funding, organization, and training of local militia.

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"set my cap to some newer fashion..."   (Act The First)

The phrase "set my cap" often means to settle one's attention on another, better, marriage prospect.  In other words, Kate will look for another marriageable man.

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"I'll never control your choice..."   (Act The First)

Even though Hardcastle has arranged this marriage, at least he confirms that he won't force Kate to marry someone she finds objectionable.

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"that the indigent world could be clothed out of the trimmings of the vain..."   (Act The First)

In other words, Kate is wearing so much silk that the leftovers from making the silk clothes could be used to clothe the poor.

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"But is not the whole age in a combination to drive sense and discretion out of doors..."   (Act The First)

Hardcastle is lamenting the fact that good sense and appropriate behavior are not characteristic of the times.

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"spins the pewter platter..."   (Act The First)

Tom Twist apparently spins a pewter (tin and lead) plate on the top of a stick. Note that the characters introduced here are, stock or flat characters, meaning their names indicate their role in the play, which is not central to the play's action.

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"Little Aminadab..."   (Act The First)

"Little Aminadab" is the biblical name of a Hebrew prophet and would be most likely used for a person of color or a Jew, in this case, a child of perhaps 10 years old.

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"Ay, you have taught him finely. ..."   (Act The First)

Hardcastle means just the reverse: Tony Lumpkin has not had a good education.

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"to years of discretion yet..."   (Act The First)

Tony Lumpkin hasn't reached 21, the age of majority.

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" I'm in love with the town, and that serves to raise me above some of our neighbouring rustics;..."   (Act The Second)

Here, Mrs. Hardcastle’s descriptions of London and its neighborhoods create situational irony for her. While she is attempting to convince Hastings of her sophistication and love of urban life, the same love that raises her above those around her, she is in fact proving that she does not know much about London. This subverts her expectations of the situation and creates situational irony that she herself is unaware of.

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"Bandbox..."   (Act The Second)

In other words, Constance Neville is all show; her beauty is the result of artificial things that might be stored in a bandbox, a cardboard box that is used to hold articles of clothing.

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"I never see you when you're in spirits..."   (Act The Second)

Mrs. Hardcastle means that she never sees Tony when he's drunk ("in spirits").

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"He falls out before faces to be forgiven in private..."   (Act The Second)

Marlow embarrasses himself in public but is forgiven in private (by his mother, Mrs. Hardcastle).

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"but I'm told the ladies intend to bring up fifty for the ensuing winter..."   (Act The Second)

He is intentionally raising the age to reflect Mrs. Hardcastle's probable age in order to flatter her.

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"with his usual Gothic vivacity..."   (Act The Second)

"Gothic," a term that describes mysteriousness, somberness, darkness, does not usually go with "vivacity" (which means liveliness). Mrs. Hardcastle creates an oxymoron (the two words are mutually exclusive) to describe her husband as especially dull.

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"the Pantheon, the Grotto Gardens, the Borough..."   (Act The Second)

Mrs. Hardcastle's list of places is, like Hasting's, a mix of the fashionable and crime-ridden.  Hastings was making a joke; Mrs. Hardcastle is speaking from ignorance.

The Pantheon, which was in a fashionable part of town on Oxford Street, had rooms (called salons) where fashionable people met to discuss politics, art, literature, and town gossip.  The Grotto Gardens, located in St. George's Fields, was not quite such a fashionable place as The Pantheon on Oxford Street.  The Borough, which was located in Southwark, a poor, crime-ridden area, was not the kind of place fashionable people visited.

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"Ranelagh, St. James's, or Tower Wharf..."   (Act The Second)

Hastings is giving Mrs. Hardcastle a back-handed compliment: Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens, in the Chelsea area of London, were frequented by the upper class and royalty, as was St. James's Park.  The Tower Wharf, on the other hand, was associated with thieves, prostitutes, and vices in general.

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"coquetting him to the back scene..."   (Act The Second)

That is, flirting with him as they walk to the back of the stage and probably walk through the curtain so they are off stage.

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"I beg you'll proceed..."   (Act The Second)

The joke here is that Miss Hardcastle is completing Marlow's thoughts for him and, at the same time, making him feel as if he is doing all the talking.

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"there are few that do not condemn in public what they practise in private..."   (Act The Second)

Miss Hardcastle is saying that most people publicly condemn behavior that they actually exhibit in private.

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"I understand you perfectly, sir..."   (Act The Second)

Both Marlow and Miss Hardcastle are so flustered by this discussion, neither one is able to talk sensibly.

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"as yet have studied--only--to--deserve them..."   (Act The Second)

Marlow is saying he has studied them only to make sure he is worthy of them.

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"You don't consider..."   (Act The Second)

In other words, you don't seem to understand that we want time together alone.

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"to complete my embarrassment..."   (Act The Second)

Because Marlow is shy around women of his own station in life, having to meet Miss Hardcastle is his worst nightmare.

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"they called on their return to take fresh horses here..."   (Act The Second)

Hastings is keeping up the fiction that Hardcastle's house is an inn.  Travelers would often exchange tired horses for fresh ones at an inn, and that's Hasting's excuse for the presence of Miss Neville and Miss Hardcastle.

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"the India director..."   (Act The Second)

Constance's uncle was a Director of the East India Company, a powerful and wealthy company that controlled trade with India and other British colonial possessions.

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"my hopeful cousin's..."   (Act The Second)

Lumpkin is "hopeful" because he hopes to get his inheritance.

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"This may be modem modesty, but I never saw anything look so like old-fashioned impudence..."   (Act The Second)

Hardcastle's comment on Marlow's "impudence" points up not only the misunderstanding that continues but also the difference between their ages.

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"Joiners' Company, or the corporation of Bedford..."   (Act The Second)

Still unaware that they are at a private house, they are shocked at the amount of food on hand.  A "Joiner's Company" refers to a union of carpenters and cabinet makers.   The Corporation of Bedford refers to the town leaders of the city of Bedford.

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"The devil, sir..."   (Act The Second)

This is an oath no gentleman would use in the presence of another gentlemen, unless they were long-standing and good friends.

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"All upon the high rope..."   (Act The Second)

Hastings believes Hardcastle could not possibly have a relative who was a colonel, a high rank in the British Army.

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"For supper, sir..."   (Act The Second)

Hardcastle, still unaware of the misunderstanding, is offended by the directness of a "guest" in his house asking about supper.

The overall effect of this misunderstanding is that each man thinks the other is either rude and uncultivated (Marlow) or acting well above his station in life (Hardcastle), and first impressions are notoriously hard to change.

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"Well, this is the first time I ever heard of an innkeeper's philosophy..."   (Act The Second)

Note, again, that Goldsmith is using asides to let the audience know how Marlow and Hardcastle perceive each other.  Their misunderstanding, based on Tony Lumpkin's trick, keeps each from a correct assessment of the other.

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"Half the differences of the parish are adjusted in this very parlour..."   (Act The Second)

As the leading land-owner in the area, Hardcastle would perform justice-of-the-peace duties, settling all kinds of disputes.  Marlow and Hasting assume that Hardcastle is referring to disputes being settled by drinking in the inn.

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"Warm work, now and then, at elections, I suppose..."   (Act The Second)

In rural areas, inns were centers of political discourse and election activities, so Marlow assumes that Hardcastle, being an innkeeper, has a lot of business during elections, which explains why he has such good punch to offer visitors.

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"A very impudent fellow this..."   (Act The Second)

Marlow, thinking that Hardcastle is merely an innkeeper, is offended by Hardcastle's familiarity—as if they are equals.

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"So this fellow, in his Liberty-hall..."   (Act The Second)

Note that Goldsmith is using asides to let the audience know what each character thinks of the other.  

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"Punch, sir..."   (Act The Second)

Hardcastle is surprised because punch is the drink of commoners, not the upper class.

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"I'll pawn my dukedom, says he, but I take that garrison without spilling a drop of blood..."   (Act The Second)

Hardcastle's tale runs counter to history.  The battle was a disaster for the allies, so it is unclear whether Hardcastle participated in the battle or is just recounting something that he has heard.

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"Duke of Marlborough, when we went to besiege Denain..."   (Act The Second)

This first-person account of the battle at Denain in 1712 indicates that Hardcastle was with Marlborough during the War of the Spanish Succession. The battle resulted in a defeat of the allied forces by the French, which included the English troops under Marlborough.

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"I intend opening the campaign with the white and gold..."   (Act The Second)

Hastings means that he wants to begin his courtship of Constance Neville wearing his best clothes.

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"with my back to the fire..."   (Act The Second)

The fact that Hardcastle has been absent while he takes care of their baggage lends credibility to Tony Lumpkin's joke in pretending to send the two travelers to a tavern whose innkeeper is Hardcastle.  This sets the stage for the misunderstanding to follow.

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"and yet to converse with the only part of it I despise..."   (Act The Second)

In other words, Marlow is confessing that he is comfortable only around women who are below his station.

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"They are of US, you know..."   (Act The Second)

By this, Marlow means that the lower-class women understand the needs of upper-class men (or men in general).

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"an inn..."   (Act The Second)

Marlow is most likely referring to the Inns of Court, a part of the City of London in which the law profession conducted its business and where lawyers (solicitors) received their education. Marlow means that he has been engaged in a quiet life where assertiveness is not an issue.

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"The Englishman's malady..."   (Act The Second)

Marlow is implying that being reserved or shy is typical of the English.

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"without ever stirring from home..."   (Act The Second)

Hardcastle means to imply that he has a lot of upper-class visitors, so his servants are naturally used to serving them here.

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"that my duty as yet has been inclination..."   (Act The Third)

Miss Hardcastle is saying that what she has to do, "my duty," and what she would like to do are the same thing.

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" I never nicked seven that I did not throw ames ace three times following..."   (Act The Third)

Marlow uses gambling terms to describe his bad luck at seducing Miss Hardcastle.  In other words, for every time Marlow has thrown a seven (a winning number), he has thrown three sets of ones, usually a losing number.

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"Rattle..."   (Act The Third)

This implies that Marlow has a reputation for idle talking and socializing, completely at odds with his modest behavior when he is around genteel women.

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"Mrs. Langhorns..."   (Act The Third)

This may be a play on long horns, which could mean that Mrs. Langhorns is an American (comparing her to long-horn cattle from Texas).  Among cultivated people in 18th century London, Americans were almost always considered the equivalent of country bumpkins.

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"Lady Betty Blackleg, the Countess of Sligo..."   (Act The Third)

"Blackleg" is slang for a card shark, and the fact that she's from a relatively poor area of Ireland, an already poor country, indicates her title is probably false.

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"My name is Solomons; Mr. Solomons..."   (Act The Third)

The fact that Marlow is hiding his real name indicates that he is not new to this kind of flirtation.  This is consistent with what his friend Hastings has said about his dual nature—shy around gentlewomen, and forceful around women of lesser station.

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"obstropalous..."   (Act The Third)

Kate uses a made up word (she means to use obstreperous) to keep up the pretension that she's an uneducated serving girl.

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"sprightly malicious eye..."   (Act The Third)

Marlow means a lively, roving, mischievous look, not evil or dangerous.

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"I think she squints..."   (Act The Third)

Marlow either means that she looks cross-eyed or that she looks to the side of the person she's addressing, not directly at the person.

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"examine the giant's force before I offer to combat..."   (Act The Third)

In other words, Kate Hardcastle wants to see what Marlow is really like before she becomes truly involved with him as herself.

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"Stick to that: ha! ha! ha! stick to that..."   (Act The Third)

Tony is acting as if his mother is still trying to make Constance believe her jewels have been stolen.  Mrs. Hardcastle, of course, really has lost the jewels because Tony has taken them, and she is understandably horrified.

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"Just to be permitted to show them as relics..."   (Act The Third)

Constance is trying to convince Mrs. Hardcastle to let her exhibit the jewels the way one would exhibit religious relics—just for show, not for wearing.

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"plainly dressed..."   (Act The Third)

She has changed into more modest dress for house keeping purposes.

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"From a reverie..."   (Act The Fourth)

Tony has been daydreaming a plan to make all this confusion come out right.

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"your constancy for three years..."   (Act The Fourth)

Constance will be 21 in three years and will then be able to marry without the Hardcastle's consent.

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"I shall expect an explanation..."   (Act The Fourth)

Marlow is serious enough about this to request a duel with Hastings.  If the explanation is not satisfactory, the next step is a challenge.  Even as late at the 1770s, duels were quite common among the upper class.

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"with baskets..."   (Act The Fourth)

Either Tony is literally suggesting a fight using baskets as weapons, or he is making sure they understand the fight will be with practice swords, which are not meant to inflict serious wounds.  The baskets protect the fingers and hand from injuries and the sword tips are blunted.

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"that would but disgrace correction..."   (Act The Fourth)

Hastings is saying that trying to correct him would be a waste because he is not worth the effort.

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" it's of all the consequence in the world..."   (Act The Fourth)

Constance has made the serious mistake of making up a letter about cockfighting, something that Tony is very interested in because he gambles on such fights.  To her, the subject is uninteresting, but to Tony, the subject represents gambling losses and wins.

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"as if it was disguised in liquor..."   (Act The Fourth)

Tony is saying it looks as if the writer were drunk when he wrote the letter.

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"But here are such handles, and shanks..."   (Act The Fourth)

Tony is completely confused by longhand, especially loops above and below the lines, which, to him, resemble the handles of buckets and other tools.

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"my aunt Pedigree's..."   (Act The Fourth)

The name suggests that this aunt is someone of relatively high social status, certainly higher than the Hardcastles, perhaps lesser nobility like a countess.

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"I STOOPED TO CONQUER..."   (Act The Fourth)

By this, Miss Hardcastle means that she stooped below her level to play the bar-maid in order to win the affections of Marlow—a clever play on words.

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"But I owe too much to the opinion of the world, too much to the authority of a father..."   (Act The Fourth)

Even though the situation is funny, Marlow does feel genuinely trapped by the expectations of society and his father, and these make it difficult, if not impossible, to marry someone based on love.  His marriage is supposed to help him socially and financially—that is its main goal.  Love is not part of the calculation.

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"and I can never harbour a thought of seducing simplicity that trusted in my honour..."   (Act The Fourth)

Marlow's true and generous nature comes out in these lines—his honor prevents him from doing anything to ruin someone who trusts him.

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"since I have no fortune but my character..."   (Act The Fourth)

Miss Hardcastle is appealing to his honor by saying that if he leaves, people will assume it is because of something she has done to offend him. Her honor, she tells him, is all she has, and if she loses that, she has lost everything.

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"But I was in for a list of blunders, and could not help making you a subscriber..."   (Act The Fourth)

In other words, Marlow was about to make a series of mistakes, and Miss Hardcastle was one of the victims of those mistakes.

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"a silly puppy..."   (Act The Fourth)

Marlow thinks Hardcastle must see him as a prideful fool, but Marlow thinks of himself as just a stupid fool, not quite as bad as a "swaggering puppy."  Still, his future looks grim.

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"I'll drink for no man before supper, sir..."   (Act The Fourth)

Drinking alcohol before the evening meal was considered bad behavior, so Jeremy, even as a servant, is asserting that he, too, has standards.

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"We all know the honour of the bar-maid of an inn..."   (Act The Fourth)

This is a rather callous remark, but it expresses the typical attitude of an upper-class person toward someone of the serving class, especially a young woman.

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"shadow me with laurels..."   (Act The Fourth)

Marlow refers to the traditional sign of victory, a crown of laurels on his head, which casts a shadow.

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"What right have you to bid me leave this house, sir..."   (Act The Fourth)

Marlow is asserting his rights to stay in a public establishment.  As long as he pays his bills and abides by the rules, he has a legal right to stay—that's assuming, of course, that he is in an inn, which he is not.

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"I ordered them not to spare the cellar..."   (Act The Fourth)

Marlow thinks he is doing Mr. Hardcastle, as landlord, a favor by having his servants drink as much as possible, which inflates Mr. Hardcastle's bill.  Both are still under the impression that Hardcastle is an innkeeper and Marlow his guest.

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"As a guinea in a miser's purse..."   (Act The Fourth)

A guinea, a small gold coin, was worth about a Pound Sterling, a considerable sum in the 18th century.

Marlow implies that a miser would never spend something as valuable as a guinea.

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"you are now driven to the very last scene of all your contrivances..."   (Act The Fifth)

All of Miss Hardcastle's attempts to fool Marlow have now achieved what she wished.

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"the whining end of a modern novel. ..."   (Act The Fifth)

Miss Hardcastle hopes Miss Neville's natural tenderness will make up for the fact that they are not closely related.

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"I never attempted to be impudent yet, that I was not taken down..."   (Act The Fifth)

Marlow acknowledges that he has never been quite successful in being impudent because everyone sees through him and recognizes his natural modesty.

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"tall squinting lady..."   (Act The Fifth)

Miss Hardcastle is repeating Marlow's earlier description of her to embarrass him and highlight his two-faced behavior.

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"Do you think I could ever catch at the confident addresses of a secure admirer..."   (Act The Fifth)

Miss Hardcastle wonders if Marlow thinks she could be comfortable (or convinced) hearing these serious proposals from someone who chooses to remain a secret admirer.

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"I will make my respectful assiduities atone for the levity of my past conduct..."   (Act The Fifth)

Marlow's serious devotion to Miss Hardcastle will make up for his earlier frivolous conduct towards her.

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"Nor shall I ever feel repentance but in not having seen your merits before..."   (Act The Fifth)

Marlow is saying how he will always feel sorry that he failed to recognize Miss Hardcastle's goodness before now.

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"Prudence once more comes to my relief, and I will obey its dictates..."   (Act The Fifth)

The contrast between Hastings and Constance is meant to mirror the difference between men, who are naturally impatient in matters of love, and women, who are thinking about more practical matters like how they are going to live without sufficient money.  Hastings is the voice of romance; Constance, the voice of reason.

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"all the parish says you have spoiled me, and so you may take the fruits on't..."   (Act The Fifth)

In other words, Mrs. Hardcastle has excused Tony from going to church services, and his deceitful behavior is the result.

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"Do you think I could ever relish that happiness which was acquired by lessening yours..."   (Act The Fifth)

Miss Hardcastle asks Marlow if he thinks she could be happy when she knows that her happiness is at the expense of his happiness.

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"I must remain contented with the slight approbation of imputed merit..."   (Act The Fifth)

Miss Hardcastle is saying she is content to be considered worthy for something of which she is not really worthy.

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"But if you had run me through the guts, then I should be dead, and you might go kiss the hangman..."   (Act The Fifth)

Tony is pointing out that the upper-class way of settling a dispute—dueling with swords—is completely impractical because it ends with the winner facing the hangman.

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"all my happiness in him must have an end..."   (Act The Fifth)

If Marlow proves to be as two-faced as Kate has described him, Sir Charles will be bitterly disappointed in his son.

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"he never sat for the picture..."   (Act The Fifth)

Sir Charles is saying that Marlow does not fit the description Kate has just given.

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"This fellow's formal modest impudence is beyond bearing..."   (Act The Fifth)

Hardcastle, who was beginning to like Marlow, is offended by what he views as Marlow's completely dishonest modesty.

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"Really, sir, I have not that happiness..."   (Act The Fifth)

Keep in mind that Marlow still does not know he has been making advances to Kate Hardcastle.  He thinks the girl he is attracted to is just a poor relative who has been working in the household.  

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"My son is possessed of more than a competence already..."   (Act The Fifth)

Sir Charles is pointing out the Marlow is wealthy and doesn't need Kate to bring money to the marriage.  In the upper class during the 18th century, marriage for economic reasons was far more common than marriage for love.

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"hereditary..."   (Act The Fifth)

Hardcastle is saying that their friendship will turn into a line of descendants (that is, after the marriage of Kate and Marlow).

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