Oliver Goldsmith

1. Oliver Goldsmith By Liam Webber

2. Life Although his exact date of birth is unknown it is thought to have been on, or around, the 10th of November 1730. Neither is his birthplace certain but he is thought to originate from Ireland, County Longford. In 1749 he earned his “Bachelor of Arts” at Trinity College Dublin studying theology and law but he didn’t get very far. He went on to Edinburgh University to study medicine before travelling around Europe “surviving on his wits”. He later found himself living in London, highly in debt and addicted to gambling, he became a “Hack Writer” for the publishers of London. He is recorded as being a “Jealous, Disorganised and yet Likeable” character and once failed to emigrate to America because he missed the Ferry There is a monument to him in Westminster Abbey with an epitaph written by friend and colleague Samuel Johnson.

3. Works His Most Famous Works are: - A Novel, “The Vicar of Wakefield” (1766) - A Poem he wrote in memory of his brother, “The Deserted Village” (1770) - The Plays, “The Good-Natur’d Man” (1768) and “She Stoops to Conquer” (1771, first performed 1773) He is also thought to have written the classic children’s tale “The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes”, thus giving the world that popular phrase.

4. She Stoops to Conquer “She Stoops to Conquer” is a comedy about a man, Charles Marlow, who is supposed to marry a woman of class, Kate Hardcastle, but finds it incredibly difficult to talk to the ladies of the higher classes but acts quite the opposite (is a bit of a womanizer) with lower class women. So, Kate realizes this and poses as a lowly bar maid, thus Stooping to Conquer. Her plan works and he falls for her and upon her telling him she is, in fact, the woman he was meant to marry, they elope get married and live happily ever after. The play’s first title was “Mistakes of a Night” as the action all takes place over one night.

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