who first saw the screen overturned. But in the
thousands of audiences who have since witnessed the play, how many
individuals, on an average, had any doubt as to what Lady Teazle would
have to say, and how Sir Peter would receive her excuses? It would
probably be safe to guess that, for a century past, two-thirds of every
audience have clearly foreknown the outcome of the situation. Professor
Matthews himself has edited Sheridan's plays, and probably knows _The
School for Scandal_ almost by heart; yet we may be pretty sure that any
reasonably good performance of the Screen Scene will to-day give him
pleasure not so very much inferior to that which he felt the first time
he saw it. In this pleasure, it is manifest that mere curiosity as to
the immediate and subsequent conduct of Sir Peter and Lady Teazle can
have no part. There is absolutely no question which Professor Matthews,
or any playgoer who shares his point of view, is "eager to have
answered."
Assuming, then, that we are all familiar with the Screen Scene, and
assuming that we, nevertheless, take pleasure in seeing it reasonably
well acted,[6] let us try to discover of what elements that pleasure is
composed.
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