Richard Brinsley Sheridan (30 October 1751 – 7 July 1816) was an Irish playwright and Whig statesman.
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R.B. Sheridan was born in Dublin on 30 October 1751 at 12 Dorset Street, a fashionable street in the late eighteenth century. (Fellow playwright Seán O'Casey was born in Dorset Street 130 years later.) He was baptized on 4 November 1751.
His father Thomas Sheridan, an actor-manager, ran the Theatre Royal, Dublin for a time, while his mother, Frances Sheridan, was a writer, best known for her novel The Memoirs of Sidney Biddulph. Their eldest child, Thomas, died in 1750, the year when their second son, Charles Francis (d. 1806), was born. Charles Francis later carried on an affair with Henrietta Spencer, Countess of Bessborough. Richard's mother died when he was fifteen. Richard seems to have had two good plays, one good opera, and one good oration in his system. His life, aside from that, boils down to twenty years of fashionable life in London as a dabbler in politics, the companion of dissolute princes and a wastrel. At the age of 21, following a romantic elopement, he married and set up housekeeping in London on a grand scale with no money and no prospects except his wife's dowry. The young couple, nevertheless, entered the fashionable world and apparently held up their end in entertaining.
Sheridan's lucky star was in the ascendant, however, for on January 17, 1775, at the Covent Garden Theater, The Rivals was produced. The first performance was not a success. It was too long and the part of Sir Lucius O'Trigger was poorly played. On January 28, a second performance proved a complete success, establishing both play and playwright in the favor of fashionable London.
The following year Sheridan, his father-in-law (the composer, Thomas Finley) and Dr. Ford bought a half interest in the Drury Lane theater and in 1778 became sole owners. Shortly after the success of The Rivals Sheridan with the help of his father-in-law produced the opera, The Duenna. This piece was accorded such a warm reception that it played for seventy-five performances.
On May 8, 1777, Sheridan directed his masterpiece, A School for Scandal, in the Drury Lane theater of which he was now manager, with Mrs. Abington in the rôle of Lady Teazle. The play lacks the unity which marks The Rivals, and it does not have the same wealth of broadly humorous incident. Of the many "screen" scenes of dramatic history, however, the one in School for Scandal is by far the cleverest, while the "auction" scene is a success on any stage.
In 1780 Sheridan entered Parliament as the ally of Charles James Fox on the side of the American Colonials. He is said to have paid the burgesses of Stafford five guineas apiece for the honor of representing them. As a consequence, his first speech in Parliament had to be a defense against the charge of bribery.
During the bitter political controversies of the period, Sheridan was practically the only man in Parliament who was never challenged to a duel in spite of the sharp and effective weapon of ridicule he constantly wielded. When finally he failed of reelection to Parliament his creditors closed in on him and his last years were harassed by debt and disappointment. In the course of events the American Congress offered Sheridan 20,000 pounds in recognition of his efforts to prevent the Revolutionary War. To his eternal credit is recorded the refusal of this gift.
Richard was educated at Harrow School, and was to study law. However, his highly romantic elopement with Elizabeth Linley (1754-1792; daughter of Thomas Linley), and their subsequent marriage on 13 April 1773 at St Marylebone Parish Church, put paid to such hopes; they had a son, Thomas (1775-1817).
Richard's second marriage was to Esther Jane Ogle; they also had a son, Charles Brinsley Sheridan (died 1843).
He was the grandfather of society beauty and author Caroline Norton, and the great-grandfather of Lord Dufferin, third Governor General of Canada and eighth Viceroy of India. The famous ghost story writer Sheridan le Fanu was his great-nephew. An example of a malapropism is "Listen to that blabbing brook" blabbing should be babbling, Norm Crosby.
When Sheridan settled in London, he began writing for the stage. His first play, The Rivals, produced at Covent Garden in 1775, was a failure on its first night. Sheridan cast a more capable actor for the role of the comic Irishman for its second performance, and it was a smash which immediately established the young playwright's reputation. It has gone on to become a standard of English literature. But its author was plagued by writer's block and he managed only a limited output during his lifetime.
His most famous play The School for Scandal (Drury Lane, 8 May 1777) is considered one of the greatest comedies of manners in English. It was followed by The Critic (1779), an updating of the satirical Restoration play The Rehearsal, which received a memorable revival (performed with Oedipus in a single evening) starring Laurence Olivier as Mr Puff, opening at the New Theatre on 18 October 1945 as part of an Old Vic Theatre Company season.
Having quickly made his name and fortune, in 1776 Sheridan bought David Garrick's share in the Drury Lane patent, and in 1778 the remaining share. His later plays were all produced there [1]. But on 24 February 1809 (despite the much vaunted fire safety precautions of 1794) the theatre burned down. On being encountered drinking a glass of wine in the street while watching the fire, Sheridan was famously reported to have said: "A man may surely be allowed to take a glass of wine by his own fireside."[2]
Sheridan was also a Whig politician, entering parliament in 1780 as the member for Stafford, under the sponsorship of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. A great public speaker, he remained in parliament until 1812, and was a leading figure in the party.
He held the posts of Receiver-General of the Duchy of Cornwall (1804–1807) and Treasurer of the Navy (1806–1807).
In December 1815 he became ill, largely confined to bed. Sheridan died in poverty, and was buried in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey; his funeral was attended by dukes, earls, lords, viscounts, the Lord Mayor of London, and other notables.
He also wrote a selection of poems, and political speeches for his time in parliament.
In The Duchess (2008) film, a biography of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, The School for Scandal is performed.
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| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George Canning |
Treasurer of the Navy 1806–1807 |
Succeeded by George Rose |
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Richard Whitworth |
Member of Parliament for Stafford 1780–1806 |
Succeeded by Richard Mansel-Philipps |
| Preceded by Earl Percy |
Member of Parliament for Westminster 1806–1807 |
Succeeded by Lord Cochrane |
| Preceded by Sir William Manners |
Member of Parliament for Ilchester 1807–1812 |
Succeeded by Lord Ward |