1700 to 1799: She Stoops to Conquer.... to The Barber of Seville

Chronology of World, British and American Literature

Oliver Goldsmith. British. 1773. Play. She Stoops to Conquer, or, The Mistakes of a Night. Arranged marriage. Bashful Marlow thinks his future father-in-law is the impudent landlord of a village inn. His intended pretends to be a bar maid and a poor relative.

Goethe. German. 1773. Novel. The Sorrows of Young Werther. Epistolary. Gifted, artistic temperament. Loses himself in dreams and speculation. Commits suicide.

Edmund Burke. British. 1774. Speech. On American Taxation. Urged that duty on tea imported into American colonies be repealed. It wasn’t.

Richard B. Sheridan. British. 1775. Play. The Rivals. Complicated plot. Includes Mrs. Malaprop and numerous false identities.

Beaumarchais. French. 1775. Play. The Barber of Seville. Figaro, rascal of a barber, helps former master woo and win Bartholo’s ward, Rosine.