Plot Summary
Characters
Charles Marlow- The central male character
George Hastings- Friend of Charles Marlow
Tony Lumpkin- Son of Mrs. Hardcastle & stepson to Mr. Hardcastle
Mr. Hardcastle- The father of Kate Hardcastle
Mrs. Hardcastle- Wife of Mr. Hardcastle and mother of Tony Lumpkin
Miss Kate Hardcastle- Daughter to Mr& Mrs. Hardcastle
Miss Constance Neville- Niece of Mrs. Hardcastle
Sir Charles Marlow- Father of Charles Marlow
Mr. Hardcastle, a wealthy countryman arranges a marriage for his daughter, Kate with Charles Marlow, the son of a rich Londoner. Marlow on his own is not interested in upper-class women but working class, which is against the tradition then.
Kate realizes that for her to win Charles Marlow’s heart, she needs to hide her identity and pretend to be common. She then stoops to conquer Charles, by posing as a maid and Charles falls for her.
Charles Marlow with his friend, George Hasting set out for the Hardcastle’s manor (a large house with a lot of land and small buildings around it). George Hastings happens to be a lover of Miss Constance Neville, who lives with the Hardcastles.
In the course of the journey, the two men get lost and stop at an ale house (beer house) to ask for directions.
The two men come across Tony Lumpkin, Kate’s step brother and cousin to Constance at the alehouse. Tony Lumpkin plays a trick on them that they have missed the way and that they will have to stay overnight at an inn. He then directs them to the house of the Hardcastles.
The Hardcastles have been expecting them because Charles Marlow’s father has sent a letter to Mr. Hardcastle intimating him of the visit of Charles Marlow, hence they are warmly welcomed.
But Charles Marlow and George Hasting believe that they are in an inn based on what Tony Lumpkin told them at the alehouse, they thereby behave insolently to their hosts; taking Mr. Hardcastle as an inn keeper and his daughter, Kate as a bar maid.
Mr. Hardcastle on his own, as a result of the friendship between him and Sir Marlow, Charles Marlow’s father, he endures them.
Kate is already aware of her suitor’s shyness from Constance and she is also informed of Tony’s trick by a servant. She then decides to change her accent and clothing and pretends as a serving maid to Charles Marlow.
Marlow falls in love with her and plans to elope with her, because she appears to be of a lower class. The appearance of Sir Marlow towards the end of the drama resolves all the misunderstandings.
Another scene is the secret romance between Constance and Hastings. Constance has an inheritance that is kept with Mrs. Hardcastle, Tony’s mother.
Out of her selfishness plans to marry Constance to her son Tony Lumpkin, so as to retain the inheritance in the family.
Tony detests the idea of marrying Constance, instead, he prefers a barmaid at the alehouse. Tony then agrees to steal the jewel from his mother, since he doesn’t want to marry Constance and hand it over to Constance for her to elope with Hasting to France.
Eventually, Kate and Marlow become engaged, and George Hastings marries Constance as Tony refuses to marry her.
Themes:
Selfishness: Mrs. Hardcastle in the text is selfish. She plans to get Constance Neville married to her son Tony Lumpkin so as to retain Constance’s inheritance kept with her in the house.
Deceit: Tony Lumpkin is full of deception. He deceives Charles Marlow and Hastings to believe that the Hardcastles house is an inn and Mr. Hardcastle, an inn keeper and Kate his daughter a barmaid. He also plays a lot of pranks on her mother.
Class: The text was written during the classical period when people believe a lot in class. The rich are not expected to marry from the middle or working class and vice versa.
That is why Sir Marlow and Mr. Hardcastle agree to give out their children’s hands in marriage to each other.
Materialism: We see this also in Mrs. Hardcastle who is too materialistic and this is always a bone of contention between her and Mr. Hardcastle her husband who is old-fashioned and not materialistic.
She always condemns their way of life comparing it with some people. This is why she also plans to retain the inheritance of Constance in the family by getting her married to Tony Lumpkin.
Marriage: Two marriages are planned in the text, the one between Charles Marlow and Kate, and another between Tony Lumpkin and Constance. We see how they are planned and the outcome of the two.
Dramatic Techniques:
Dramatic irony: Dramatic irony is a situation whereby the audience understands the consequences of the act of a play by the characters more than the characters themselves. There are many dramatic ironies in the text.
The first one is where Tony deceives Marlow and Hastings by directing them to Mr. Hardcastle’s house as an inn. The readers or audience knows that it is Mr. Hardcastle’s house, but at that instance, Marlow and Hastings do not know.
The reference made by the duo that Mr. Hardcastle is an inn keeper and Kate a barmaid is another dramatic irony.
Tony’s trick on her mother where he continues riding her round and round the house, making her believe that they are heading for auntie Pedigree’s place is another dramatic irony.
The readers or the audience understands what is happening there but the characters do not.
Humour: The character of Tony Lumpkin makes most of the parts of the book humorous. He creates fun for the readers.
Conflict/ contrast: The characters of Mrs. Hardcastle and her husband, Mr. Hardcastle are in contrast as they are always in conflict. They always argue and disagree on a lot of things.
Mrs. Hardcastle and her son, Tony are also always in conflict. Tony does not agree with her mother getting married to Constance as planned by her mother because of the inheritance.
Flashback: We are informed about Mrs. Hardcastle’s first marriage which results in Tony Lumpkin through flashback.
Suspense: The mistaken identity that is created earlier in the text is not resolved until the tail end of the drama. The true identities of the characters concerned are suspended to the tail end of the drama.