Study Break:

Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Real Life Word Play

Richard Brinsley Sheridan was a theatrical manager, playwright and member of the House of Commons. Perhaps the most famous character Sheridan the playwright created was Mrs. Malaprop in his comedy The Rivals. Mrs. Malaprop feigned intelligence, but misused big words. The eponym "malaprop" is derived from her name. This wasn't Sheridan's only foray into word-play, though. In his Parliamentary capacity, he was involved in two classic adventures in public speaking.

"Hear, Hear" or "Here, Here?"

Throughout the course of a parliamentary speech, Sheridan was once persistently interrupted by a supporter who shouted "Hear! Hear" every time Sheridan made a strong point. As he neared the end of his speech, the annoyed Sheridan decided to payback his unwanted cheer leader or, more accurately, decided to let his unwanted cheerleader pay himself back. Slyly, Sheridan characterized one of the opposition members as "wishing to play the rogue but having only sense enough to act the fool." Then raising his voice to a crescendo Sheridan continued. "Where, where," queried Sheridan, "shall we find a more foolish knave or a more knavish fool than he?" "Here Here," came the response just as Sheridan had expected. Sheridan thanked his vocal supporter and sat down as the House dissolved into laughter.

It Was All Greek to Them

After Lord Belgrave of the opposition party dramatically ended a speech with a lengthy quotation in Greek, an unimpressed Sheridan rose and boldly replied that the quotation's ending proved the opposite point. Sheridan quickly provided what he said was the ending of the quotation in Greek. An embarrassed Belgrave apologized, commended Sheridan for his knowledge and hastened to sit down. Sheridan won the day. Why is this an adventure in public speaking? Because Sheridan wasn't speaking Greek. He was making a series of noises that sounded as if they were Greek. Neither Lord Belgrave or the other members of Parliament caught on. Somehow, this seems a fitting part for the creator of Mrs. Malaprop to play.

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