She Stoops to Conquer: Act 4 Summary & Analysis

Hastings and Constance enter. Constance tells Hastings that Hardcastle has received a letter from Sir Charles saying that he is coming to visit that night. Hastings says they must leave that night, before Sir Charles can reveal his identity to the Hardcastles. He assures her that he has her jewels and has given them to Marlow for safekeeping. He also says that Tony has promised him fresh horses for the trip. Hastings exits, and Constance sets off to distract her aunt by pretending to love Tony.

Marlow enters with a servant. He says he can’t imagine what Hastings was thinking, giving him a box of valuables to look after when he knows they are both travelling. He asks the servant whether he gave the box to the inn’s landlady for safekeeping as he had asked. (The “landlady” is in fact not a landlady at all, but Mrs. Hardcastle.)  The servant says that he had done as told, and that the landlady had demanded to know how he had gotten the box and who he was. The servant exits. Marlow laughs to himself at this report, thinking that the landlord and landlady are both very eccentric. He also thinks about the barmaid he met (Kate), and vows to try again to seduce her.

Hastings enters the room, flustered by all his preparations for the elopement. He notices Marlow’s good mood. Marlow tells him that, despite his shyness, he has met a woman, a beautiful barmaid. Hastings asks Marlow if he is sure that the woman wants to sleep with him and says he should not take a woman’s honor. Marlow says that barmaids have no honor, and he certainly won’t do anything in the inn without paying for it, including sleeping with the barmaid. He promises Hastings that if the girl is not as promiscuous as he assumes, he will not try to sleep with her.

Hastings asks Marlow if he stashed the box of jewels somewhere safe as he asked him to. Laughing, Marlow tells Hastings he was foolish to think of putting such a valuable item in a coach, and explains that he had the better idea of giving them to the landlady. Hastings is shocked and disappointed that Mrs. Hardcastle now has the jewels again. He says to himself that he has lost any hope of having a fortune, but puts on a happy face for Marlow. He tells Marlow he hopes he will have as much luck with the barmaid as he had in stashing the jewels. Laughing a bit hysterically, he leaves.

Hardcastle enters the room. He says to himself that he can hardly contain his anger at Marlow, whose servants have gotten very drunk. He says to Marlow that he hopes he feels that he has been made welcome, but Marlow’s servants are setting a terrible example for his servants with the way they are drinking. Marlow misunderstands Mr. Hardcastle’s complaint, thinking the innkeeper is upset because Marlow’s servants are not drinking enough, thus depriving the innkeeper of income. He tells Hardcastle this and calls for his servant. The servant is extremely drunk, and Marlow points to this as proof that he is being a good guest.

Hardcastle loses his patience entirely and tells Marlow he is kicking him out of the house. Marlow is shocked, and says he has been doing everything he can to please Hardcastle. He initially refuses to go, saying he has a right to stay, that it is his house. Outraged, Hardcastle tells Marlow to take the silver, and the mahogany table, his Hogarth print of the Rake’s Progress, and all the other valuable possessions in the house. Marlow demands the bill, but Hardcastle ignores this, continuing to berate Marlow for his bad manners. Before storming from the room, Hardcastle says that he expected a polite young man based on Sir Charles’s letter, but instead he sees that Marlow is a bully. He swears that he will tell Marlow’s father all about his behavior.

Left alone, Marlow wonders what Hardcastle’s last statement could have meant. Kate enters and sees that Marlow seems to be realizing he is not in an inn. She says to herself that she will not disclose the full truth to him yet. He stops her and asks who she is. She replies that she is a poor relation of the house. He asks if she means she serves as a barmaid in the inn, and she laughs in feigned surprise, saying that this is Mr. Hardcastle’s house. Marlow feels humiliated and is sure the story of his mistake will spread far and wide.

Marlow tells Kate that he mistook her for the barmaid of the inn. She pretends to be hurt by the idea that she could have such a low status. Marlow explains that he stupidly misunderstood everything around him and now he wants to get away from the scene of his humiliation. Pretending to cry, Kate says she hopes that she didn’t do anything to drive Marlow away, especially because he has been so kind to her.

Marlow is touched to see how sad Kate is to see him go. He tells her she is the only person in the family he will be sorry to part with. But, he explains, he could never hope for a romance between them because they come from such different backgrounds. He adds that he could never try to seduce her, since he can see that she is virtuous and trusting. To herself, Kate registers approval at his unwillingness to try to seduce a virgin.

Kate tells Marlow that she comes from just as respected a family as Miss Hardcastle, and that the only difference between her and Kate is fortune. If she had money, she says, she would give it all to him. Her declaration affects Marlow. He says that he would choose her as a wife if this would not disappoint his family. Overcome by emotion, he leaves the room. Kate says to herself that she now sees Marlow’s good character and she will do everything in her power to keep him from departing. She exits.

Tony and Constance enter. Tony says it’s a shame that Mrs. Hardcastle has gotten Constance’s jewels back, but at least she believes that they were mislaid by a servant and suspects nothing. He says that he has helped Hastings to prepare horses for the elopement. As Mrs. Hardcastle enters, he and Constance continue to pretend to be in love, flirting and touching one another, to keep her from suspecting anything. Mrs. Hardcastle is thrilled to see that Tony and Constance seem to be in love. She says that they will be married tomorrow.

Diggory enters with a message for Tony, but Tony tells Diggory to give it to Mrs. Hardcastle to read aloud. Constance recognizes Hastings’ handwriting on the note. She tries to distract Mrs. Hardcastle, telling her a funny story to keep her from reading the letter and discovering their plot. Meanwhile, Tony looks at the letter quizzically—the only part of it he can read is his own name. Mrs. Hardcastle sees Tony struggling and offers to read the letter out loud to him. Constance snatches the letter and, pretending to read from it, says that it is about cockfighting and is unimportant. Tony, very curious about the letter’s exact contents, gives it to his mother to read aloud.

Mrs. Hardcastle reads the letter and is shocked and furious at its contents. In it, Hastings requests Tony’s help getting well-rested horses so that he and Constance can elope. He also refers to Mrs. Hardcastle as a hag. Yelling at both Tony and Constance, Mrs. Hardcastle says she will send Constance off to her Aunt Pedigree, who will keep a strict watch over her. She leaves to give orders to the servants to prepare a carriage to take Constance away.

Left alone, Constance berates Tony for showing his mother the letter. Hastings enters and berates Tony as well. Marlow enters and begins to vent his anger at having been tricked and then allowed to keep embarrassing himself. He and the others continue to insult Tony, while Tony tries his best to defend himself against their anger. Finally Marlow says that Tony is too much beneath them to stay angry with. He continues that the person he is truly angry with is Hastings. Hastings says he is too disappointed by his failed elopement to even consider Marlow’s embarrassment. Constance says that they only kept Marlow in the dark because it was too late to keep him from embarrassing himself.

A servant enters and tells Constance that Mrs. Hardcastle wants her to come to the carriage immediately. Marlow and Hastings continue to argue. Constance begs them to stop, and they do, Marlow apologizing for his bad temper. Hearing Mrs. Hardcastle yelling for her to come, Constance asks Hastings to stay faithful to her, even if they must wait three years to marry. Hastings is devastated. Marlow turns to Tony and rebukes him for causing all this strife. Tony, who has been lost in thought, yells that he has an idea. He tells Hastings to meet him in two hours in the garden outside and promises that he will make it up to him.