The School for Scandal: Act 3, Scene 1 Summary & Analysis

Sir Peter, Sir Oliver, and Rowley sit in Sir Peter’s house and discuss how Sir Oliver can test his nephews’ characters. Rowley says that he knows that Mr. Stanley, a relative of the Surface brothers on their mother’s side, has fallen into ruin and been thrown into debtor’s prison. He has written to both brothers to ask for their help paying his debts, but while Joseph has only vaguely promised to help in the future if he can, Charles is currently trying to raise money for him.

Rowley says he will tell the two brothers that Stanley has been given permission to leave prison to ask for their help in person. Since Joseph and Charles have never met Stanley and do not remember Sir Oliver, Sir Oliver can pretend to be Stanley and judge the Surface brothers’ characters based on how they treat their impoverished relative. Rowley predicts that Sir Oliver will find Charles to be generous despite all his extravagant spending, but Sir Peter scoffs at this, saying there is no point in generosity if one has nothing to give.

Rowley tells Sir Peter and Sir Oliver that he has also arranged for them to meet with a Jewish moneylender, Moses, who can give them a sense of Charles’s financial position. Rowley says that Moses has “done everything in his power to bring your nephew to a proper sense of his extravagance.” Rowley adds that they can trust Moses to tell them the truth, because Moses understands he will never get the money he lent Charles back without Sir Oliver’s help. Additionally, Rowley says he plans to show Sir Peter that he is mistaken in his suspicions about Charles and Lady Teazle by bringing in Snake, whom he has caught forging letters. Sir Peter dismisses this.

Moses enters. Sir Oliver says he hears that Moses has done business with his nephew, and Moses says he has, but Charles was ruined before he ever turned to him. Sir Oliver says this meant Moses “had no opportunity of showing your talents.” Moses tells them that he plans on introducing Charles to a broker named “Mr. Premium” who may lend Charles money. Sir Peter suggests that, since Charles has never met Mr. Premium, Sir Oliver can pretend to be the broker and get a sense of his nephew’s character in this way. Sir Oliver likes this idea and says he will go afterwards to visit Joseph in the guise of Mr. Stanley. Rowley says that this may not show Charles in the best light, but agrees.

Sir Oliver asks how he will be able to pass for a Jew, but Moses replies that Mr. Premium is Christian. Sir Oliver says that is a shame, and then asks if he is too well dressed to be a moneylender. The others tell him that Charles would not suspect anything even if “Mr. Premium” arrived in a fancy carriage, so long as he asks for huge amounts of interest: at least forty or fifty percent, and as much as double, if Charles seems desperate. Sir Peter suggests that Mr. Premium should complain to Charles about the Annuity Bill, a bill then passing through Parliament which made it illegal to lend money on an annuity to those under 21. Moses and Sir Oliver leave to go see Charles.

Rowley leaves to fetch Snake and Sir Peter says to himself that he hopes there is no affair between Charles and Lady Teazle. He plans to speak to Joseph about his suspicions. Maria approaches and Sir Peter asks her if she has changed her mind about marrying Joseph, and she says there is no one she would rather marry less. Sir Peter says he can see that Maria is attracted to Charles’s wickedness. Maria contradicts this, saying she has been convinced that Charles is unworthy of her, but still pities him and will never marry his brother. Sir Peter says that, as her guardian, he can force her to marry Joseph. Maria says she will not let him force her to be miserable and runs from the room.

Lady Teazle enters and Sir Peter says to himself that he would be happy if he “could tease her into loving me, though but a little!” Lady Teazle asks Sir Peter to be good-humored and give her two hundred pounds. He exclaims at this, but says that if she is sweet to him, he will refuse her nothing. He also says that he plans to give her an independent source of money, but hopes they will stop fighting. She agrees, so long as he admits that he became tired of fighting before she did. In the future, he says, they will compete to see who is nicest to the other. They reminisce and each says the other is acting as he or she did during their courtship. Sir Peter remembers her kindness to him, and she agrees, saying she always stuck up for him when her acquaintances made fun of him.

Sir Peter continues to tell Lady Teazle they will never fight again, but then adds that she always starts their fights. They begin to argue, and she says that she never should have married him. He says she had never been proposed to by such a rich man, and Lady Teazle says that she refused someone who would have been a better match—because he has recently broken his neck and died. Enraged, Sir Peter says that he now believes the reports about her and Charles. Lady Teazle says she will not listen to these groundless accusations. Sir Peter says they should divorce, and Lady Teazle says that, if divorced, they will be very happy. Then, laughing, she leaves. Sir Peter is enraged, and even more so because Lady Teazle did not lose her temper.