The Analysis of Joseph Surface in Supporting the Theme In Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s the School for Scandal

Abstract

The work of literature is composed by the author or writer in a special

language composition and certain form in order to make the work of literature

interpretable, enjoyable, and even analyzable by the audience or readers. Moreover, it

enables us to recognize human dreams and struggles that we would never otherwise

get to know.

This Thesis discusses one of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s plays entitled The

School for Scandal. It is stated in this play that Joseph Surface is courting the hand of

Maria for her fortune. He is Charles’s rivals for the hand of Maria; at the same time

he unthinkingly develops into Lady Teazle’s lover. He has hatched a plot against

Charles in collaboration with Lady Sneerwell; and he has acquired a reputation as a

man of sentiment and as having a generous nature. And in the end Joseph is revealed

as a hypocrite.

Therefore, the discussion of this thesis is focused on Joseph Surface’s attitude

and behavior as well as his mental conflict in supporting the theme of the School for

Scandal. The goals of writing this thesis are to obtain understanding about literary

work, especially for drama and hopefully it will be able to describe the relation

between the characters in a play and the theme of a play. The method to use in

analyzing this thesis is inductive method. The psychological and sociological

approaches are used in this thesis. This thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter I

is an introduction. The second chapter describes the life of the author, Richard

Brinsley Sheridan, and the synopsis of the play. The following chapter, chapter three

discusses the meaning of the terms. Chapter four discusses about the analysis of

Joseph Surface in supporting the theme. The final chapter, five, concludes this thesis.

Having read the School for Scandal, it can be concluded that the moral

message of this play is “never believe what is said to be or what it seems in the

outside”. There is a strong relationship between Joseph Surface’s characters with the

theme of the play. So, it is proved that Joseph Surface’s characters have a strong

support in forming the theme.