Sample Paper -- Unassigned Writer -- Royall Tyler

The Contrasts of The Contrast

I chose to read the play The Contrast by Royall Tyler because it was one of the few things I voted for the class to read that wasn't chosen, and although it was longer than almost anything else I could have read, I figured I would enjoy The Contrast much more and it would be easier to read because it is a piece of fiction. Royall Tyler Americanized the British play The School for Scandal to make The Contrast his first and by far most famous piece of literature and America's first comedy. As I read the play, I found myself not only drawing parallels and comparing it to the novel Charlotte, but also to Samuel Sewall's diary, particularly Sewall's love and courtship and the way he wrote.

The play begins with the audience listening in on an exchange of gossip between Charlotte and Letitia. Through them we learn that two old friends, the late Mr. Van Dumpling and Mr. Van Rough, arranged for the marriage of their respective children, Billy (a.k.a. Dimple) and Maria. Both children were satisfied with the match until Dimple went on a tour of Europe after the death of his father and lost his country charm, while in his absence Maria read many sentimental novels and began to dream of a hero to marry instead of an estate and a good name. Though both Dimple and Maria wish out of the arrangement, Maria would never go against the promise she made to her father, and he would never go against his promise to his old friend. The situation is only intensified when we learn of Dimple's flirtations (and perhaps more) with many women (including Charlotte and Letitia) and Maria meets and falls in love with Colonel Henry Manly (known as Manly), Charlotte's brother. After many scenes of character development, the play finally reaches its climax when Manly overhears Dimple flirting first with Letitia, then advancing on his sister. Swords are drawn, but a fight is stopped by Mr. Van Rough, who confronts his future son-in-law about his £17,000 in debt. Letitia explains to Mr. Van Rough about how Dimple was going behind Maria's back, hoping to win Letitia's fortune and Charlotte's body. Dimple then leaves, presumably forever, and Van Rough gives Manly and Maria his blessing. The message I saw in this was that good things happen to good people.

One thing I did find unusual about this text, however, was the elaborate sub-plot Tyler writes about Manly's servant, Jonathan, being taught by Dimple's servant, Jessamy, about wooing women (particularly Maria's servant Jenny) and living in the city. Perhaps this is one of the contrasts in the play – Dimple attempts to teach Manly a lesson or two as well – but mainly these characters walk onto the stage as comic relief. Though I cannot honestly say I cracked a smile during those or any other scenes, I imagine the original audience understood far better than I the mockeries Tyler made of others. What the play does for modern readers is it entertains us with a good story and gives us an idea of life in 1787 (when the play was written), as the characters often debate about politics and discuss fashions and so forth.

Reading The Contrast inevitably leads me to compare it to the other piece of fiction we read, Charlotte. I think many of the characters and the relationships between them are similar in the pieces. For example, both Tyler and Rowson paint a picture of a heroine that the audience sympathizes with – Charlotte with her naïveté and Maria with her dreams and determination. Both Charlotte and Maria have suspicious friends (La Rue, and Letitia and Charlotte Manly, respectively), although Letitia and Charlotte might not be as harmful as La Rue, they certainly don't help matters any. Both heroines happen upon their love interests and have a secret relationship with them, at least temporarily. The stories also both have sub-plots without a clear purpose: the chapters-long story Rowson tells not only of Charlotte's parents, but her grandparents as well, and several scenes in Tyler's play concerning a love triangle with the servants. Also there are father/daughter relationships, emphasis on the idea that marriage should be for love, and devotion of large portions of the writing to character development.

The differences, however, make just as long of a list. First, plain and simple, The Contrast is a play, which allows the audience to see the action, and Charlotte is a novel, which gives the reader a peek at the characters' thoughts. Charlotte's situation is written as a lesson not to give away your heart too easily, while The Contrast was written for entertainment and encourages us to love. Manly and Maria have a true romance, while Montraville and Charlotte have a mere notion, only realized as such when Montraville falls in love with Julia. Which brings me to the largest contrast of them all – The Contrast ends happily, while Charlotte Temple's fate is somewhat tragic, although she perhaps gets a second chance through her daughter.

The other piece I compared The Contrast to was "The Diary of Samuel Sewall." Of course, there are more differences than similarities, but both authors keep us alert by abruptly changing the subject to something totally unconnected to what they were just talking about. Sewall's is far worse, but there are months and years between diary entries, while The Contrast lasts a few days. Along similar lines, both Sewall and Tyler include certain characters and storylines for no clear purpose. There are also similarities in the love stories. For instance, Samuel Sewall falls in love many times – four if you count his threes wives and Madame Winthrop. Dimple also claims to be in love many times – with Maria, Letitia, and Charlotte. Both Sewall and the character Maria go to great lengths to hide their romances with Madame Winthrop and Colonel Manly, respectively. And of course both authors end their pieces quite abruptly.

However, you can only expect that a diary and a play would have more differences than similarities. I have already mentioned a few, and additionally The Contrast was intended for an audience and was written to amuse them, while Sewall's diary was intended for his eyes only and made no effort to keep the reader entertained or even awake. The religious tone of Sewall's diary is completely absent in The Contrast, which instead has a comic tone. Even things that might seem similar, like the many courtships, are different because the courtship between Sewall and Madame Winthrop is very formal, while Maria and Manly don't even have a real courtship, they meet by pure chance.

If you want to read about history, The Contrast is not the place to look. However, if you want to be entertained while learning a thing or two about life following the Revolutionary War, I would definitely recommend this play, but don't expect to comprehend everything or laugh at all the jokes.

(1164 words, 4 pages, double-spaced)