
The action of She Stoops to Conquer (1773) is largely confined to a night & a day in Squire Hardcastle's somewhat dilapidated country house Young Marlow on his way there to meet the bride his father has chosen for him loses his way & arrives at the house assuming it is an inn The prospect of meeting the genteel Miss Hardcastle terrifies the diffident youngster; but the serving-girl Kate
- in fact Miss Hardcastle who chooses not to clarify the misunderstanding
- immediately catches his fancy & cannot complain of a lack of ardour in her well-born suitor After a series of trifling confusions & the inevitable eavesdropping-from-behind-a-screen all is resolved so pleasingly that the comedy has been a favourite with amateur & professional companies & their audiences for over 230 years