She Stoops to Conquer is a comedy by Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in the English-speaking world. It is one of the few plays from the 18th century to have retained its appeal and is still regularly performed. The play has been adapted into a film several times, including in 1914 and 1923.
Initially the play was titled Mistakes of a Night and the events within the play take place in one long night. In 1778, John O'Keeffe wrote a loose sequel, Tony Lumpkin in Town.
1905: Kyrle Bellew and Eleanor Robson in a scene from She Stoops to Conquer
1971: Juliet Mills and Tom Courtenay in a BBC production of the play.
Oliver Goldsmith was a well-known Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, noted for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), his pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770), and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer. He is thought by some to have written the classic children's tale The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes (1765).
Portrait 1769–70 by Joshua Reynolds
A plaque to Oliver Goldsmith at the Temple Church in London, where he was buried.
A statue of Goldsmith at Trinity College, Dublin