48 pages • 1 hour read
The School for Scandal
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Act IVChapter Summaries & Analyses
Act IV, Scene 1 Summary
Charles gives Careless the Surface family genealogy to use as an auctioneer’s hammer, and Charles calls out the names of his dead relatives, asking for small sums of money for each portrait. Realizing how long this process will take, Charles offers the whole family for a lump sum. Oliver notices that Charles skipped one portrait, which Charles says is his Uncle Oliver’s. Charles refuses to sell Oliver’s portrait for any sum of money, so Oliver renounces his disgust for Charles.
Oliver, as Premium, offers Charles more than double the amount he asked for the remainder of the portraits, noting how similar Charles is to his father. Oliver, Moses, and Careless leave, and Rowley enters. Rowley chastises Charles for selling his family portraits, but Charles is excited. Charles gives Rowley 100 pounds to send to Stanley, and Rowley is impressed with Charles’s generosity. Charles leaves to gamble.
Act IV, Scene 2 Summary
Moses and Oliver discuss Charles’s behavior. Moses says Charles is too extravagant, gambles too much, and spends money on women, but Oliver is content that Charles refused to sell Oliver’s portrait. Rowley arrives with the 100 pounds for Stanley, and Moses considers generosity another of Charles’s faults.
Oliver plans to dress as Stanley to see Joseph, but Trip tells him to wait until Peter has visited Joseph.
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