She Stoops to Conquer

The epilogue by Dr. Goldsmith proposed some interesting thoughts. In the fourth line of this poem he states that "I have conquered him to conquer you." It seems here that he essentially strips away Kate's 'achievement' and credits the joining of her and Mr. Marlow to his writing the script and controlling the fate of the characters, not to any cleverness on her part. Really, Marlow stooped to conquer since he is unble to 'conquer' any women of higher class and therefore had to send his affections towards what he thought was a barmaid. This combines with the disguise in the play to emphasize the point that "our life is all a play, composed to please." Here Goldsmith is suggesting that we alter ourselves in different settings in order to fit the needs of the situation and the people it involves. We are constantly in character for fear that the world see our true selves, but at the same time, this role playing allows us the liberty to be our true selves. Disguise, as Kate has shown us, can oddly enough present a more accurate reality than reality itself.