Let's back stab just one more time, please. (Meditation 12)

When reading The School for Scandal, I got very vivid images running through my head of various plays, characters, and even some scenes from movies. For instance, when reading Act 5, scene 2, the only thing I could relate this to was Mrs. Helseth from Rosmersholm. For some reason all the exaggerations and the attempt to make the story sound more important and more entertaining that the truth actually is, reminded me so much of Mrs. Helseth when she explains Mrs. Kroll's experiences, or her experiences with Mortensgaard, and even with other people around the neighborhood. The way she talks about people, basically "back stabbing" them, is what happens in both The School for Scandal and The Misanthrope. In both plays they are doing just that--talking about someone and giving the idea that they have a deep down hatred of the person, but when said person is in their prescence, they are automatically their best friend. Which reminded me of the movie Mean Girls. They act like they are best friends, act like they like each other and would never do anything against each other, but then they talk about the other girls behind their backs and say things that are rude, and cruel. Much like in The Misanthrope when Celimene is saying horrible things about her friend, but when she arrives she suddenly becomes another person. Also like Sir Peter in The School for Scandal when he is talking about his wife to Joseph Surface while she is hiding, but when they are revealed to each other, he becomes a great husband and stands up to Joeseph Surface in her favor.
All the rediculousness of the play makes it that much more humorous to read. I think this is because it is a lot like real life. People talk about others all the time. It happens; everyone does it. But no one would expect the person they are talking about to be hiding behind a screen or in the closet. The slap-stick style of the play makes it more enjoyable to read and easier to imagine how it would be staged, and I think that is a major reason in why people, myself included, enjoy this play so much.