Tony Lumpkin is a fictional character who first appeared in Oliver Goldsmith's play, ''

She Stoops to Conquer ''She Stoops to Conquer'' is a comedy by Irish writer 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 ...

''. He may have been based on one of Goldsmith's friends. The story goes that Oliver Goldsmith wrote the play while staying with the Lumpkin family at Park House in

Leverington Leverington is a village and civil parish in the Fenland District of Cambridgeshire, England. The settlement is to the north of Wisbech. At the time of the 2001 Census, the parish's population was 2,914 people, including Four Gotes, increasing ...

, near

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and ...

and that he lampooned his friend, Nicholas Lumpkin, by turning him into his famous creation, Tony Lumpkin. Tony Lumpkin is the son of Mrs Hardcastle and stepson to Mr Hardcastle. It is as a result of his practical joking that the comic aspects of the play are set up. When he accidentally meets Charles Marlow and his friend Hastings, who are coming to see Tony's parents in order to put Marlow forward as a suitor to Tony's stepsister Kate, he deliberately misdirects them, causing them to believe that the house where they are bound is an inn and that the Hardcastles are its landlord and landlady. Tony is promised in marriage to his cousin, Constance Neville, which he despises, and therefore he assists in her plans to elope with Hastings. Tony takes an interest in horses, "Bet Bouncer" and especially the alehouse, where he joyfully sings with members of the lower-classes. It is Tony's initial deception of Marlow, for a joke, which sets up the plot. Reportedly the part was originally intended for the Irish actor William Hamilton but he was replaced by John Quick before the production. The character became so popular that he was later used in a 1778

afterpiece An afterpiece is a short, usually humorous one-act playlet or musical work following the main attraction, the full-length play, and concluding the theatrical evening.p24 "The Chambers Dictionary"Edinburgh, Chambers, 2003 This short comedy, farce ...

play, '' Tony Lumpkin in Town'', by John O'Keeffe. The play was still popular in England in the mid-nineteenth century, where it was being played by the likes of

Lionel Brough Lionel "Lal" Brough (10 March 1836 – 8 November 1909) was a British actor and comedian. After beginning a journalistic career and performing as an amateur, he became a professional actor, performing mostly in Liverpool during the mid-1860s. H ...

. ''She Stoops to Conquer'' was chosen as the play to relaunch the Georgian

Angles Theatre The Angles Theatre is a theatre and historic Georgian playhouse in the market town of Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. It is among the oldest of Britain's theatres. The current premises consists of the original theatre building ...

in Wisbech, the town where the real Lumpkin moved to from Leverington after spending all his money.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lumpkin, Tony Characters in plays Theatre characters introduced in 1773 Male characters in theatre Comedy theatre characters