Older, more seasoned literature is usually far superior to newer, less seasoned literature. Many readers may not see it this way because of how older literature was written. The way readers should interpret that piece of literature is not always the way it is interpreted. School for Scandal's use of sophisticated humor makes it harder for modern readers to appreciate. The School for Scandal is a play about the Restoration, or a satirical piece about those times (Barbra Dozier Web). Richard Brinsley Sheridan portrayed the upper class of the time in this play showing the hypocrisy that was occurring and showing one of the favorite pastimes of the people of the time, destroying other people's reputations (Shuaib Asghar Web). When Sheridan played him, he did it in a funny way. Many of these jokes and comedic scenes are quite difficult for modern audiences to appreciate. Sheridan wrote in a very different way from his fellow writers of the time. Scandal School can feel very static and slow if not done well (Robert Hogan Web). The same goes if it is read. Simply reading the play does not give the reader the opportunity to see how Sheridan imagined his scenes unfolding, so modern audiences have difficulty understanding the funny lines and scenes. Think about comedy films. Would they be as funny as before if the actors didn't play them? Would situational humor still be funny even if it couldn't be seen? The same goes for The School of Scandal. Sheridan uses witty exchanges and comedic situations to show his characters' flaws (Dozier Web). The actions of the characters are what create the humor in the scenes. Sheridan kept the action to a minimum when he wrote...... half of the paper ...... associated University Presses, 1986. 274-285. Rpt. in Criticism of nineteenth-century literature. Ed. Giulietta Byington. vol. 91. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. Literature Resource Center. Network. April 6, 2014. Sawyer, Newell W. “The Decline of a Tradition.” The Comedy of Manners: From Sheridan to Maugham (1931): 1-21. New York: Russell & Russell, 1969. Rpt. in Literary Criticism from 1400 to 1800. Ed. Michael L. LaBlanc. vol. 92. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Network. April 6, 2014.Sheridan, Richard Brinsley and Frederick Wilse Bateson. The school of scandal. London: Benn;, 1979. Print.Whipple, Edwin P. "Richard Brinsley Sheridan." The North American Review 66.138 (January 1848): 72-110. Rpt. in nineteenth-century literary criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Sheila Fitzgerald. vol. 5. Detroit: Gale Research, 1984. Literature Resource Center. Network. April 6. 2014.