# Maria — The School for Scandal character guide

> Maria in The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Molly Seagrim, Exit Maria, Enter Maria, Maria Lady Teazle

**First appearance:** 0005-act-i

## Snapshot

Sir Peter Teazle's quiet ward, courted by both Surface brothers, who answers the town's gossip with a coolness far sharper than her reputation for virtue suggests.

## Who they are

Maria moves through Lady Sneerwell's circle as the one young woman who refuses to trade in other people's reputations, and her composure under Mrs. Candour's prying makes her the play's moral counterweight. She is caught between the Surface brothers' competing suits and the relentless public chatter about her broken engagement to Charles, a pressure she meets with dry, deflating wit rather than tears. Her presence forces the audience to measure every schemer around her against a standard of plain decency, and her choices quietly shape which brother the plot will reward.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_school_for_scandal_se/characters/maria
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_school_for_scandal_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_school_for_scandal_se/characters