"Under the Gaslight," an 1838 melodramatic play, written by Augustin
Daly, presents itself to the reader in a very superficial tone. As for the title
alone seems to portray this superficiality before giving the reader a chance to
even begin reading act1. It is known that this play was done during a time when
gaslights were becoming a modern extravagance to the theatre, this new
technology was used for what were considered to be the best plays, which were
usually viewed by the rich, upper-class of society, therefore being "Under
the Gaslight" was the same as being under a grand spotlight. Sabino 2 As
the play begins this pretentious characteristic continues to prevail. The first
scene as the curtains would be opening, takes place in NewYork at the well
appointed home of the Courtlands. The people in the play obviously appear to be
somewhat wealthy and only associate with high-class people, this turns into the
irony of the play. This scene introduces Pearl Courtland, cousin to Laura
Courtland the star of the play, and Ray Trafford who is Laura’s boyfriend,
perhaps soon to be fiancй, as implied by Pearl: "won’t you have a
cup of coffee?"Ray: "No." Pearl: "Ain’t you hungry?"
Ray: "No - you torment." Pearl: "O dear! I suppose it’s because
you’re going to be married shortly to Laura." (Drama and Performance,
Daly 524) This begins laying out the plot of the story. The plot of this story
is dependent upon the relationship between Ray and Laura. As the play continues
Rays true love for Laura is put to the ultimate test. He is forced to be
courageous, Sabino 3 both, in the sense of coming to her rescue when her life
ends up in danger, and having to risk his high societal standing once her
dreadful secret from the past is revealed, that she may not really be a
Courtland. If Ray stays with her he risks becoming an outcast, which is what she
once descended from, besides the fact that he temporarily feels betrayed and
deceived. The emotion behind this play is quite powerful and can be depicted
from the most trivial lines, such as when PeachBlossom was talking to herself
while cleaning. PeachBlossom: "The stove won’t shine. It’s the fault of
the polish I know. That boy comes here, just fills the bottles with mud, and
calls it stove polish. Only let me catch him. Ah! Ah! I declare I’d give it up
if I didn’t want to make everything look smart before Miss Nina comes
in." (Drama and Performance, Daly 530) This statement could be taken out of
it’s literal context, and used as a comparison; Laura, thought to be stove
polish is really just mud that has Sabino 4 been put into a stove polish bottle,
or a retched poor girl put into a wealthy, beautiful, well respected life. I
personally feel a strong sense of morality from this play, the situation really
emulates the question of; which is more important, true love, people and their
feelings, or social standing, what the upper class people think of you, and how
much money you have? Of course as in most good stories, love conquers all in the
end, but I feel that in this play Daly really makes the reader think about the
struggle behind such values.