A Portrait Summary

Sheridan admonishes the audience to avoid either creating scandals or listening to tales of the scandals of others. He also reminds the audience that appearances are not all they seem and they should look beneath the surface to find the true worth of men and women instead of listening to the reports that other people give. For, Sheridan says, appearances can be deceiving, and they often mislead people.

A Portrait Analysis

This portion of the play is, essentially, a dedication that gives the audience an idea of the purpose of the play. This sort of dedication was very typical for the time that this play was written and it was used to honor some person. In this case, Sheridan is honoring a beautiful woman by the name of Frances Anne Crewe, the wife of John Crewe. This is because Sheridan was...