Act 1, Scene 1 Summary

Lady Sneerwell and Snake are discussing a recent success they had in assassinating someone's character, and they are very pleased with their efforts. In their plot, Snake sent a few lines of a letter to a Miss Clackitt. Someone soon had his life destroyed. However, Snake notes that Miss Clackitt, while certainly very capable of destroying reputations, does not have the subtle abilities of Lady Sneerwell when it comes to bringing people down.

With Lady Sneerwell's talents out in the open, she admits that she is proud of her abilities and she wants to use them on her next project. In this project, she is going to use Snake to break off the affections between Charles Surface, a drunk who is throwing away his money, and Maria, the ward of Sir Peter Teazle. Once the couple is split up, Sneerwell wants...