This research explores the representation of Hasya, Bibhatsa and Bhayanaka rasa in Richard Sheridan’s anti-sentimental comedy, The School for Scandal (1777). Anti-sentimental comedy is also called Comedy of Manners, which emphasises satire, irony, wit and realistic human behaviour to expose the weaknesses of fashionable society. It focuses on issues such as hypocrisy, greed, scandals and lust of the wealthy upper class. This play depicts the comedy of social hypocrisy, the disgust of moral corruption and gossip and the fear of exposure and the loss of reputation, which can be observed through the aesthetics of hasya, bibhatsa and bhayanaka rasa. William Congreve, Oliver Goldsmith, Richard Brinsley Sheridan are the prominent key figures of the Comedy of Manners. The Rasa theory began with Bharata Muni’s Natyashastra, which is the ancient Indian perception of the concept of emotions is aroused by performance and art. This paper connects the Indian aesthetics of rasa theory with the play The School for Scandal.
Rasa Theory, Hasya Rasa, Bibhatsa Rasa, Bhayanaka Rasa, Satire, Indian Aesthetics, Comedy of Manners.
Bhajan Barman. The Aesthetics of Hasya, Bibhatsa and Bhayanaka: A Rasa-Theoretical Reading of Richard Sheridan's The School for Scandal. Indian Journal of Modern Research and Reviews. 2026; 4(8):351-353
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