Who stoops to conquer, and what is conquered?

It is Kate who "stoops to conquer" Marlow by pretending to be a servant. Since he is unable to speak to women of his own class, she cannot get to know him and gain his affection through conversation. Therefore, she decides to pretend to be a maid and, in this role, get to know Marlow, who is quite capable of talking casually and even vulgarly to women of lower classes. She disguises herself and speaks to him in order to win him, only later revealing her true identity. So she "stoops" to the position of a maid in order to "conquer" Marlow by gaining his hand in marriage. This disguise is one of the "mistakes of a night" described by the subtitle, as Marlow "mistakes" Kate for the maid she pretends to be.


Kate Hardcastle, the heroine of the tale, is the conqueror of the play's title. Her father is a wealthy countryman who wants to marry off his daughter to Charles Marlow, son of Mr. Hardcastle's rich old friend. Unfortunately for Mr. Hardcastle, Charles is incredibly timid when it comes to addressing women of his own social class. At the same time, however, he has no problem whatsoever in talking to women lower down the social scale, being incredibly relaxed and charming in their company. Not surprisingly, Kate's first meeting with Charles turns out to be a complete disaster, with the young man painfully and embarrassingly shy in her presence.
But Kate is deeply drawn to Charles, and feels it worth her while to bring him out of his shell. That being the case, Kate must "stoop," i.e. give the impression of being of a lower class, if she's to "conquer" Charles, to secure his hand in marriage. So Kate hits upon the cunning idea of disguising herself as a maid to make Charles fall for her.

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