Résumé
This paper deals with Sheridan‟s play The Critic which was produced on October 30th, 1779. My objective is to explore the attitude of the unblushing advertising agent, Mr. Puff, one of the stock characters presented by Sheridan in this play. The paper would discuss the shrewd comments delivered by Sheridan, on the noble art of „puffing‟, whose modern version is called „advertising‟. Sheridan uses Mr. Puff to satirize the means by which the skills of the playwright are marketed in the world outside the theatre specifically in the world of advertising. Mr. Puff‟s swindling is strikingly in tune with some modern advertising practices. He catalogues four principles of his profession: the puff direct, the puff collateral, the puff collusive and the puff oblique, all of which involve some form of misrepresentation. The paper points out that a similar form of misrepresentation is a common scenario of the modern advertising world. The paper indulges in a comparative study between the eighteenth century and the modern trends among advertisers, based on certain authentic examples from both these periods. It further discusses the methods used by these advertisers to somehow affect the subconscious mind of the customers and mislead them.