Abstract
Abstract: Critical discussions of Romantic conversational practices have focused on concepts of sentiment, freedom, and the flow or ease of exchange of spoken words, and their literary representation. It has not always been apparent, however, that 'frictionless' conversation requires of the participants certain physical and sensory competencies or abilities. Disabilities that affect communication reveal much about politeness, social control, accessibility, and equity. This article offers a reading of John Poole's one act farce, Deaf as a Post (1823), as a comic play about conversational friction.