The Way of the World by William Congreve
"The Way of the World" is a comedic play by William Congreve, first performed in 1700, that explores themes of love, deception, and the intricacies of social conventions in 18th-century England. Central to the story are Mrs. Millamant, a witty and desirable heiress, and Mirabell, her charming suitor who matches her intellect. The plot unfolds as Mirabell devises a clever scheme to win Millamant's hand in marriage, while facing opposition from her aunt, Lady Wishfort, and other characters motivated by jealousy and ambition.
As Mirabell navigates the social machinations, he must contend with Lady Wishfort's desire to control Millamant's fortune, as well as the schemes of Mrs. Marwood and her lover, Fainall, who threaten both Millamant and Mirabell's plans. The play highlights Millamant's insistence on personal autonomy in marriage, challenging societal expectations and the hypocrisy surrounding relationships. Ultimately, the story culminates in a series of revelations that expose the true intentions of the characters involved, leading to a resolution that embraces both love and a critique of social norms. Readers interested in a witty examination of human relationships and societal critiques will find "The Way of the World" a compelling exploration of its time.
The Way of the World by William Congreve
First produced: 1700; first published, 1700
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Comedy of manners
Time of plot: Seventeenth century
Locale: London
Principal Characters
Lady Wishfort , an aged coquetteMrs. Fainall , her daughterMrs. Millamant , Lady Wishfort’s nieceFoible , a servantSir Wilfull Witwoud , Lady Wishfort’s nephewWitwoud , his half brotherMirabell , a gentleman of fashionWaitwell , his servantFainall , Lady Wishfort’s son-in-lawMrs. Marwood , Fainall’s mistress
The Story
Mrs. Millamant, by far the most beautiful and wittiest of all the fine ladies in London, is sought after by all the beaux in town. The niece of the rich Lady Wishfort, she is also an heir in her own right and is looked upon with great favor by Witwoud, a kinsman of Lady Wishfort. Millamant’s acknowledged preference among her suitors, however, is for young Mirabell, who is the only man in London who can match that lady’s devastating wit.
Mirabell is as great a favorite among the ladies in the town as Millamant is among the beaux. He is the perfect gallant; she is the perfect coquette. Among Mirabell’s jealous admirers is Mrs. Marwood, the mistress of Fainall, Lady Wishfort’s son-in-law. In fact, Mirabell has but one real enemy among the ladies, and that is Lady Wishfort herself. On one occasion, to further his suit with Millamant, Mirabell falsely made love to the old lady. Discovering his subterfuge later, she never forgave him. She determines that he will never marry her niece so long as she controls Millamant’s fortune. In consequence, Mirabell is hard put to devise a scheme whereby he might convince Lady Wishfort to consent to the marriage.
The plan he devises is an ingenious one. Realizing that Lady Wishfort will respond to anything that even resembles a man, he promptly invents an imaginary uncle, Sir Rowland, who, he says, has fallen madly in love with Lady Wishfort and wants to marry her. He forces his servant, Waitwell, to impersonate this fictitious uncle. To placate Waitwell and further ensure the success of his plan, he contrives his servant’s marriage to Lady Wishfort’s maid, Foible.
His scheme might have worked were it not for the counterplans of the designing Mrs. Marwood and her unscrupulous lover, Fainall. Although she pretends to despise all men, Mrs. Marwood is secretly in love with Mirabell and has no intention of allowing him to marry Millamant. Fainall, although he detests his wife heartily, realizes that he is dependent upon her and her mother’s fortune for his well-being, and he resolves to stop at nothing to make sure that fortune is in his control.
While these plans proceed, Millamant gives little thought to plots or counterplots. She has not the slightest intention of compromising with life but insists that the world’s way must somehow be made to conform to her own desires. She has little use for the life around her, seeing through its shallow pretenses and its falsity, and yet she knows that it is the world in which she has to live. She realizes that any attempt to escape from it into some idyllic pastoral existence, as her aunt often suggests, will be folly.
Millamant tells Mirabell the conditions under which she will marry him, and they are stringent conditions, not at all in conformity with the average wife’s idea of her lot. She will have in her marriage no place for the ridiculous codes and conventions that govern the behavior of the people around her. She will be entirely free of the cant and the hypocrisy of married life, which are only a cloak for the corruption or misery hidden underneath social custom. In short, she refuses to be merely a married woman in her husband’s or society’s eyes. Mirabell, likewise, has certain conditions that must be fulfilled before he turns from bachelor into husband. When his demands prove reasonable, both lovers realize that they see life through much the same eyes. They decide that they are probably made for each other.
However, the world does not come to the same conclusion. Lady Wishfort, still embittered against Mirabell for his gross deception, resolves that Millamant is to marry a cousin, Sir Wilfull Witwoud, a country lout many years her senior, who has just arrived in London. Fortunately for Millamant, Sir Wilfull turns out to be a harmless booby who, when drunk, becomes the most understanding of men.
There is a greater obstacle, however, in the scheme that Mirabell himself plans. Waitwell, disguised as Mirabell’s imaginary uncle, Sir Rowland, pays ardent court to Lady Wishfort and would have been successful in inveigling her into marriage were it not for a letter from Mrs. Marwood exposing the whole scheme. Lady Wishfort’s maid, Foible, succeeds in intercepting the letter, but Mrs. Marwood appears at Lady Wishfort’s in person and discloses the deception.
Lady Wishfort is furious, and more determined than ever to prevent any marriage between her niece and Mirabell. She angrily discharges Foible from her employ. Mrs. Fainall, Lady Wishfort’s daughter, is on the side of the two lovers. When Foible informs her that she has tangible proof of the relationship between Fainall and Mrs. Marwood, Mrs. Fainall resolves to prosecute her husband to the limit. Meanwhile, the wily Fainall takes pains to have all of his wife’s property transferred to his name by means of trumped-up evidence of an affair between his wife and Mirabell.
In this act, Lady Wishfort begins to see for the first time the scheming villainy of her daughter’s husband. Mirabell, with the aid of Foible and Millamant’s servant, Mincing, exposes the double-dealing Mrs. Marwood and her lover and further proves that, while she is yet a widow, Mrs. Fainall conveyed her whole estate in trust to Mirabell. Lady Wishfort is so delighted that she forgives Mirabell all of his deceptions and consents to his marriage to Millamant.
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