The affected wit is the main butt of the ridicule because at the same time that it is affected it is also

false. The falsehood of affectation is but one step removed from the deceit of hypocrisy. Witwoud and Petulant by themselves are not of great consequence, but the number of Witwouds and Petulants make them a matter of great concern for their affectation breeds artificiality which robs a society of its naturalness. Witwoud has an inflated opinion of his own intellect, but he is really a Fool with a good memory, and some few scraps of other folks wit. He imposes his forced witticisms on all and boosts his own ego by ridiculing the uneducated Petulant by suggesting that he cannot sign his own name. Petulants affectation is to contradict everyone, particularly Witwoud, and be rude and surly to everyone. When Sir Willfull arrives, they think that they have got a new object of ridicule, and temporarily joins hands to smoke him, only to be outsmoked themselves. Lady Wishfort represents those creed of women who lives in selfdeception and refuses to accept both the realities of her age and the dwindling of her charm. She is determined not to admit her own weakness, and her frustrated lust for power makes the full blast of her tyranny fall upon Peg, the one person over whom she can claim superiority in looks and in intelligence. She has lost all sense of proportion, and decorum for her has become a show of respectability behind which anything can be hidden. Mincing with her affected accent provides another glimpse into the affectations of the age. Another crucial social feature delved by Congreve in this play is the institution of marriage. This institution has got two representatives, Mr. Fainall and his wife, and Mirabell and Millamant, though the latter are yet to be married. Mr. and Mrs. Fainall are an example of a couple who have got nothing but hatred and disgust for each other, and Mr. Fainalls views of marriage are cynical to say the least. Mirabell and Millamant, on the other hand, want to escape the hypocrisies manifesting themselves in the marriages of the times, and it is through their conversation in the proviso scene we get a peek into the contemporary married life. Millamant speaks of how people on their first Sunday as couples go to Hide-park together to provoke Eyes and whispers, but are never seen together again. Mirabell says how women go to theatres in masks, so that their immoral intentions would not be found out. Fainall has married Mrs. Fainall for her money, and Mirabell himself wants to be assured of Millamants fortune before marrying her. Thus, the crucial role of money in marriage is revealed.

Mirabell and Millamant are the forces presented by Congreve which can fight with the affectations of the age. In the proviso scene, they reveal the extent to which affectations have entered the society, as they speak of masks, strait-Lacing of babies, etc. and strive to be rid of such activities. Mirabell exposes Fainall and Mrs. Marwoods conspiracies, and hence defeats another force of cheat. Even Witwoud and Petulant are made to support him as the play ends. Congreve makes Sir Willfull another spokesperson for the affectations of the London life, as Sir Willfull says The Fashions a Fool; and you are a Fop He further criticizes Lady Wishfort, as he says She dare not frown desperately because her face is none of her own. The very theme of the way of the World, the ethical sub-stratum on which it rests, is anti-artificial, for it delas with the exposure of pretence, insincerity and hypocrisy; and these are not failings which pertain only to the small fashionable society of seventeenth century England, they are inherent in the very nature of man as a social being.