The Way of the World as a Restoration Play

Introduction

The period from 1660-1700 is known as the Restoration Period or the Age of

Dryden. Restoration Age starts from the King Charles II who gained the throne of England

after his exile. Puritan spirit occupied the minds of the people till Commonwealth

government changed to the kingship of King Charles II. The religious controversy and

Revolution in 1668 strongly influenced the social life and literary movements of the age.

Puritanism was completely thrown away. During the Puritan period theatres were closed

and which was reopened in this Restoration Age. If anyone happened to see the Tamil film

Thenaliraman, one could clearly understand the life of Restoration period. The king with

many wives and children was always surrounded by corrupt and degenerate ministers.

Every moral taught during the Puritan Age was condemned. All these tendencies of the

age were clearly reflected in the literature of the period.

The establishment of the Royal society was a landmark in the history of England.

Interest in science began to grow. Objectivity, Rationality and Intellectual quality also

enlivened the literature of this period. The French influence was more dominant in

literature because the King spent his exile in France. The French writers like Corneille,

Racine, Moliere and Boileau were imitated. There are many new literary characteristics

observable during this period like

1. Rise of Neo-classicism.

2. Imitation of the ancient masters.

3. Imitation of French masters.

4. Lack of creativity and imagination.

5. Realism and formalism.

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Different forms of Literature during Restoration Age

The poetry of the restoration period is formal, intellectual and realistic in nature.

In it form is more important than the subject matter. Eg. John Dryden’s‘Absalom and

Achitopel’ and Samuel Butler’s Hudibras.

Matthew Arnold remarks: The Restoration marks the birth of our modern English

prose. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is called the pioneer of English novel. The

Diary of John Pepys is known for naturalness of style and narrative skill.

With the Restoration of Charles II, players produced such plays as to please the

taste of the King. His men were lacking in manners and loved immoral pleasures. There

were two types of drama during this age Restoration Tragedy and Restoration Comedy

(Comedy of Manners). Eg. William Wycherley’s The Country Wife and William

Congreve’s The Way of the World’.

Life and Works of William Congreve (1670-1729)

William Congreve was born in January of 1670 in Bardsey Grange, Yokshire,

England. His parents were William Congreve (1637-1708) and Mary. Young Congreve

attended Kilkenny College, Ireland and then Trinity College, Dublin. He moved back to

Staffordshire, England around 1689. He entered the middle temple in 1691 to study law.

He held numerous government posts over the years including Collecter at Poole,

Commissioner for wine licences and undersearcher of the London port. With Lady

Godolphin he had an illegitimate daughter named Mary. His first entrance into Landon

literary world is under the pseudonym "Cleophil Incognita: An "essay" (1692). He was

influenced by Plato, Epictetus, Aespo, Cervants and Shakespeare.

His first comedy is The Old Batchelor (1693). The second Comedy The Double Dealer

(1693) is a better constructive play. Love for love (1694) is dedicated to the Earl of Dorset.

His Poetic tragedy The Mourning Bride is published in 1697. He studied music and won a

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prize for the libretto. He wrote for the judgment of Paris. Drawing from Ovid's

Metamorphoses Congreve wrote the opera Semele.

Epistle written upon the death of Queen Mary in 1694 The Mourning Muse of

Alexis and written upon the death of John, Marquess of Blandford in 1703 The Tears of

Amaryllis for Amyntas. Collaborated with Dryden his works were published in three

Octavo volumes. Other poets like Jonathan Swift, Frances Porter, Alexander Pope and

Henrietta appreciated Congreve's works. The Restoration Comedy The Way of the World

holds a mirror to the life of his time. In matters of brevity his style is unmatched. He has

the power of irony. His dialogues are very effective.

The Way of the World: Synopsis

The story revolves around the heroine of the play Millamant and her marriage. The

hero of the play Mirabell was in love with Millamant and to marry her he approached her

guardian Lady Wishfort who was supposed to take the approach of Mirabell as love for

herself. When she found out the truth she disregarded Mirabell and started to search for a

groom for her niece Millamant. In the mean time there is another character Mrs. Fainall

who happens to be the ex-lover of Mirabell but married Fainall for sake of keeping her

affair with Mirabell as secret. Fainall is also disloyal to Mrs. Fainall as he has affair with

Mrs. Marwood. In conversation between Mrs. Marwood and Mrs. Fainall we come to

know that Mrs. Marwood has some attraction towards Mirabel when Mirabell was very

busy with her planning to marry Millamant.

It is later revealed in the play that the property of Millamant will reach her after

her marriage with the groom who her guardian chooses. Hence Mirabell tries to get the

permission of Lady Wishfort. His main aim in marrying Millamant was to gain her

property. Hence Mirabel planned to trick Lady Wishfort. He disguised his valet Waitwell

as his Uncle Sir Rowland and arranged a proposal to Lady Wishfort to marry Sir Rowland.

In order to take revenge on Mirabell, Lady Wishfort accepts the marriage proposal
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thinking that if Mirabell’s uncle gets married then Mirabell can’t inherit his uncle’s

property.

Waitwell was supposed to marry Foible, maid of Lady Wishfort. Since Mirabell

promised to arrange marriage between Waitwell and Foible she too helped Mirabell. Mrs.

Marwood complained about the meeting of Foible and Mirabell to Lady Wishfort. When

Foible is investigated she manages to escape by telling that Mirabell stopped her just to

insult Lady Wishfort for marrying his uncle. Lady Wishfort got angry and left the place to

receive Sir Rowland who promised to meet her leaving Mrs. Marwood in her room where

she was hidden in a cupboard. Without knowing the presence of Mrs. Marwood Foible and

Mrs. Fainall discussed the Mirabell’s plan.

On hearing the conversation Mr. Marwood gets angry when Mrs. Fainall insults

her by telling that her attraction towards Mirabell will be in vain as he will never look at

her. Mrs. Marwood happened to know about the affair between Mrs. Fainall and Mirabell

by their conversation. As soon as they left the room Mrs. Marwood went straight to Fainall

and told everything of what she overheard. Fainall and Mrs. Marwood planned to get the

money from Lady Wishfort by threatening to damage her daughter Mrs. Fainall’s

reputation by revealing her affair with Mirabell.

But before that they wrote a letter to Lady Wishfort informing her about Mirabel’s

trick. But Foible and Waitwell managed to make Lady Wishfort believe that the letter

might be written by Mirabell to stop the marriage. But their victory didn’t stand for long as

Mrs. Marwood and Fainall themselves came and revealed the truth behind Sir Rowland.

In the Meantime we come to know that Millamant also wants to marry Mirabel.

Her suitor Sir Wilfull was rejected by her and the marriage of Millamant was stopped by

herself. As Millamant was not going to marry the groom which her guardian chose for her;

her property will be inherited by her guardian Lady Wishfort. Fainall married Mrs.Fainall

for her money. As per law Mrs. Fainall is supposed to inherit six thousand pounds.
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 Knowing all these Fainall blackmailed Lady Wishfort to give all her property to

Fainall. He also asked Lady Wishfort not to marry in her life time and she should be under

the control of Fainall. Waitwell and Foible proved that Fainall is also equally disloyal to

his wife by keeping illegitimate affair with Mrs. Marwood. But it had no effect on Fainall.

He was not afraid but he said that his disloyalty can be proved in public but he will

disclose Mrs. Fainall’s relationship with Mirabell in public. To save Lady Wishfort

Millamant agreed to marry Sir Wilfull according to Lady Wishfort’s wish.

Fainall was not ready to accept his defeat. He demanded his wife’s legal

inheritance amounting to six thousand pounds to him. At that time Mirabell entered and

showed the document which said that Mrs. Fainall’s money belongs to Mirabell. Mrs.

Fainall and Mirabell signed this agreement at the time of Fainall’s marriage as they

doubted Fainall. As Mrs. Fainall herself had no governance on her money Fainall could do

no more. So he and Mrs. Marwood left the stage.

Knowing the real villains as Fainall and her close friend Mrs. Marwood, Lady

Wishfort forgave Mirabel and accepted the marriage of Mirabel and Millamant. As

Millamant got Lady Wishfort’s alas that is how permission she married Mirabell and

inherited her property too. William Congreve The Way of the World ends happily.

Analysis of the Play

Congreve uses style and wit for effective characterization. Irony pervades the play

The Way of the World. Love and money play the major role in this play. The play can be

seen as the dramatic representation of the varieties of love in England during 1700. It is

the finest example of the Restoration Comedy. Restoration drama’s are usually straight

forward in nature. This play’s exposition is highly ingenious and long winded. But this

was not successful when it was first performed.

The Way of the World indicates that life is filled with unsavory and solid facts and

humorous follies. Irony can be seen only in the title and dialogues of the play. Congreve
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doesn’t give the exact definition of wit, but in his play one can find the difference between

true with and false wit. Throughout the play we can find wit, satire and irony in the

dialogues of the characters. The Way of the World got a poor reception during the

Restoration time which made Congreve decide to stop writing.

Comedy of manners deals with the manners and affectations of social class. So

immorality is the main theme of Restoration period plays. The theme of Romanticism is

also seen in this play as the hero proves his worth and wins the heroine at the end of the

play. The play has satire and happy endings, but there are moments also darkness created

by the antagonist of the play.

Congreve's The Way of the World is a traditional five act play with prologue and

epilogue. Every act is divided into a number of scenes. Congreve followed Aristotle's

three unities of time, place and action in his play. The Way of the World has musical

interludes with songs and dance. Similes are used in the speeches of Petulant and

Witwoud. The language used is ornate. There is also the use of metaphor in some places.

Puns, monologues and asides are also used.

The Way of the World as a Restoration Play

Restoration comedy is also known as the Comedy of Manners. It is popularized by

Ben Jonson. It is called as Comedy of Manners since it dealt with the polished externals of

life among the upper class. The characters are elegant witty gentlemen who led immoral

lives and beautiful frivolous women as we see in the characters of the play The Way of the

World. The main theme is love intrigue.

Restoration period has considered immorality as something smart, while chastity

and faithfulness in women were ridiculed. As we see in the characters of Mrs. Fainall and

Mrs. Marwood, the romance of country life was lost. Country people were looked down

with contempt for their lack of manners. They are fully intended for entertainment.

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 In Act I, we are told that Mirabell is in love and that there are obstacles to the

courtship, but most of the significant facts are hidden until Act II so that the first part of

the play is obscure. Then, just as Mirabell's scheme becomes clear, it loses significance,

for Fainall's counterplot becomes the machinery that moves the action forward. It is,

therefore, worthwhile to trace the story in chronological order.

Congreve represents the attitude of the period at its best. He displays urbanity,

grace, and decorum. Congreve's love passages can be graceful and dignified; he treats love

with an objective rationalism that is quite distinct from the concept of lechery. His

comedies are concerned, as comedies have been through the ages, with love and money,

frequently complicated by parental opposition. His approach, however, is balanced: Love

without money would be a problem, but money without love, the cynic's aim, is not the

goal. Likewise, Congreve abhors the sentimental attitude that love will result in the

individuals' somehow being submerged in each other; he insists that lovers preserve their

integrity as individuals. Love is not metaphysical, not sentimental, not a form of sacrifice.

On the other hand, within this context, it is not merely carnal nor a thinly disguised lust; it

includes trust, dignity, and mutual respect.

William Wycherley's The Country Wife is another Restoration comedy. The

Country Wife’s place in English literature is more relevant to the history of drama than to

the literary canon itself. Full of banter and repartee, it is fun to read, but the play is most

remembered for a particular kind of influence it has over present-day British and

American comedies. The Country Wife makes fun of people’s manners as they behave in

public. According to Wycherley, people from urban societies were “naturally

affectatious,” which means that they put on airs without even consciously trying to do so.

Wycherley commented on such traits with one-liners that induced laughter from the

audience. He then often explained the line with another witty remark, provoking more

laughter.
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 Unlike The Way of the World, it is a stage success play till now. The Country Wife

also reflects an aristocratic and anti-Puritan ideology of the Restoration period. The

country Wife play shows the clandestine affairs of married women in London during the

Restoration period. The Country Wife was considered too outrageous to be performed at

all as it is sexually explicit. It carries the colloquial prose dialogue. Academic critics praise

its linguistic energy and sharp social satire.

In Congreve's play the dialogues are ironic in nature. The dialogues are very

straight forward in Congreve’s play. Criticism of a play changes from time to time.

Criticism changes according to the change in the period. Thus, Congreve's play can be

criticized adversely but still his play is one of the master pieces to depict the Restoration

period. Though, there were other plays like Wycherley's The Country Wife.

Although Congreve is described as a Restoration dramatist, in reality he invented a

new kind of comedy. Unlike his predecessors, who merely depicted the age as they saw,

Congreve employed satirical realism, subverting the themes and conventions of the

Restoration comedy of manners. Congreve, therefore, becomes a link to the playwrights of

the eighteenth century, such as Goldsmith and Sheridan.

Conclusion

The play The Way of the World contains all the characteristics of the Restoration

Drama, Social life during the Restoration period is well portrayed in this play. It contains

the elements of the comedy of manners too which is a unique to Restoration period.

Characters reflect the human psychology of the Restoration period. Though it lacks some

characteristic features of the Restoration plays, William Congreve’s The Way of the World

is a product of the times.

Congreve dedicated his play to Ralph, Earl of Montague. Congreve knows very

well that his play can’t succeed in the stage, as the current taste of Restoration society is

different from his play. Congreve's characters, instead of making the audience laugh,
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excited compassion. Congreve even apologizes for his digression and entrust his play to

the earl's protection. He holds an ancient Roman author, Terence as his model. Even

though Congreve employed the plot of Restoration period’s comedy of manners The Way

of the World is known for the best experimental comedy. The importance of money to

matters of love is another theme that is developed in the play. Mirabell is the protagonist

of the play and the antagonists are Fainall and Mrs. Marwood. The play ends as comedy,

as Mirabell defeats the antagonist’s plot in the play. But many critics feel that the ending is

inconclusive. We are not certain about Mrs. Fainall's future.

This play reflects the Restoration society and it revolves around the hero winning

the heroine along with her fortune overcoming the obstacles. Here, the hero is a witty

young man. The title itself is ironic as the title indicates the way of the world in which

Congreve lived. Congreve's world is the 18th century society with artificiality, rigidity and

formality. During Restoration period Women were allowed to act on stage which gave

advantage to the play and Congreve used sexual relationship as a dominant theme in the

first five of his plays which evoked the wrath of the puritan groups. Restoration comedy

seemed to delight in mocking religion and morality. Although there were a number of

plays to represent the Restoration period like Wycherley’s The Country wife, Congreve’s

The Way of the World is a noteworthy work that is typical of the age is evokes.

References

Congreve, William. The Way of the World: Collection of Congreve’s Play, Ed. Som Dev.

Chennai: Macmillan Publishers India Ltd, 1978. Print.

www.online-litertature.com

www.wikipedia.org

www.cliffnotes.com

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