CC3 TUTORIAL (DRAFT)

Name: Pousali Shome

Semester: 4
University Roll Number: 192014-11-
0038
University Registration Number: 014-
1211-0041-19
College Roll Number: 2019-ENGA-0032
 APPROPRIATENESS OF THE TITLE OF
THE PLAY : THE WAY OF THE WORLD

In the Play “the Way Of The World”, Congreve seems to understand and allude to the “immortality and
profaneness “ of the society, the structure on which majority of Restoration Plays were made. The literal
meaning of the expression “’The Way Of The World” is , the pattern and behaviour that people of a
particular era conduct themselves with in the society. The very title of the play is an implication of the
way in which the leading characters of the play must adopt in order to escape the grip of the
predominantly fashionable society. The play very clearly mirrors the fashionable society of the
Restoration period.

In Restoration period, adultery and loose morals are prominent, which is connoted by the title. Adultery
the most common theme of the play. The expression “Way Of The World” heavily underscores the most
important theme of the play, as it has been utilised within the play on several occasions. At the end of
Act 3, Fainall comes in term with the bitter truth from Mrs Marwood that his wife, Mrs Fainall and
Mirabell were lovers in the past, and that Mirabell married him off to Mrs Fainall only to use him as a
shield. Resenting the betrayal of his wife and friend, Fainall says – “ And I, it seems, am a husband, a
rank-husband; and my wife a very errant, rank-wife,—all in the way of the world. “

In Act 5, we see the servant testifying that she and Foible has witness Fainall and Marwood in a sexually
compromising position. Fainall remarks – “ If it must all come out, why let ’em know it, ’tis but the way
of the world.” Fainall makes his point that he has no need to defend himself when exposed as an adulter
as, according to him, adultery is to commonly prevalent in the society for anybody to complain about.

Also in Act 5, Miravell reveals to Fainall that his wife, Mrs Fainall, was his secret lover, and that she very
wisely trusted Mirabell with her share of property. Everything has been precisely recorded in legal
documents so that Fainall would not have any claim over it all. Mirabell goes on to mock Fainall with his
remark – “Even so, sir, ’tis the way of the world, sir; of the widows of the world. “