Comment on the treatment of love and marriage in The Way of the World.
Congreve’s The way of the
world is a great example of the ‘Restoration comedy of manners’. It mainly
deals with the relations of men and women in marriage. Restoration comedy
contains the element of sex and love in abundance. In other words, we can say
that the sexual relation of men and women is the focal point of Restoration
Comedy. Restoration dramatists are mainly concerned with the upper strata of
society. Congreve occupies a special status when he deals with the subject of
love and marriage. He is absolutely brilliant in the portrayal of his
contemporary society.
Congreve,
in The way of the world, has presented the relations of men and women in
a realistic manner. When we go through the play, it becomes clear to us that
immoral practices and infidelity dominate the society. Men and women are
engaged in extra-marital affairs. They are suffering from moral degradation.
Nobody is reliable, husbands and wives cheat each others. Lovers deceive his
beloveds and vice-versa.
As
we go through the play we notice that the hero, namely Mirabell, is in love
with Millamant, but as the play progresses we detect the demerits in Mirabell’s
personality. He is cheating Millamant because he is also involved with the
daughter of Lady wishfort, Mrs. Fainall. He had sexual relations with her and,
as a result, she had become pregnant. Here we find the cowardness and
infidelity in Mirabell- he should have himself married the woman. But he tells
her to marry Mr. Fainall only to cover up her family reputation. Strange
enough, she never protests against this act and treats her husband as a
scapegoat. It shows that she is very intimate with him.
