Discuss The Way of the World as a depiction of contemporary society.
The Way of the World presents a
vast vista of contemporary social morality and principles. This play maintains
a satirical tone from the beginning to the end. It gives us valuable
information about the sophisticated class of society in England at that time. How
they were involved in their Life style; and how women of that period were crazy
about fashions and love-affairs, such sort of things have been brilliantly
depicted in The Way of the World.
Loose morals; illicit
relationships:-- The Restoration was a period of loose morals,
and The Way of the World gives
us an adequate idea of the prevailing morality. Illicit love and adulterous
relationships are fully conveyed to us through Fainall, Mrs. Fainall, Marwood,
and even the hero Mirabell. In the play, though Mr. Fainall and Mrs. Fainall
are husband and wife in relation, yet they throw dust into the eyes of each other
having illicit relations with Marwood and Mirabell respectively.
Legacy- conflicts; worldliness
and greed; mercenary motives behind marriage; intrigues: -- Congreve also exposes the worldliness and
greed of the young men of the time. Legacy conflicts were common in those days.
Young men sought rich heiress in marriage. Mercenary motives governed
matrimonial alliances. This led to intrigues. Intrigues were, indeed, the order
of the day in social and domestic life. In the play, though Mr. Fainall is not
very much interested in Mrs. Fainall, yet he marries her only to acquire her
property. He also wants to usurp the whole property of Lady Wishfort on the basis
of an illegal document, but Mirabell foils his attempt and saves the property
and reputation of Mrs. Fainall and Lady
Wishfort in order to marry her niece Millamant. Mrs. Marwood and Fainall both
fabricate an intrigue to exploit Lady Wishfort and similarly, even Sir Willful
too, joins Millamant in an intrigue when he declares that Millamant is ready to
marry him
