The Way of the World is a comedy of manners in five acts by William Congreve.
Performed and published in 1700 the play ridicules the assumptions that governed the
society of his time, especially those concerning love and marriage. The plot concerns the
efforts of the lovers Millamant and Mirabell to obtain the permission of Millamant's aunt,
Lady Wishfort, for their marriage. Despite a scheme that goes wrong and after several
misunderstandings are cleared up, the two finally obtain her consent.
This essay will discuss the actions of Mrs. Marwood. Though she is a minor
character, her motives in the play lead her to help in the distruction of Mirabell's scheme.
In the second act we find that Mrs. Fainall and Mrs. Marwood both hate men. As they
begin to conspire, we see Marwood's manipulative abilities going to work, convincing
Mrs. Fainall that she should divorce her husband. In Public the Fainall's seem to get along,
they even seem to be able to tolerate one another. However, following their short
interactions, both husband and wife go off with a lover, either past or present. Fainall went
off with Mrs. Marwood, the woman he loves, and Mrs. Fainall went off with Mirabell, one
of her long time lovers before her marriage. This pairing off did not truly bother either of
the Fainall's in that since niether loved the other, they did not feel loyal to each other.
Their marrage was based solely on image and in no way love. Therefore they did not feel
guilty about being with the person they loved most in the world.
Through these conversations, the plot to wed Mirabell and Millamant is revealed
to the audience. This seems to be a long and intricate plan with a lot of things depending
on the reactions of Lady Wishfort and the secrecy of the plot. Unfortunately, Mrs.
Marwood sees Foible conversing with Mirabell and for a moment, all seems
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