The Way of the World

A detailed Summary of The Way of the World


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


This play was very interesting and difficult to understand in the beginning, but as

Ironically, the plan is almost foiled again when Mrs. Marwood overhears the entire

arrest Waitwell. Lady Wishfort in turn was scolding Foible and proceeded to basically

him. Without fail, Mirabell comes to the rescue with a legal document that turns over all

a bold and stubborn man. She was willing to do almost anything to keep Mirabell from



Some common words found in the essay are:
Lady Wishfort, Fainall Marwood, Lady Wishfort's, Fainall Mirabell, Congreve Performed, lady wishfort, Millamant Mirabell, Public Fainall's, Marwood Foible, Mirabell Millamant, Paper1 Draft, millamant mirabell, fainall marwood, sir rowland, william congreve, mirabell's scheme, entire plan,

Approximate Word count = 797
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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