Dramas staged between 1660 and 1700 are called ‘Restoration Dramas’. The dramatic literature of the period was dominated by comedies called ‘Comedy of manners’. Actually ‘Restoration Comedy’ is used as a synonym for “Comedy of Manners”. The plot of the comedy, often concerned with scandal, was traditionally less important than its witty dialogues. The comedy of manners was first developed in the new comedy of the Ancient Greek Playwright Menander. His style, elaborate plots, and stock characters were imitated by the Roman playwrights Plautus and Terence, whose comedies were widely known and copied during the Renaissance. The best-known comedies of manners, however, may well be those of the French playwright Moliere. Oscar Wilde and William Congreve are the most celebrated authors of ‘Comedy of Manners’.

1. By
William Congreve
The Way of the World

2. The Way of the World

3. The Way of the World
Charles-II and the Restoration
 Charles–II was 19 when he fled from
England in 1649 and took shelter in
France. He restored his father’s crown in
1660 with a mind enlivened with French
cultural heritage and shaped by French
education system. He borrowed with him
all the virtues and vices of French society
with him. Restoring his Father’s crown,
he vowed to reform all the deficiencies
of his countrymen with the good
qualities of French cultural heritage. He
was very interested in
fashion,theatre,entertainmentand
women.
 A new middle class emerged with
interest in all the aforementioned
qualities. England was becoming ‘a
nation of the shop-keepers.
 The theatre houses that were closed by
the puritans started re-opening.

4. The Way of the World
Samuel Pepys PRS,MP,JP ( 23 February 1633 –
26 May 1703) was an English naval
administrator and Member of Parliament who
is now most famous for the dairy he kept for a
decade as a young man. Samuel Pepys account
kept from 1660 until 1669 was first published
in the 19th century and is one of the most
important primary source for the English
Restoration period. It provides a combination
of personal revelation and eyewitness accounts
of great events.
Samuel Pepys

5. The Way of the World
Restoration London Society: In 1660, London seethed with a
population of 300,000. In Europe only Paris and Constantinople were
larger. King Charles II – a lover of women and of good living – was on
the throne, and the streets were crowded with velvet-clad noblemen
making their way to the reopened theatres. Watermen plied their trade
along the River Thames between the Palace of Westminster and the
City, and in the newly fashionable St James's Park, Londoners took the
air by day and sought other – illicit – pleasures at night. The sense of
morality was banished from England. Immorality ,foppishness, frivolity
and licentiousness became the order of the day. Extra-marital
relationship became a criteria for social –recognition.

6. The Way of the World
 Comedy of Manners
 Dramas staged between 1660 and 1700 are called ‘Restoration
Dramas’. The dramatic literature of the period was dominated
by comedies called ‘Comedy of manners’. Actually ‘Restoration
Comedy’ is used as a synonym for “Comedy of Manners”. The
plot of the comedy, often concerned with scandal, was
traditionally less important than its witty dialogues.
 The comedy of manners was first developed in the new
comedy of the Ancient Greek Playwright Menander. His style,
elaborate plots, and stock characters were imitated by the
Roman playwrights Plautus and Terence, whose comedies
were widely known and copied during the Renaissance. The
best-known comedies of manners, however, may well be those
of the French playwright Moliere.
 Oscar Wilde and William Congreve are the most celebrated
authors of ‘Comedy of Manners’.

7. The Way of the World
 Some of the important features of the 'Comedy of Manners' are as follows:
 1. The action always takes place in London.
 2. There is always a contrast between the rural and the urban. For example in Congreve's "The
Way of the World" Squire Witwoud is from the county of Shropshire and his arrival in London
results in a lot of amusement and humour.
 3. The presence of at least one pair of very intelligent young lovers.
 4. Witty dialogue is perhaps the most important feature of the Comedy of Manners.
 5. All the other aspects of the play are usually sacrificed for the sake of contriving a situation
which would give rise to 'witty' dialogue.
 6. The appeal of the Comedy of Manners is to the intelligence of the audience/reader and not to
the emotions.
 7. The 'witty' dialogue was usually obscene, for the theatres had just reopened after the
Restoration.
 8.The women in these plays were very emancipated and bold and independent, unlike the
heroines of the Sentimental dramas.
 9.The institution of marriage was always held to ridicule. Both husbands and wives openly
expressed their dissatisfaction of their spouses.
 10. These plays were mainly intended for the elegant and sophisticated audiences of London
city. Hence the characters were almost always from the upper class society of London.
 11. These plays portrayed the lifestyle of the idle rich of London city very realistically.
 12. The plays were mildly satirical-the playwright could not afford to hurt his upper class
audience.
[Copy from enotes.com]

8. The Way of the World
Chocolate House of St.
James Park
The Mall & St. James
Park

9. The Way of the World
 Chocolate Houses
 Chocolate was brought to Spain by Christopher Columbus from the
Caribbean Islands for his patron the King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella . For nearly 100 years the Spaniards tasted Chocolate
secretly. Chocolates was prepared from Cacao plants then available
only in the Caribbean Islands. It came to England in the Restoration
period. The first Chocolate House was established in Bishopgate in
London in 1657 under the patronage of Charles –II. Chocolate at that
time was very costly and only moneyed people(aristocrats) can afford
to have chocolate drinks. Visiting the Chocolate Houses was not only
a favourite pastime but also a part of Restoration culture.

10. The Way of the World
Chocolate House

11. The Way of the World
Collie Cibber: Critique of Congreve’s
‘The Way of the World’.
 Jeremy Collier's A Short View of the
Immorality and Profaneness of the English
Stage (1698) was a direct attack on Congreve
and Dryden. Collier succeeded in garnering
public support for his cause by beginning with
the accepted neoclassical doctrine that the
purpose of drama is to teach and please and
then pointing out the disparity between theory
and practice. Congreve responded to Collier's
accusations in Amendments of Mr. Collier's
False and Imperfect Citations (1698), but the
conservative middle class, determined to make
its tastes felt, sided with Collier and the
Society for the Reformation of Manners. Collie
Cibber failed to understand the undertone of
the play and judged it simply by its apparent
exhibition of ‘licensciousness and immorality’
of the Restoration society.

12. The Way of the World
Restoration Theatre House

13. The Way of the World
Restoration Theatre
goers.

14. The Way of the World
 William Congreve in 1709
Born: 24 January 1670
Bardsey, England .
 Died:19 January 1729
(aged 58)London, England
 Occupation : Playwright, Poet
 Nationality :English
 Period 1693–1700
 Genre : Comedy of Manners

15. The Way of the World
 Congreve as a writer:
 In praise of Congreve, it should be
said that, for almost the first time in
England, he brought to the service of
the stage a painstaking art. He cared
much about the way a sentence was
built, about balance, and getting the
right shade of meaning. His diction is
exactly fitted for oral use; and his
pictures of the world of wealth and
fashion are diverting. Congreve is,
perhaps, the only English writer who
can really be compared with Molière.
Artistically he was a follower of John
Dryden. He may be truly acclaimed as
the father of English ‘Comedy of
Manners’.
 Works of Congreve
 William Congreve wrote some
of the most popular English
plays of the Restoration period
of the late 17th century. By the
age of thirty, he had written four
comedies, including Love for
Love (premiered 30 April 1695)
and The Way of the World
(premiered 1700), and one
tragedy, The Mourning Bride
(1697)
 Unfortunately, his career ended
almost as soon as it began.
After writing five plays from his
first in 1693 until
1700.[wikipedia]

16. The Way of the World
Edmund Gosse called William Congreve’s ‘The Way of the World’ as
the best-written, the most dazzling and the most intellectually
accomplished of all English Comedies, perhaps of all the comedies of
the world.’

17. The Way of the World
 ‘The Way of the World’ has been described as being one of the
four great English comedies ,alongside ‘The Importance of
being earnest by Oscar Wilde, ‘Private Lives’ by Noel Coward
and ‘As You like It’ by William Shakespeare.

18. The Way of the World
Congreve’s LONDON

19. The Way of the World
 An overview of the play ‘The Way of the World’:-
 The play is based around the two lovers Mirabell and Millamant.In
order for the two to get married and receive Millamant's full dowry,
Mirabell must receive the blessing of Millamant's aunt, Lady Wishfort.
Unfortunately, she is a very bitter lady, who despises Mirabell and
wants her own nephew, Sir Wilful, to wed Millamant.
Other characters include Fainall who is having a secret affair with Mrs.
Marwood, a friend of Mrs. Fainall's, who in turn once had an affair with
Mirabell.
Waitwell is Mirabell's servant and is married to Foible, Lady Wishfort's
servant. Waitwell pretends to be Sir Rowland and, on Mirabell's
command, tries to trick Lady Wishfort into a false engagement.
 Source: wikipedia

20. The Way of the World
Dedication:-
Congreve dedicated his play , ‘The Way of the
World’
 to Ralph, Earl of Montague, whose company and
conversation have made it possible for Congreve to
write this comedy. The dedication also constitutes a
statement of purpose. It is written in the form of a
letter.


21. The Way of the World
 -:Prologue:-
 Like Classical Comedies, Congreve provided a Prologue to his
masterpiece ‘The Way of the World’. In the prologue to the play,
Congreve categorizes poets as those who fare the worst
among Nature’s fools, for Fortune first grants them fame and then
“forsakes” them. Congreve laments this unfair treatment meted out to
the poets, who are Fortune’s own offspring. Poets have to risk the
fame earned from their previous work when they write a new work. If
his new endeavor fails, the poet must lose his seat in Parnassus. He
tells the audience not to pity him for his stupidity. He promises that
he will blame the audience if they heckle any scene. He proceeds to
state that his play has “some plot,” “some new thought,” “some
humor” -- but “no farce.” Finally, he bids the audience to “save or
damn” him according to their own discretion.

22. The Way of the World
 Summary
 The main character and libertine, Mirabell, is in love with Millamant, a niece of Lady Wishfort, who pretends to
make love to the aunt to conceal his suit for the niece. His trick is revealed by Mrs. Marwood, who does so to
seek revenge because Mirabell has rejected her advances. Lady Wishfort, who now hates Mirabell "more than a
quaker hates a parrot," will deprive her niece of the half of the inheritance she controls if Millamant marries
Mirabell. Mirabell has his servant Waitwell impersonate his uncle, Sir Rowland, and pretend to marry Lady
Wishfort, but only after having secretly married him off to her maid, Foible. He hopes to use this humiliating
deception to force Lady Wishfort to consent to his marriage to Millamant.
 The plot is discovered by Mrs. Marwood, who also finds out that Mirabell has had a previous intrigue with Mrs.
Fainall, daughter of Lady Wishfort, after which she married her off to Mr. Fainall, thinking that she was pregnant
with his child. She conspires with Fainall, her lover, who pretends to be the friend of Mirabell, to reveal this
information to Lady Wishfort, while Fainall threatens to divorce his wife and to discredit Lady Wishfort unless he
is given full control of Mrs. Fainallís property and Millamant's portion is handed over to him. The scheme fails.
Mrs. Fainall denies all and brings proof of Fainall's affair with Mrs. Marwood, while Mirabell produces a deed by
which Mrs. Fainall, before her marriage, made him trustee of all her property. In the end, Lady Wishfort, grateful
for her release from Fainall's threats, forgives Mirabell and consents to the marriage.
[http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org

23. The Way of the World
 Characters:-
 Mirabell A young man-about-town, in love with Millamant.
 Millamant A young, very charming lady, in love with, and loved
by, Mirabell. She is the ward of Lady Wishfort because she is the
niece of Lady Wishfort's long-dead husband. She is a first cousin
of Mrs. Fainall.
 Fainall A man-about-town. He and Mirabell know each other well,
as people do who move in the same circles. However, they do not
really like each other. Fainall married his wife for her money.
 Mrs. Fainall Wife of Fainall and daughter of Lady Wishfort. She
was a wealthy young widow when she married Fainall. She is
Millamant's cousin and was Mirabell's mistress, presumably after
her first husband died.
 Mrs. Marwood Fainall's mistress. It does appear, however, that
she was, and perhaps still is, in love with Mirabell. This love is not
returned.
 Young Witwoud A fop. He came to London from the country to
study law but apparently found the life of the fashionable man-
about-town more pleasant. He has pretensions to being a wit. He

24. The Way of the World
 Characters:
Petulant A young fop, a friend of Witwoud's. His name is indicative of his
character.
Lady Wishfort A vain woman, fifty-five years old, who still has pretensions to
beauty. She is the mother of Mrs. Fainall and the guardian of Millamant. She is
herself in love with Mirabell, although she is now spiteful because he offended
her vanity.
Sir Wilfull Witwoud The elder brother of Young Witwoud, he is forty years old
and is planning the grand tour of Europe that was usually made by young men
to complete their education. He is Lady Wishfort's nephew, a distant, non-
blood relative of Millamant's, and Lady Wishfort's choice as a suitor for
Millamant's hand.
Waitwell Mirabell's valet. At the beginning of the play, he has just been
married to Foible, Lady Wishfort's maid. He masquerades as Sir Rowland,
Mirabell's nonexistent uncle, and woos Lady Wishfort.
Foible Lady Wishfort's maid, married to Waitwell.
Mincing Millamant's maid.
Peg A maid in Lady Wishfort's house. [
[Source:Cliffnotes]

25. The Way of the World
 Act-I:-
 Act 1 is set in a chocolate house where Mirabell and
Fainall have just finished playing cards. A footman
comes and tells Mirabell that Waitwell (Mirabell's
male servant) and Foible (Lady Wishfort's female
servant) were married that morning. Mirabell tells
Fainall about his love of Millamant and is encouraged
to marry her. Witwoud and Petulant appear and
Mirabell is informed that should Lady Wishfort marry,
he will lose £6000 of Millamant's inheritance.He will
only get this money if he can make Lady Wishfort
consent to his and Millamant's marriage. [source-
wikipedia]

26. The Way of the World
 Act-II
 Act 2 is set in St. James’ Park. Mrs. Fainall and Mrs.
Marwood are discussing their hatred of men. Fainall
appears and accuses Mrs. Marwood (with whom he is
having an affair) of loving Mirabell (which she does).
Meanwhile, Mrs. Fainall (having previously been his lover)
tells Mirabell that she hates her husband, and they begin
to plot about tricking Lady Wishfort to give her consent to
the marriage. Millamant appears in the park, and angry
about the previous night (where Mirabell was confronted
by Lady Wishfort) she lets him know her displeasure in
Mirabell's plan, which she only has a vague idea about.
After she leaves, the newly wed servants appear and
Mirabell reminds them of their roles in the plan.
[wikipedia]

27. The Way of the World
 Act-III
 Acts 3, 4 and 5 are all set in the home of Lady Wishfort.
We are introduced to Lady Wishfort who is encouraged to
marry 'Sir Rowland' – Mirabell's supposed uncle – by
Foible so that Mirabell will lose his inheritance. Sir
Rowland is however Waitwell in disguise, the plan being
to arrange a marriage with Lady Wishfort, which cannot
go ahead because it would be bigamy, not to mention a
social disgrace (Waitwell is only a serving man, Lady
Wishfort an aristocrat). Mirabell will offer to help her out of
the embarrassing situation if she consents to his
marriage. Later, Mrs. Fainall discusses this plan with
Foible, but this is overheard by Mrs. Marwood. She later
tells the plan to Fainall, who decides that he will take his
wife's money and go away with Mrs. Marwood. [wikipedia]

28. The Way of the World
 Act-IV
 Mirabell and Millamant, equally strong-willed, discuss in detail the
conditions under which they would accept each other in marriage
(otherwise known as the "proviso scene"), showing the depth of
feeling for each other. Mirabell finally proposes to Millamant and, with
Mrs. Fainall's encouragement (almost consent, as Millamant knows of
their previous relations), Millamant accepts. Mirabell leaves as Lady
Wishfort arrives, and she lets it be known that she wants Millamant to
marry her nephew, Sir Wilfull Witwoud, who has just arrived from the
countryside. Lady Wishfort later gets a letter telling her about the Sir
Rowland plot. Sir Rowland takes the letter and accuses Mirabell of
trying to sabotage their wedding. Lady Wishfort agrees to let Sir
Rowland bring a marriage contract that night.[wikipedia]

29. The Way of the World
 Act-V
 By Act 5, Lady Wishfort has found out the plot, and Fainall
has had Waitwell arrested. Mrs. Fainall tells Foible that her
previous affair with Mirabell is now public knowledge. Lady
Wishfort appears with Mrs. Marwood, whom she's
thanking for unveiling the plot. Fainall then appears and
uses the information of Mrs. Fainall's previous affair with
Mirabell and Millamant's contract to marry him to blackmail
Lady Wishfort, telling that she should never marry and that
she is to transfer all the money over to him. Lady Wishfort
tells Mirabell that she will offer consent to the marriage if
he can save her fortune and honour. Mirabell calls on
Waitwell who brings a contract from the time before the
marriage of the Fainalls in which Mrs. Fainall gives all her
property to Mirabell. This neutralises the blackmail
attempts, after which Mirabell restores Mrs. Fainall's
property to her possession and then is free to marry

30. The Way of the World
 The Proviso Scene:
 The Proviso Scene: In Act 4 of The Way of the World, couple Mirabell and
Millament find themselves in a battle of wit as they discuss the terms of
their marriage. This scene, called the proviso scene, gives important
insight into Mirabell and Millament's relationship. The terms of both
characters illustrate their concerns and fears for their future marriage.
This Scene is called the Proviso scene of the play.
 Millament's Terms
 Allowed to stay in bed late as she wishes
 Mirabell cannot call her by pet names
 No public displays of affection allowed
 Allowed to have any visitors without question
 Allowed to write and receive any letters without question
 Not required to spend time with Mirabell's friends or family
 Allowed to eat dinner together or alone as she wishes
 Allowed to dress how she wants
 Allowed to be in charge of her tea table
 Mirabell must always knock before entering a room. [source:weebly.com]




31. The Way of the World
 The Proviso scene:
 Mirabell's Terms
 Millamont must not have friends who are women

 Millamont must like her own face
Millamont cannot wear makeup or other cosmetics

Millamont must not wear corsets

Allowed to restrict Millamont's drink intake’
 Source: weebly.com


32. The Way of the World
 Mirabell - Mirabell, a man of fashion, intelligent and
authentically in love with Mrs. Millamant. He enjoys the favors,
either overt or covert, of most of the women in the play, who,
either through unrequited love of him or mutual affection, try to
affect the course of his fortune. He is presented as a man of
genuine parts, not so superficial as to render him without a
sense of honor or the genuine ability to experience love, but at
the same time a clever schemer. His love for Mrs. Millamant and
his hope of legitimate income are the motivating factors in his
intrigues. Mirabell is somewhat more in love with Mrs. Millamant
than she with him. Although his stake in the marriage is higher
than hers, he bears up well under the handicap, never
attempting to outmaneuver Mrs. Millamant by feigning
indifference. Instead, he rather admirably presses his proposal
with candor and plain dealing as to his love. Thus, he keeps a
manly station without lowering himself to beg or unduly flatter
her, and he impresses her with his devotion. He emerges from
the action as a Restoration gentleman who possesses wit,
charm, and masculinity and who does not deal in simper, pose,

33. The Way of the World
 Millament-Mrs. Millamant, Lady Wishfort’s niece,
loved by Mirabell and perhaps the most fascinating
member of the cast. Mrs. Millamant contains within
her personality an attractive haughtiness, and she
enjoys making Mirabell’s suit appear an even more
one-sided affair than it is. She has a frankness that
sometimes uncouples her from her train of followers
and a glitter that—especially in the famous comic-
love scene between herself and Mirabell—
approaches radiant wit. For all her practiced arts of
conversation and her determination to keep love a
game, Mrs. Millamant is levelheaded, and Mirabell’s
commendable qualities will meet good use in such a
wife. Beneath her protests and shams, she has

34. The Way of the World
 What is Wit?
 Wit is a form of intelligent humour. It is the ability to say or
write things that are clever and usually funny.
 Who is a Wit?
 A wit is a person skilled at making clever and funny
remarks.
 How many type of Wits are portrayed by Congreve ?
 Congreve portrayed there type of Wits.
 i.True Wit
 ii.False Wit
 iii.Half-Wit
More generally, one's wits are one's intellectual powers of
all types.
 [Source: wikipedia]

35. The Way of the World
Millamant & Mirabell
True Wits

36. The Way of the World
 Half- Wit
[foolish or stupid
fellow]
 Wilful, Witwould
 Half-Wit
Sir Wilfull Wishwould is a
typical country bumpkin, a
butt of the city wit.He is a
traditional character type in
comedy. Like other
characters in the play, Sir
Wilfull does not quite conform
to type. He is shown as
having country manners: he
calls for slippers; he drinks
too heavily; he is very shy
with Millamant, awed by the
city lady. He is a Half-Wit.

37. The Way of the World
 False-Wit
 “False wit is a fatiguing
search after cunning traits,
an affectation of saying in
enigmas what others have
already said naturally, to
hang together ideas which
are incompatible, to divide
that which ought to be
united, of seizing false
relations.”
―Voltaire
http://izquotes.com/quote/367909
 False –Wit in ‘The Way
of the World’.

38. The Way of the World
False Wit
 Lady Wishfort and Mrs. Marwood
are the examples of ‘False Wits’.
 A False wit is a fool who affects
witticism but fails miserably.
 The very names are significant and
meaningful.
 Wishfort means ‘Who has unbound
wishes’ while Marwood means ‘One
who mars or destroys everything’.
 False Wit

39. The Way of the World
 Servants:-
 In Restoration society servants had a very decisive and
important place. The beaus were too much dependent on
their servants as they could not do anything themselves.
In ‘The Way of the World’, we get three servants: Foible,
Mincing and Waitwell. They were not just servants. They
acted as friend, helper and even guide to their masters.
 Foible was Lady Wishfort’s resourceful, energetic
servant, allied with Mirabell.
 Waitwell was Mirabell’s serving-man, married to Foible.
Mirabell used him in his plot against Lady Wishfort.
 Mincing was Mrs. Millamant’s maid.

40. The Way of the World
 The Proviso Scene:-

41. The Way of the World
Congreve may be described
as a master of illustrating
feminine psychology of the
Restoration but sadly the
reaction to this play's
morality made it his last. He
suffered the irony of being
killed by a carriage while in
the post of "Commissioner
for Licensing Hackney
Carriages"! [BBC]
Nb. Congreve died in a
carriage accident.

42. The Way of the World

43. FINIS
The Way of the World