William Congreve

The Way of the World

William Congreve (1670-1729)

Plays
The Old Bachelor (1693) The Double Dealer (1694) Love for Love (1695) Mourning Bride (1697) The Way of the World (1700)

Restoration drama
Development of stage machinery (moving scenery) and the proscenium arch (first introduced by Inigo Jones in the Jacobean period, early 17th century) Main theatres: Drury Lane (William Davenant) and Dorset Gardens (Thomas Killigrew)

Drury Lane Theatre, London

Restoration drama
Male actors impersonating women on stage were replaced by actresses, which led to the introduction of more sexually suggestive scenarios and a dialogue filled with sexual innuendoes Nell Gwynn, famous for her roles in breeches and her affair with Charles II

Restoration drama
Types of popular plays - Adaptations of early 17th-century plays (Shakespeare adaptations are quite common, but also plays by Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher) Heroic tragedies (with romance influences, full of bombast and artifice) Comedies
- of humours (in the tradition of Ben Jonson; humour means liquid[umoare]; there are four humours in the human body: blood, phlegm, yellow bile (choler) and black bile (melancholy) influencing a persons health of body and mind)this type of comedy focuses on a characters dominant trait - of manners (influenced by Molire) - of intrigue (or of situation)relying on an intricate plot (oftentimes with subplots), with many ridiculous and contrived situationsin the manner of

The comedy of manners

Definition Subgenre of the comedy genre, appearing during the Restoration as a consequence of a change in the makeup and tastes of the audience attending performances in the two licensed theatres, namely the aristocrats The focus of the genre is on the life, customs, interests and manners of aristocracy, presented in a light-hearted manner, yet also with subversive (subtle) comments on the hypocrisy, carelessness, superficiality, cynicism and even moral corruption of the representatives of the upper class Known as a high comedy genre due to its sophisticated wit and literary qualities of the text

The comedy of manners

Features Main themes: the battle of the sexes (sex is tempting)

love and marriage (general conclusion: love can only exist outside marriage, perceived as a social contract)
schism between appearance and nature reputation (and gossip) adultery, sexual escapades gossip

The comedy of manners

Stylistic features:
Use of quick repartee (exchanges between characters)dialogues seem like fencing matches Dialogue is witty and flamboyant
wit= in a mid-17th-century context it meant not only intelligence, but also ingenuity and humour, reflected in wordplay, use of irony and sarcasm; it was a highly valued quality of the sophisticated men and women at the court and of Restoration comedy protagonists

Language is elegant, with many references to fashionable literary texts and even words and phrases in Frenchplayed an important part in the refinement and improvement of the English language Irony, sarcasm, double entendre are all typically features of the style used in such more sophisticated comedies

The comedy of manners

Character types (stock characters) the rake (the libertine) and the reformed rake the fop (effeminate male) the coquette the woman of the world the lustful widow the cast mistress the cuckold the fool (would-be-wit, the countryside squire)

Main representatives of Restoration comedy of manners

John Dryden, Marriage a la Mode (1672) the first comedy of manners in English William Wycherley, The Country Wife (1675), The Plain Dealer (1676) George Etherege, The Comical Revenge (1664), She Would if She Could (1668), The Man of Mode (1676)

John Vanbrugh, The Relapse (1696), The Provoked Wife (1697)

Main representatives of Restoration comedy of manners

William Congreves comedies: The Old Bachelor (1693) The Double Dealer (1694) Love For Love (1695) the most satirical of his plays The Way of the World (1700) followed by a less accomplished dramatist, George Farquhar, The Recruiting Officer (1706), The Beaux' Stratagem (1707)

William Congreve,The Way of the World (1700)

The Proviso Scene (act IV, scene V)

Consider: - Millamants true feelings for Mirabell and her fear of openly admitting her love (consider Mirabells fame as a rake) - Millamants indirect criticism of the idea of marriage in her time she wishes a marriage based on love, mutual respect, unconditional acceptance of the others individuality, interests, friends - Millamants conditions are not to be taken at face value, but rather considered in the context of late 17th, early 18th century upper class society in England, when marriage was considered a social contract and woman a second-class citizen Millamant subjects Mirabell to a test to prove that he is a reformed rake and this change was

Also consider the modernity of the play: Millamant has a much clearer sense of who she is and what she desires (in a rather oppressive society where individuals are expected to conform), she is outspoken, witty, she is a well developed character and clearly more complex than any of Congreves or his fellow Restoration playwrights female characters; moreover, the play has a moral sense to it, so it doesnt simply entertain, it also instructs pleasurably.