Unit Five: Drama and Reform

1
Unit Five Drama and Reform

• Lesson 11
• The Way of the World
• by William Congreve

2
The Way of the World

• Generally considered the apotheosis of
  Restoration drama as well as its swan song.

3
Didnt Meet Expectations

• The play didnt do as well as expected on the
  stage.
• Congreve had high hopes for the play, but it
  didnt do as well as expected.
• It was revived within two years, but it took a
  while for its reputation to grow.

4
Literary Paradox

• And this paradox shows us the difference between
  literature and stage craft.
• The Way of the World is a great read, and really,
  it needs to be read.
• As a play it is frankly boring.
• The wordplay is too fast and sometimes too subtle
  for the ear to catch and the stage action is
  barely existent.

5
Colliers Influence

• It did all right in its own time because it was
  created during a time of great change for the
  English stage.
• Colliers attack on the stage, which we are
  reading for next week, coupled with more
  conservative currents in society, was creating a
  large change in what was happening on stage.

6
Change Pre-dates Collier

• The excesses on stage in the 70s had caused a
  backlash against licentiousness on stage.
• William and Marys ascension to the throne had
  changed the character of the Court as well.
• They were quite solidly middle class in their
  tastes and aspirations.
• And neither was a huge fan of the theater, so
  playwrights had to woo another audience--the
  wealthy middle class.

7
Mary Pixs The Beau Defeated

• Put on around the same time as Way of the World.
• It wasnt a blazing success as some of her later
  comedies would be, but it made a third night.
• Yet The Way of the World is the one anthologized,
  studied and read today.

8
Physical Comedy

• The Beau Defeated is full of broad physical
  comedy, the kind that makes us laugh in spite of
  ourselves.
• And while a number of the characters are figures
  of fun (Lady Rich springs to mind), the comedy is
  more situational comedy.
• We laugh because of whats happening.

9
Literary Writer

• Wit is often mistaken for Humour.But there is a
  great Difference between a Comedy, wherein there
  are many things Humorously , as they call it,
  which is Pleasantly spoken and one, where there
  are several characters of Humourwhich naturally
  arise from the different Constitutions,
  Complexions, and Dispositions of Men.As Wit, so
  its opposite, Folly, is sometimes mistaken for
  Humour.
• (qtd. in Robert D. Hume, The Development of
  English Drama in the Seventeenth Century)

10
Satire or not?

• While Congreve wrote that his play was not a
  satire, a contemporary wrote that the play was
  not as big a success as hoped for because it was
  too Keen a Satire.
• But we are left wondering, what is Congreve
  satirizing?

11
Critical Overview

• Clifford Leech wrote in the 1950s that Congreve
  lacks the animus of the satirist.There is the
  appraisal in his mind, but acceptance, too.
• Alan Roper, writing in 1973 wrote that The Way
  of the World is about the difficulty of
  identifying and following a decent private life
  while still participating fully in the public
  life of society.

12
Humes View

• Hume argues that as viewers its more that we
  respond to the characters, especially Millamant,
  with Congreve seeking to construct a serious
  comedy in the old mode which yet remained beyond
  moral reproach.

13
Comedy of Manners

• A comedy concerned with the intrigues, regularly
  amorous, of witty, sophisticated members of an
  aristocratic society. The actions of those who
  oppose or ineptly imitate the manners of that
  society are the subjects of much raillery and
  laughter.

14
Swan Song

• The Way of the World is one of the last of the
  Restoration comedies of manners to be performed.
  
• The poor response to this play and William
  Burnabys The Reformed Wife, which both appeared
  in March 1700, made the play dormant for many,
  many long years

15
Ridiculously Reduced Plot Summary

• The plot is set up in the first act
• Mirabel wants Millamant and the money.
• We know he has a plot because he sets up his
  servants marriage.

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Whats Important

• Money is significantly more important than love.
  
• BUT, true love can overcome the way of the world,
  
• IF there is enough money.

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Our Hero

• Mirabel is the typical rake.
• He is promiscuous and a master of artifice, but
  he doesnt want artifice.

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Our Heroine

• Millamant (a thousand loves) is careful of her
  behavior.
• She is the typical heroine who will get together
  with the rake when he reforms.
• But she wants the artifice. Its safer for her.

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Why She Interests Us

• Her views of marriage have earned quite a bit of
  study over the years.
• She will allow herself to dwindle into a wife.
  
• Very interesting.

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Millamants Suckling

• I PRITHEE spare me, gentle boy Press me no more
  for that slight toy,That foolish trifle of an
  heart I swear it will not do its part,Though
  thou dost thine, employ'st thy power and art.
• You can see the rest on EngSite if I get my act
  together!

21
Other Types Represented

• The fop,
• The boor/country bumpkin,
• The cast mistress,
• The scheming woman,
• The old, foolish woman,
• The conniving servants
• very important in this play.

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Other Aspects of Act I

• Its entirely made up of men gossiping.
• They are friends, but there are tensions between
  them. Not really friends.
• Fainall wins at cards.
• Its the only thing he wins at.
• Cards are a wonderful metaphor for the way of the
  world, but theres also an old saying, Lucky at
  cards, unlucky at love.

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The Rest of the Play

• Now Ill go through the play act by act.

William Congreve
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Mary Pix

• Usually recalled as a playwright who specialized
  in intrigue comedy like this play, but this
  partial picture obscures many of Pix's actual
  accomplishments.

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Quite Prolific

• Along with six comedies, she wrote six tragedies,
  a novel, and a verse translation of one of the
  tales of The Decameron, as well as a few poems.
• All in a brief 10 year literary career!
• She was a friend of the writers William Congreve,
  Catherine Trotter, Susmina Centlivre and close to
  the most famous actress of the day, Elizabeth
  Barry

26
The Beau Defeated

• From the program of FJUs production
• The action of this play revolves around
  plots--people plotting for either love or
  money,or sometimes both.
• Because of this it can seem complex, but hold on!

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The Plot

• The chief plotter is the stylish fop, Sir John
  Roverhead.He is poor, and plots with his mistress
  Lady La Bassett and their friend Trickwell, to
  marry the silly window, Mrs. Rich, who, while
  rich, wants to have the title of "Lady," and is
  willing to marry for it.

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More

• Not one to stop at a rich older widow, he also
  woos her niece, the young Lucinda in case she has
  more money.
• Lucinda wishes to be free from the restraints
  her society places upon her and views marriage as
  a quick way to freedom. She is helped in this by
  her drunken old Governess.
• Watch for the surprising revelation about Sir
  John in the last act!

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Still More

• The long-suffering City businessman, Mr. Rich is
  constantly embarrassed by his silly
  sister-in-law's attempts to be "better than the
  people of quality."
• Unfortunately, he must spend time with her since
  she is the guardian of his daughter Lucinda's
  fortune. He tries to keep things in line with the
  help of the loyal and witty servant, Betty.

30
Yet More!

• In another plot, Mrs. Clerimont's cousin, the
  Young Clerimont has been accidentally
  disinherited by his father in favor of his
  country bumpkin brother, the Elder Clerimont.
  Because of his poverty he cannot pursue the
  unknown woman he loves. She is the young, rich
  widow, the Lady Landsworth, who wishes to marry a
  man who knows nothing of her wealth. So she in
  turn disguises herself as a kept woman and tries
  to tempt the noble Young Clerimont with promises
  of riches.

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Still More!

• After much confusion these two lovers are helped
  by another couple, Mrs. Clerimont and Young
  Clerimont's best friend, Belvoir. Part of their
  plot includes getting the Young Clerimont his
  share of his father's wealth by arranging a
  marriage between the Elder Clerimont and the
  Widow Rich!

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Finally!

• In the last act, all the plots and subplots are
  straightened out with the help, and sometimes
  interference, of the loyal servants Jack, Chris
  and Toby and a friendly landlady, Mrs. Fidget.
• Sir John and his plotting mistress are put in
  their place, Mrs. Rich learns her lesson, Lucinda
  is returned to her loving father, and we are able
  to celebrate one almost happy and two happy
  weddings!

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Photos from Fu Jens Production
Lots of pretty girls! With big dresses!
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Silly Woman, Patient Whig
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Plotting Servants
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Flamboyant Fop
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Poor But Honest Young Man (with Servants!)