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The Way of the World (1700)
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Provider: Cecilia
Liu
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劉雪珍
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Source: http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/parade/abj76/PG/works/way_of_the_world.shtml
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| Restoration comedy was
often very witty and clever offering the theatergoer diverting and
realistic pictures of the external details of the life, fashion,
manners, and speech of the times. As a social comedy of manners, The
Way of the World suggests how character determines "manners"
and how impulse and desire issue in behavior. |
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| Summary |
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Witty, ironic Mirabell is in love with the coquette
Millament. But to marry her he must first win over her lovesick old
aunt, Lady Wishfort and the estate she holds for the girl. He pretends
to make love to the old woman who is receptive to his advances. Things
go well until Mrs. Marwood, rejected earlier by Mirabell, threatens to
expose his scheme. The plot is revealed and Lady Wishfort says that
Millamant may marry Mirabell, but only half of the estate will go with
her. More strategems by Miravell, more revelations by Mrs. Marwood.
Mirabell then reveals an earlier indiscretion by Mrs. Marwood. This
elicits eternal gratitude from Lady Wishfort to Mirabell for saving her
from the scandal of a divorce of her daughter. In the end she agrees to
the marriage of Mirabell and Millamant. |
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(external)
English
Literature I: the Eighteenth Century Litrature
English Literature and Culture: From Medieval Period to the Eighteenth Century
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