Hi guys  
I attended the drama lecture this evening and I will copy for you what the doctor gave us.


Characters:
There are six groups of characters in this play:
1- The young lovers :Mirabell and Millamant.
2- The villains :Fainall and Mrs Marwood.
3-The humorous :Lady Wishfort and Sir Wilfull.
4-The fops: The young Witwoud and Petulant.
5-The servants :Waitwell ,Foible and Mincing.
6- The forsaken woman :Mrs Fainall.

         The Way of The World ,is a complex play in terms of plot structure ,but it has brilliant dialogue and wit. The story reveals how far the self interest of some characters may go to make money and mar marriages.
        Mirabell in order to marry Millmant ,whom he loves , must win the consent of her aunt Lady Wishfort .His hope lies on Lady Wishfort’s eagerness for a lover of her own .However Lady Wishfort is one of the obstacles .More threatening comes from contempt of Mrs Marwood whose love Mirabell has not returned .Mirabell’s connection with Lady Wishfort’s son in law ,Fainall,takes them into conspiracy .
         Millamant makes clear in the famous “Proviso”scene in act 4 the conditions on which she would contemplate marriages. Lady Wishfort ,who is constantly being deceived, is finally  giving her consent to her nieces marriage when the villains of Fainall and Mrs Marwood are exposed.

Comment on the passage in page 11
Fainall" No I'll give you your revenge........."
         The play opens with Fainall's words stressing the concept of the double which will dominate the world of the play . Thus Congreve prepares his audience and readers for incoming  incidence .Fainall's words are also point out the division of the characters into losers and winners .This sense of contrast is presented by  the smart wit of the speaker who seems to be great command of his language. The use of "No" as an opening word draws the attention of audience and readers .
Fainall's sentences are not lengthy and contemplative as Mirabell's .His language is direct and crueler.


Comment on passage in page 16
Mirabell"And for a discerning man...................."
          In this passage ' Mirabell reveals to the audience and readers a lot about himself , his feelings and his relationship with millamant , his style is not an easy one .Mirabell's syntax is not spontaneous .This is quit manifest in his lengthy and intricate sentences .Mirabell  does not use slang and colloquial .Although MIrabell can be shrewd in his judgment of others , there is no vituperation in his speech .Through Mirabell language , one may point out two additional points. First , his contemplative sentences present him as a man of thought and calculating na
ture. Second , the passage tells about Mirabell's sense of individuality.


Comment on passage in page 47
Lady Wishfort:
                The passage is a true vivid presentation of Lady Wishfort's character .As presented by Congreve ,Lady Wishfort is dictator abreact and ill temper . Congreve succeeds in reflecting this qualities through Lady Wishfort's syntax . Her sentences are short , used as bullets directed towards others who annoy her .Her verbal attack on others are direct vituperation .The phrases she uses do not give enough space for thought and contemplation sense , she does not belong to to the world of thoughts .


The pages that are required to prepare are : page 74 and page 75.
I hope that the passages I have written will be free of mistakes.  

 
hi

The main plot:          
          The plot is mainly concerned with the intrigue of Mirabell .The intrigue referred to in Act I in it’s details are worked out in Act II ,it is put into action in Act III and IV. The resolution of this intrigue in Act V .The sub plot concerned the intrigue of Mr Fianall .
About Mirabell’s character :
His charming personality .
His persuasive tongue .
His love for Millamant .
His wit ,he is a true wit (Mirabell ,Millamant and Lady Wishfort are the characters with true wit , the other characters are pretenders .
His goodness.
His honorable nature .
The wit of Mirabell  
             A critic calls Mirabell  “The sprightliest male figure in the English comedy” .Another critic, Doctor Johnson, calls him “an intellectual gladiator “.Due to the lively wit in counters which he keeps up with Millamant  throughout the play, Mirabell stands as the most prominent character in the play. His wit , the fine sparkling thing which he says so often ,show that he is intelligent .
Mirabell may not be Millamant’s equal in playful witty talk .Still his gift for coining sentences is out standing .He describes the appearance of Millamant .pg 39:  “Here she comes I ‘faithful sail , with her fan spread and her streamers out , and shoal of  fools for tender”.
               The “Bargaining” scene in which Mirabell formulates and puts forth conditions for acceptance by Millamant, showing what sort of wife he would desire her to be, also reveals his wit. Both he and Millamant shine out as the civilized man and woman, working out move by move and step by step in the wittiest language and with an appearance of great confidence .”The insoluble problem of how to deal with animal passion in sophisticated world”
               Mirabell’s predominant characteristic as a true wit is his judgment rather than his fancy. He is more addicted to the use of maxims than to similitudes .When Mirabell is metaphorical, his observation is just, but not striking as in his remark on Lady Wishfort” An old woman’s appetite is depraved like that of a girl _it’s the green sickness of a second childhood ;and like the faint offer of a latter spring , serve but to usher in the fall ,and withers in affected  bloom”(pg 39)
             Mirabell is capable of finely balanced phrases but his remark are characterized by subtlety of thoughts and elegance of expression rather than by striking figures of speech .(pg 13+14)
Fainall ”You are gallant man……………..”
Mirabell ”You pursue the argument ………”
The repartee of Mirabell to Fainall which the latter tries to sound out Mirabell’s feelings toward Marwood , is characteristic of his elegant speech. Mirabell’s reply is beautiful term and echoes his great judgment.
Millamant, her sense of individuality:   
             All the graces of Millamant has made her a lady much loved and desired , but she keeps her lovers at an arm of distance .She smiles at all of them but affords favor to none , she has therefore been called a coquette. She loves Mirabell deeply and devotedly , but even to him she does not confess her love. She like to tease him , she frankly tells him that she would like to keep up “the love game”,” the courtship” up to the very end . She would like to be loved ,to be chased and followed but not to be married ,ultimately she made “dwindle into a wife “ the condition shows that she wants to keep her individuality  inviolate even after marriage .She would like her individuality ,her otherness to be respected.

 
lili.,  
   God bless your efforts  

 
hi everybody


1- Although Millamant maintains mastery over herself and emotion ,she is a woman of deep feelings toward Mirabell. Discuss.

             Till the very end of the play , Millamant retains control over her emotion ;  since she is afraid of losing her self control, she hides it under touch of whimsicality .(the conversation between Millamant and Mrs. Fainall in page 77) .
             Millamant however has a real capacity for deep feelings, but being a true wit ,she has got a mastery over her love  for Mirabell. She remains a true wit throughout the play, but the conflicting elements of deep feeling of an usually clear mind threaten at times to destroy her  equanimity .

2- What does the opening of The Way of The World , suggest?

           The opening scene in The Way of The World contains exposition and introduction. Audience and readers are told of Mirabell’s love for Millamant  and of his intrigue against Lady Wishfort. The main characters of the play are introduced directly, and the other characters are introduced indirectly. Congreve also reveals the initial conflict which will be developed throughout the play .

3- Where does scene I in Act II take place ?
            It takes place in ST James Park .The curtain raises on Mrs. Fainall  and Mrs. Marwood absorbed in deep conversation .


4- Act II scene II opens with a discussion between Mrs Fainall  and Mrs. Marwood on the manipulation of men .What do you understand from this meeting?

              Beneath their apparent friendliness, they have got miss trust  toward each other .It is true that Mrs Marwood is the mistress of Mrs Finall’s husband .By the same token ,she is in love with Mrs Fainall’s former lover ,Mirabell .The dialogue between them prepare the ground for tensions among the characters . This tension is skillfully exposed by Congreve sense, it is needed for the real battle between Mirabell and Mrs Fainall.


 
5- Millamant in Congreve’s The Way of The World is a woman who enjoys free thinking and independence of mind and in this sense, how does she stand for emancipated woman?

             In the restoration age women might still not have the same freedom of actions as men,the certainly have the same freedom of expression . This freedom applies to the character of Millamant. Congreve offers this equality to Millamant because it is essential sense. A modest and quiet heroine would be out of place in a comedy of manners. Millamant thus, represent a new type of heroine ,the emancipated woman. So ,the approach to love is sharply different from the traditional one. As a matter of fact the emancipated attitude toward love explains the distinguishing features of the comedy of manners. The age is proud of it’s improvements in the art of courtship which is new briskly and cheerful. This quality presuppose that both men and women are equally witty and emancipated. The verbal battles presuppose two equals. Witty lovers and equally witty mistresses wage a war of wit against each other, till in the end, without any trace of romance and sentiments ,the dwindle into a husband and wife. Millamant thus ,embodies the emancipated woman at that time . Millamant and Mirabell are aware of each others faults and willing to keep up the usual social games in order to save themselves from the embarrassing confrontation with each others bare emotions.