Act 1

When William Congreve’s The Way of the World opens, Mirabell and Fainall are in a chocolate house—much like a coffee shop today but serving rich, spiced hot chocolate drinks. 

The pair are playing cards, but Fainall complains that his victory is unsatisfying because Mirabell is distracted, upset that his beloved, Millament, ignored him while at a gathering at Lady Wishfort's home last night. Soon after, Mirabell receives news that his servant, Waitwell, has married.

The two men discuss the follies of their acquaintances, especially Witwoud, another man who is interested in courting Millamant. Fainall then encourages Mirabell to try to marry Millamant, and Mirabell has to admit that he loves even her faults and failings now that he is used to them. 

Later, a messenger arrives for Witwoud with a letter that his brother, Sir Wilfull Witwoud (who, like Millament, is a relative of Lady Wishfort) will be arriving that day. Fainall comments that Sir Wilfull is a drunkard and “an odd mixture of bashfulness and obstinacy.”

Witwoud arrives and begins to discuss his friend Petulant, who is something of a scoundrel. Three women pull up in a coach asking for Petulant, but when he refuses to see them, they leave angrily. Petulant, like Mirabell, has been courting Millamant, a revelation that leads Mirabell to half-jokingly tell his competitor: “I shall cut your throat, sometime or other, Petulant, about that business.”

Petulant merely responds that there are plenty of other throats to cut. Then he changes the subject and mentions that Mirabell’s uncle, Sir Rowland, has come to visit and is staying near Lady Wishfort’s home. The conversation turns to how much Lady Wishfort hates Mirabell because she once thought he was in love with her; when she learned that he was not, her affection turned to bitterness. 

Act 2

The scene shifts to a conversation between Mrs. Fainall (Fainall's wife and Lady Wishfort’s daughter) and Marwood. The two women appear to be friends, but there is more than a little tension between them as they discuss how much they hate men. Yet they are both more than willing to toy with the men in their lives, with Mrs. Fainall expressing her suspicion that Marwood is in love with Mirabell. 

The women meet Fainall and Mirabell on a walk of their own. Soon, Mrs. Fainall and Mirabell walk off, leaving Fainall and Marwood alone. Once alone, the pair reveal their affair, with Fainall adding that he only married his wife for her money. The two argue, for Fainall, like his wife, also suspects that Marwood has feelings for Mirabell. Marwood declares that it is not too late “to loathe, detest, abhor mankind, myself, and the whole treacherous world,” but Fainall calls this mere extravagance, telling Marwood that he will rob and leave his wife to abscond with her, his lover. To hide her expression, Marwood dons a mask.

In the next scene, Mirabell and Mrs. Fainall discuss their past affair. Mrs. Fainall recalls how she married Fainall in a desperate attempt to hide a possible pregnancy by Mirabell. Recalling this scheme, Mirabell plots another: His servant, Waitwell, married Lady Wishfort’s maid, Foible. With his newfound proximity to Lady Wishfort, Waitwell can pretend to be Mirabell’s uncle, Sir Rowland, and court her. Then, Mirabell will expose the fraud to get back into the Lady’s good graces. Once she again approves of him, he can gain her approval to marry Millamant. Without Lady Wishfort's approval, Millamant will lose half of her fortune if she marries against her aunt's wishes, as her aunt controls half of her inheritance. 

Millamant appears then...