The Way of the World, a play written by William Congreve, is a typical restauration play, as it tries to poke fun at its contemporary society through its content. As it is written in a very satirical and ironic way, it is considered to be a comedy rather than a drama. However, one of the main themes in this play is undoubtedly the theme of adultery, as various characters are committing adultery during the course of the play.
While the main part of the story follows the relationship between Mirabell and Millamant, who at least appear to genuinely be in love with each other, there are many relationships which are not necessarily based on mutual love and respect. This is the reason why some characters in the story are committing adultery, as they are not truly in love with the person they are married to. Through the theme...
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of adultery, Congreve tries to criticize exactly this characteristic of his contemporaries: at the time, it became more and more apparent that people were deciding to get married for financial reasons, almost in the sense of a financial investment, rather than for love.
For example, Mr. Fainall has an affair, as he is not really in love with Mrs. Fainall. He only married her because he wanted to get access to her money. Not only is he having an affair, he even goes as far as falsely accusing his wife of having an affair, too, in order to start divorce proceedings.
Is "The Way of the World" an adultery drama?
The Way of the World is a play by British playwright William Congreve. It was first put on stage in 1700. The play follows the story of Mirabell and Millamant, who are in love with each other but have to overcome several difficulties in order to be able to get married.
Firstly, with regard to the phrasing of your question, it has to be said that the play is a comedy and not a drama. Amongst other criteria, the play contains the element of satire, which is one of the key characteristics of a comedy. Therefore, it is definitely not a drama.
Adultery is a key theme in the play. However, I would not go as far as stating that it is the most important theme in the play. Adultery is featured frequently in the play—for example, Fainall has an affair with Mrs. Marwood—but there are more important themes in this play. In fact, adultery really is only a result of some of the other themes. For example, the main theme of the play is the theme of marriage. This becomes clear given that Mirabell and Millamant, the main characters, are in love with each other and want to get married.
However, not all the married couples in the play are happily married. The Fainall’s marriage, for example, seems to be mainly based on financial interest and social reputation rather than genuine feelings for each other. It is this unhappiness, resulting from unhappy, loveless marriages, that results in people committing adultery. Therefore, the theme of marriage is much more important to the play than the theme of adultery, as adultery is merely a result of unhappy marriages.