Sem-4/CC-8

The Way of the World

William Congreve
Plot Structure
Congreve opens The Way of the World with a prologue that outlines the general struggle of
playwrights to satisfy the audience and please all the critics. He suggests that this is a
foolish endeavor and that it is better to instead write a play that instructs audience
members on what characterizes a fool versus a wit.
This type of instruction is exactly what he proceeds to give through the repartee, or witty
dialogue, of the fools of the play, mainly Witwoud, Petulant, and Sir Wilfull. These comedic
minor characters often don’t fully grasp the significance of the drama going on between 
Mirabell and Fainall but provide comedic relief with their well-timed puns and “raillery,” or
good-humored teasing, of other characters.
Additionally, the foolish characters Sir Wilfull, Petulant, and Witwoud model qualities the
Restoration gentleman should not have and are personality types that a true gentleman
should not surround himself with. All three men are unintellectual, “foppish” (excessively
concerned with fashion), and at times, vulgar. By contrast, Mirabell is the foil to all three
men, and represents the highest standards of decorum and wit. Importantly, though the
three fools can at times seem like witty fools when they crack jokes, the opposite
relationship between wits and foolishness does not hold true in Congreve’s play. Instead,
Congreve makes it clear that true wits, like Mirabell, are never foolish and never fooled.
Hence Fainall, neither quite a wit nor quite a fool, occupies his own category as the villain
or rogue of the play and is consequently undone by Mirabell and his team of half-wits, Sir
Wilfull, Petulant, and Witwoud.
Thank You!

Dept. of English
Netaji Nagar College