The Way of the World

Following the theme of The Complexities of Gender Dynamics in Personal and Financial Power, the opening of Act V reveals how the women in the play focus on different elements of their reputations and fortunes than the men. Marwood’s easiest route to wealth is through Fainall’s plot, while Mrs. Fainall is dependent on Mirabell’s success. Lady Wishfort, in between these plots, thinks of her reputation. When Lady Wishfort desires justice, looking for a trial to prove Mrs. Fainall had an affair with Mirabell, Marwood responds, “Prove it, madam? What, and have your name prostituted in a public court?” (310). The use of the term “prostituted” highlights how women in this time depended more on their reputation than even their own wealth, which would be useless in the face of public shunning.

Even in Mirabell’s apology, his emphasis lies on how his plot would have protected Lady Wishfort’s reputation, saying, “Consider, madam, in reality you could not receive much prejudice; it was an innocent device, though I confess it had the face of guiltiness” (314). Had Mirabell’s plan come to fruition, he would have annulled the marriage between Lady Wishfort and Waitwell, allowing her to continue without the blemish of a false marriage in the public eye. Likewise, a component of the final resolution is Millamant’s offer to marry Wilfull, which constitutes the only way she can manage to influence the financial and personal power at stake in the conclusion of the play. Revealed in this offer, though, is Millamant’s disregard for reputation, as the implication that Mirabell will join Wilfull and her on their travels hints at a possible affair.

The play remains true to Congreve’s early note about all the characters being fools, revealing through The Manipulation of Appearances for Personal Gain how Mirabell becomes a temporary hero in the conclusion. Revealing the documents trusting Mirabell with Mrs. Fainall’s fortune, Mirabell says: “Even so, sir; ’tis the way of the world, sir, of the widows of the world. I suppose this deed may bear an elder date than what you have obtained” (317). On one hand, Mirabell is showing the extra care needed in marriage for widows, but he is also revealing the lengths to which Mrs. Fainall and Mirabell have plotted against Fainall’s interests. Essentially, Mirabell took Mrs. Fainall’s money in trust, had an affair with her, encouraged Fainall to marry her, and then used this deceit as evidence of his trustworthiness in front of Lady Wishfort. However, both Mirabell and Fainall are revealed to be deceptive fools in the end, and Mirabell’s getting what he wants—marriage and money from Millamant—is not as satisfying as if he were truly honest.

The opening of the epilogue primarily addresses the probability that the crowd did not like the play, as well as making the conventional complaint of Restoration playwrights that too many self-proclaimed poets are making plays. However, the key component of the epilogue mirrors the prologue, in which Congreve asserts that everyone is, in part, the characters of the play. Near the end of the epilogue, Congreve writes, “For, as when painters form a matchless face, / They from each fair one catch some different grace; / And shining features in one portrait blend, / To which no single beauty must pretend” (319). Though Congreve discusses “beauty” and “grace,” he is subverting these terms to mean “foolishness” and “deception,” specifically for personal gain. While the painter is finding traits to enhance the beauty of a portrait, Congreve has found traits that enhance the foolishness and malice of his characters. The play’s conclusion, then, assures the audience they are all somewhat imbued with the traits of all the characters, even if they think they are aligned with only one character or none.