WAY OF THE WORLD, The. William Congreve was already the leading playwright and one of the most elegant gentlemen of London when in 1700 in his 30th year, he brought out at Lincoln's Inn Fields 'The Way of the World' with his friend Mrs. Bracegirdle in the principle role of Millamant. The play was written with a conscious aspiration 'to write only to the few refined_' It was the author's purpose 'to design some characters which should appear ridiculous, not so much through a natural folly (which is incorrigible and therefore not proper to the stage) as through an affected wit, a wit which at the same time that it is affected is also false.' The venture was not entirely a success and Congreve's career as a playwright was at an end.
It may profit us to inquire why the play failed and why in spite of its failure it is hailed as one of the greatest of the world's comedies. By the time of Congreve there had been added to the over-emphasis and gro tesqueness of Jonson's comedy the refining touch of Moliere. Comedy now becomes an art of manners, a pattern of human ingenuity at its wittiest and best. It was Congreve's distinction that he best adapted the technique of town living to the technique of the stage. Interested in character he is even more inter ested in social groups: "poeb oft in one piece expose Wk belles--sesembiees dcoquettes and besse• The play is rendered caviare to the general by its super-abundance of dazzle, a radiance that conceals, as principle, the real humanity of some at least of the characters. Moreover, the characters quite run away with the author in their good spirits and lavish life, leaving his plot unclear and a matter of raveled ends and hasty explanations. But these things can
t be counted faults by one who loves Congreve. He only among English writers has raised the artifices of character to universality. In language, observation, wit he presents a fine texture of grace that provokes and satisfies thoughtful laughter. Millamant is one of the rarest creations in literature, the woman en trancing as distinguished from the woman emotional or the woman instinctive. Though he is dealing with a conventionalized society Congreve's characters are thoroughly indi vidualized in their several relationships with that society. As is natural for such a society, most of the characters are women, but the characters that stand out, with one exception, are men. Written after Jeremy Collier's blast against the immorality of the stage, the play shows some of the restraining influence of this divine's charges. It was often presented dur ing the 18th century, but has been the particular delight of the study. Editions: Ewald, A. C., ed., Mermaid Series, 1887; Street, G. S., Comedies of William Congreve, 1895; Archer, W., Masterpieces of English Drama, 1912. Consult Gosse, E., 'Life of Congreve' (18%); Meredith, G.,