the structural faults of The Way of the World

 

What events are assumed to have taken place be- fore the action of The Way of the World? (b) What are the structural faults of The Way of the World?

 

And. (a) Before the action of The Way of the World begins, the following events are assumed to have taken place: Mirabell, a young man about-town, apparently not a great rich man, has had an affair with Mrs. Fainall, the widowed daughter of Lady Wishfort. To protect her from scandal in the event of preg nancy, he has persuaded Mr. Fainall to marry her. Fainall married the young widow, because he coveted her fortune to support his amour with Mrs. Marwood. In time the liaison between Mirabell and Mrs. Fainall ended (although this is not explicitly stated), and Mira bell found himself in love with Millamant, the niece and ward of Lady Wishfort, and the cousin of his former mistress.

 

There are, however, financial complications. Half of Millamant's fortune was under her own control, but the other half, 6000 pounds, was controlled by Lady Wishfort, to be turned over to Millamant, if she married a suitor approved by her aunt. Unfortunately, Mirabell had earlier offended Lady Wishfort: she had misinterpreted his flattery as love

 

Mirabell, therefore, has contrived an elaborate scheme. He has arranged for a pretended uncle (his servant Waitwell) to woo and win Lady Wishfort. Then Mirabell intends to reveal the actual status of the successful wooer and obtain her consent to his marriage to Mil lamant by rescuing her from this misalliance. Waitwell was to marry Foible, Lady Wishfort's maid, before the masquerade, so that he might not decide to hold Lady Wishfort's contract. Mirabell is too much a man of his time to trust anyone in matters of money or love. Millamant is aware of the plot, probably through Foible.

 

(b) The plot of The Way of the World, is very complex. It has a single action (the love affair between Mirabell and Millamant and its fulfilment) to which everything is related, but it includes a scheme and a counterplot to frustrate the scheme, and then moves to foil the counterplot. There are too many episodes, events, reversals and dis. coveries and they demand too much of the audience. The family tela. tionship in the play is perplexing.

 

Although the play ends happily, there are a number of loose ends that add to the confusion:

 

·       It is difficult to see where Mrs. Fainall's future is satisfactorily resolved. At one point in Act V she says that this is the end of her life with Fainall; that is one comfort. But at the end of the play it seems that she will continue to live with Fainall in an obviously very awkward domestic situation.

·       It is not clear that Fainall is completely foiled. He could still demand control of Lady Wishfort's fortune, or disgrace her daughter.

·       (e) Some problems of motivation in the play are not clear. Why did not Mirabell himself marry Mrs. Fainall?

·       Is the affair between Mirabell and Mrs. Fainall at an end? Shemarried Fainall only to forestall scandal if she became pregnant. If it is not an end, why has it ceased? Why should she help Mirabell with his of Millamant?

·       Apparently Mirabell had wanted to marry Millamant the year before, but the match was fore-stalled by Mrs. Marwood's interference. Fainall suggests that had they married Millamant would have lost half of her fortune. Why then the elaborate plot now, to save 6000 pounds that Mirabell was prepared to sacrifice before? There are no real answers to these questions and so they seem to be loose ends that the dramatist never bothered to tie together. These are the structural faults of The Way of the World.