A Marriage That
Contradicts the Way of the World
by Alex Andy Phuong
In a
comedy of manners, social ranking plays a major
role that determines who marries whom in the
social hierarchy. People also had to
conform to strict social boundaries. In
spite of such restrictions, people still did
their best to meander through the complexities of
the social hierarchy in order to marry for love
instead of merely for financial stability. In
William Congreve’s The Way of the
World, the marriage agreement between
Mirabell and Millamant reveals how social
boundaries inhibit the ability for two people to
fully love each other, and suggests that such
boundaries are inconsistent with the emotions of
people in love.
Part
of the nature of the way of the world is that
some people marry only for money rather than for
true love. Specifically, Mrs. Fainall says
that she hates her husband. The
conflict between Mrs. Fainall and her husband
reveals how the way of the world at that time
involves financial security rather than true love. This
bleak fact reveals that people change over time,
including the relationships between married
people. The marriage agreement between
Mirabell and Millamant is similar because they do
not necessarily love each other, but instead have
to reach a sort of compromise in order to deal
with the restrictions that the way of the world
places upon them.
Millament
also reveals how power plays an important role in
the way that the world operated during that time. The
way of the world at that time dealt more with
power instead of love, and that created
repercussions between the relationships that
people shared. The subjective
qualities of the marriage agreement between
Mirabell and Millamant reflects the nature of
jealousy that can exist within a relationship.
Near
the end of the play, Fainall summarizes the
unusual nature of the world by suggesting that
the chaos in the world suggests that the world is
operating correctly. Fainall has a
perception that the world simply does what it
does, and might include elements that appear to
be ludicrous superficially, but reveal underlying
truths. Ultimately, the marriage
agreement between Mirabell and Millamant might
not be perfect, but it represents how the way of
the world can never be ideal. Nothing
in life is ideal, and that is just the way of the
world.
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