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The Way of the World

Downloads: Under 100
First published: 1700
Pages: 111

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3 h 4 min · 6 parts

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Introductory Section and Dramatis Personae
15:39
Act 1
27:06
Act 2
26:47
Act 3
42:39
Act 4
35:54
Act 5 and Epilogue
36:05

The Way of the World (1700) is a public domain work.

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About this book

Congreve's brilliant Restoration comedy turns on the courtship of Mirabell and Millamant, two witty lovers who want to marry on their own terms in a society built on gossip, money, and appearances. Mirabell must coax a blessing from the vain and vengeful Lady Wishfort, who controls her niece's dowry and loathes him, while a tangle of secret schemes and old affairs threatens to undo everyone. The play is best remembered for its proviso scene, in which the couple negotiate the exact conditions of their marriage with a candor still bracing today. First staged in 1700, it marked the high polish and the last flowering of Restoration wit before the theatre turned toward sentiment. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available here.

About the author

William Congreve

William Congreve (1670-1729) was an English dramatist and poet, the finest writer of the Restoration comedy of manners. Though he stopped writing plays before he was thirty, works like Love for Love and The Way of the World secured his lasting reputation for verbal wit.