Preview

The Way of the World

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
553 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Way of the World
Discuss the way oe the world as restoration comedy of manners.

Ans. Restoration as a historical period was a time when England was an established colonial power in the world. It was a time of materialism and commerce and the people of the period emphasized money, pleasure and sex. Love and marriage were judged in terms of money. Artificiality and immorality were the defining features of the age. People looked towards relaxation and pleasure and serious things mattered less to them. By highlighting these things, The Way of the World exposes the issues of money, love, sex, marriage and in short the behavior of the people of the time in the language of prose. The rakes, fops, gallants and wits are the primary types dealt with in a language that is outwardly brilliant but lacking philosophical and emotional or psychological depth. This makes the play a typical restoration comedy of manners. The mode employed is satiric and ironic which befits the social reality of the time.

In the restoration period there was a moneyed class with leisure. Pursuit of sexual pleasure and money was the main concern of the people. Marriage was not just liked at as an institution for procreation or for providing stability to social life. It was seen as a mercenary venture. The Way of the World contains characters who resort to sexual innuendos and vulgar jokes. Humor and wit are the key ingredients of this play. The characters represent many aspects of the society of the time and the aristocracy in particular. Mirabell is a wit and manipulator. He uses language in a very witty manner. The clever use of language makes his speech brilliant on the surface but it has no psychological depth underneath. He pretends to love Lady Wishfort so that he can move closer to Millament. His eyes are on her fortune. Love and marriage are guided by a desire for material gain. Fainall, the villain of the play is intent on laying his hand on Lady Wishfort’s fortune. He marries Mrs. Fainall not because
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Regeneration Prior and Rivers
    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Regeneration Prior and Rivers

    The importance of the metaphor in the title 'Regeneration' is critical as a central theme as Barker notes that the title adds meaning to the novel in the way the men are 'regenerated', but never complete. Living in the 1950's people were said to be incapable of change and were over-cautious in repressing their emotions. This idea is exhibited through Prior and Rivers interactions and is a successful way in portraying Barkers interpretation of habitual human behaviour intermingled in the theme; self exploration from which both characters undergo issues with sexuality, class struggle and duty.…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The 7 Stages Of Grieving Play Analysis
    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The 7 Stages Of Grieving Play Analysis

    The play uses the conventions of theatre of the absurd to accentuate these struggles; the play shows a meaningless and threatening world where not even an innocent child is safe. The play also portrays that in this world people cling to abstract ideas of love and family to try and find meaning, which is shown in the way Ray and Sylvie refuse to move on with their lives and instead live everyday clinging to the memory of their once happy family. This is shown clearly in the preface, where Ray and Sylvie jump from topic to topic nonsensically and always referring back to Ruby, as well as in the way Sylvie reacts when Ray speaks of Ruby in past tense. In class we explored their struggle to move on in workshops of the preface. Ray spoke in slowly in hushed tones, while Sylvie spoke in a hurried and confused way, creating tension through the differences. The nonsensical dialogue of the opening was spoken in confused tones, demonstrating that Ray and Sylvie could understood the ‘normal’ life the once led and were struggling to try and have it…

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Social Order In Shakespeare's King Lear
    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Social Order In Shakespeare's King Lear

    Shakespeare informs the reader of the modifications needed in society to prevent capitalism from overthrowing the traditional aristocratic ways. Through Goneril and Regan, the dangers of bourgeoisies and proteltarists are evident and the negative effects they cause. With the differing social orders, lineage becomes trivial. Blood no longer matters and wealth depends heavily on market exchange. Scholars highlight the difficulties and dangers of utopian concepts, especially when they are centered on bourse. He discusses the many social climbers who attempt to behave badly to gain status from the new capitalist power. The conflict between the idea of human liberty and the traditional order is resolved in the play by transforming the king into an item of pathos. By “humanising” the king, Shakespeare is able to fuse together the two ideas regarding absolutist authority and individual…

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Context and Values in Shakespeare's Richard III
    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Context and Values in Shakespeare's Richard III

    The characters, namely Richard III and Richmond, offer an insight into the contextual concerns of the Elizabethan period. Their values offer modern audiences the opportunity to identify contextual features because the values are a product of the context, as is the text itself. Richard III is the epitome of the villain. He values deceit, devilishness, power and a disconnection from God and family which is against everything the pious Elizabethans believed in and this is depicted through his actions and language “I am determined to prove a villain” (I.i.30). The emphasis on good vs. evil and wrong vs. right was of the utmost significance to audiences because it taught them moral lessons. These moral lessons were important to Elizabethans because religion was an overarching aspect of their cultural context. Shakespeare combined the idea of Richard being deformed together with these values to emphasise the insidious nature of his personality and in effect, contrast him against the heroic Richmond.…

    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lais of Marie de France
    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Lais of Marie de France

    Marie begins her collection of lais with the story of Guigemar, a noble knight who is cursed with the task of finding true love to heal a physical injury. This lay introduces two types of love: selfish and selfless. Selfish love is not courtly love. It lacks devotion and true loyalty. It lacks suffering and self-denial. Marie de France portrays this kind of love in the old husband of the woman whom Guigemar loves. The man locks his wife away in an enclosure guarded by a castrated man. By doing this, the husband shows a mean, limited devotion to his wife; perhaps even worse, he limits her ability to experience true love. This kind of love does not last; in fact, the husband is cuckolded when his wife has a year-long affair with Guigemar. He is made a fool, the dupe of love.…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Magic In A Midsummer Night's Dream
    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Magic In A Midsummer Night's Dream

    In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare is telling the readers that, love needs no reason to exist; it defies logic and ignores all circumstances. This compelling message is very thoroughly communicated with the connection of the fantasy world and reality. The connection occurs in a forest, where each character of significance is, at one point, present. Here, the characters experience unforeseen events, as a result of the debatable use of magic, from those in power. However, despite the extreme unusualness and complications, the characters challenge the circumstances, and persist in loving the one they feel closest to. In this play, this situation is best represented by three significant relationships. The first exists between a lover and her hater, the next involves a young and rebellious couple, and the last concerns an ill-fated mechanical and the queen of the fairies.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    As You Like It: Fulfilment and Acceptance Story
    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As You Like It: Fulfilment and Acceptance Story

    The comedic structure of the play, allows for the reduction of Elizabethan social paradigms through the use of a utopian pastoral setting. The play begins in disharmony and banishment in the ‘perilous court’. Being excluded from the court, Rosalind’s notion of identity is challenged. Her exile, triggered because she is ‘thy father’s daughter’, causes her alienation, shocking the values held by Shakespeare’s 17thcentury audience. Rosalind and Celia shed their old identities, along with the burdens of court life, for new ones as Aliena and Ganymede, their theatrical disguise adding humour to their search for a new acceptance and a safe place of belonging.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Importance Of Being Earnest Satire Analysis
    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Importance Of Being Earnest Satire Analysis

    Both Jack and Algernon pretend to be a man named Ernest to satisfy their love interest's wish, reflecting the Victorian obsession of social appearance and standing. This obsession may have lead to this hypocritical nature of lying and cheating in order to look truthful and honest. There is also the way marriage is handled within the play that contrasts with Victorian society. Marriage in the play is treated as a simple process, with a simple proposal, then engagement, and then marriage. This view pokes fun at how Victorian parent plan in great detail about their children’s marriage, shown especially with Lady Bracknell, who questions Jack after his proposal to Gwendolen, and scrutinizing every aspect of his status. During the questioning, she is quick to judge the status of Jack’s finances, occupation, and housing, describing the concerns of many upper class Victorians of the time. Also, this play allows the couples wins their marriage, even with the disapproval with their guardians.. Likewise, despite the truth eventually coming out, all the main characters get their happy ending, which in essence illustrate that although Victorian society discourages dishonesty, the individuals of the Victorian time will allow it to pass if it is going to benefits them in some way, either now or later.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    An Analyis of the Conventions of Courtly Love Within the Miller's Tale and Morte Darthur
    • 1840 Words
    • 8 Pages

    An Analyis of the Conventions of Courtly Love Within the Miller's Tale and Morte Darthur

    An Analyis of the Conventions of Courtly Love Within The Miller's Tale and Morte Darthur…

    • 1840 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing'
    • 1256 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing'

    In Shakespeare’s comedy ‘MAAN’, he explores the theme of deception. In an amusing and harmless manner, Benedick and Beatrice are deceived by their close friends in a plan leading the two to believe that the other is completely in love with them. The audience are aware of the playful ruse, which Benedick has fallen victim to although he remains oblivious to their scheme; in Act 2 Scene 3, it is an example of dramatic irony used in the play. The prince, Don Pedro, lets the audience know of the playful deception “let there be the same net spread for her...The sport will be when they hold one an opinion of another’s dotage” Benedick’s lack of knowledge of the deception is evident in his soliloquy “ This can be no trick...Love me? Why it must be requited”. Beatrice’s certainty in the identical deception is conveyed through as her language changes from prose to verse. In Act 1 Scene 3, Beatrice begins to speak in prose, while her “Merry war” with Benedick is still in play “Why, he is the Prince’s jester, a very dull fool...” During Act 3 Scene 1, another deception is when Beatrice’s friends deceive her, as Beatrice begins to talk in verse, “Benedick, love on, I will requite thee, taming my wild heart to thy loving hand”. This change conveys how greatly she has…

    • 1256 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    What is the Victorian attitude to love and how is it presented or rejected in 3 literature texts
    • 2314 Words
    • 6 Pages

    What is the Victorian attitude to love and how is it presented or rejected in 3 literature texts

    During the Victorian Era, it was generally accepted that love was not a case of the modern, romantic ideal of falling for someone you genuinely love, but more of a career move. Men especially saw marriage as a stepping stone in their life, to advance in society. Women were treated as property and their sole purpose was to sacrifice themselves to their husbands. The typical Victorian woman was expected to bear her husband children, to ensure her family’s happiness, to be suppressed and to show minimal emotion. Hence, true love was not as common as present day, especially for the upper class, who were being constantly being scrutinised by society. These attitudes are explored in ‘Jude the Obscure’, ‘Sonnet VI’ from Sonnets from the Portuguese, and ‘Jane Eyre’.…

    • 2314 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth Feminist Analysis
    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Macbeth Feminist Analysis

    Throughout the reign of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, the modern world has come to question how certain themes are presented by the playwright to his audience. This had arisen due to the representation of the author’s opinions on his surroundings during the play’s creation. As it is common knowledge that misogyny was an essential part of medieval living, one can assume that these principals have effected that of Shakespeare’s. However, upon the analysis of the tragedy, it appears he may have set up a circumstance in which to test the misogynistic mold which had surrounded society. While living in a world which encouraged the matching of gender roles, it is evident that Shakespeare created the…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Streetcar Named Desire Play Analysis
    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A Streetcar Named Desire Play Analysis

    The play focuses on the exploration of romanticism and the pursuit of love. The story revolves around the upcoming marriage between Duke Theseus and Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. The Duke is approached by a man named Egeus who is in complaint of his daughter’s choice of men. He wishes that his daughter, Hermia, will marry Demetrius in which she declines. She is in love with Lysander and proclaims “O hell, to choose love by another’s eyes” (Shakespeare 1659). The Duke gives Hermia an ultimatum to either marry Demetrius or accept the penalty. The penalty is “Either to die the death” or “To live a barren sister all your life” (1657). Hermia and Lysander make plans to run off and get married. Hermia’s friend, Helena, comes into the picture. Helena is in love with Demetrius, but he is not in love with her. Helena tells Demetrius the plan of the elopement in an attempt for him to fall in love with her. While this is happening, a group of craftsmen are putting together a play for the Duke’s wedding. This comes into play because they are practicing in the woods where Hermia and Lysander are waiting to run off to get married. Also in the woods are the Fairy King, Oberon, and Queen, Titania. The fairies have a magic love dust works when sprinkled in one’s eyes. When the person awakes, they fall in love with the first thing they see. The play continues with Lysander and Hermia in the woods with…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Restoration Period
    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Restoration Period

    Restoration literature, English literature written after the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 following the period of the Commonwealth. Some literary historians…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparison of Drama & Poetry of Elizabethan age with that of Pope age
    • 7499 Words
    • 19 Pages

    Comparison of Drama & Poetry of Elizabethan age with that of Pope age

    The period from 1660 to 1700 is known as the Restoration period or the Age of Dryden. Dryden was the representative writer of this period. The restoration of King Charles II in 1660 marks the beginning of a new era both in the life and the literature of England. The beginning of the Restoration began the process of social transformation. The atmosphere of gaiety and cheerfulness, of licentiousness and moral laxity was restored. The theatres were reopened. There was a stern reaction against the morality of the Puritans. Morality was on the wane. There was laxity everywhere in life. All these tendencies of the age are clearly reflected in the literature of the period. During this period there was a rapid development of science. The establishment of the Royal Society was a landmark in history of England. The interest in science began to grow. The growing interest in science resulted in the beginning of rational inquiry and scientific and objective outlook. Objectivity, rationality and intellectual quality also enlivened the literature of this period. The literature of the Restoration period marked the complete breaking of ties with the Elizabethan literature.…

    • 7499 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics