Congreve Revision Notes
Key Themes in The Way of the World
chocolate
society; trade (nouveau riche [see 5]); luxury; fashion
appearance and reputation
masks [see 4]; the way, eg, Petulant 'calls for himself'
legality
language; documents; the effect of codicils on behaviour (remember
Sarah Churchill)
deception
in love especially; all those affairs; Sir Roland; Mrs Marwood
money
money motivates action throughout: it's the new morality; Mirabel's behaviour
language
idiolects; artificiality & wit; contrast between country and town especially
in Wilful and brother Witwoud
men & women
much more 'equal' than in Shakespeare; share motives
stereotyping
'stock' characters and situations, which the audience will recognise; echoes
of Shakespeare and of other more contemporary plays
comic end
(nearly) everyone on stage
satire
the play satirises its own audience; lots of references are almost directly
addressed at the audience