Virginia Woolf said that all women together should let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn - for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds - well, within the Rover, her sexual politics are personified through the character of Angelica Bianca : and it makes for an intriguing read! Brandishing swords, embracing rape and finding their own individual identities in a society that veiwed women as second class subject, this remained the most frequently performed play right up until 1800!

Knowing I would be forced to study this work for my A Level in English Lit, I was sure I would enjoy it due to the comedy and satire involved. I was wrong. As the first reviewer claimed, The Way of the World is just like a soap opera! I appreciate the intention of Congreve was to satirise the follies of the upper classes at the time but this does not make the play any less tedious. The plot is unnecessarily complex and rather difficult to follow at times. It all boils down to romance and infidelity in the end, as one might expect. Granted, it is fairly well written, but if there's a stupid plot and irritating, useless characters, no amount of creative flair in writing can compensate. As well as that, the language, while not difficult, is different from that of modernity so makes it awkward. OK, we expect this from an 18th century piece of literature, but it still causes problems for a modern audience/reader. The worst thing was being told by the teacher when we were meant to laugh - that obviously kills any comedy value in the play. Exam boards should add some more modern plays to their syllabus! Not to mention ones with meaningful, interesting plots and characters. This is not worth the paper it's written on, in my humble opinion.

Yikes! Let's see here...

Mirabell is in love with Milamant, who is the niece of Lady Wishfort, who hates Mirabell because he pretended to be in love with her. Her daughter is Mrs. Fainall, who had an affair with Mirabell that resulted in her marrying Fainall (she thought she was pregnant) who she doesn't love and who is having an affair with Marwood, who is secretly in love with Mirabell and would do anything to keep him from marrying Millamant, who, by the way, loves him and hates him at the same time.

And that's all before the play even starts. This play, often heralded as "the best of the Restoration plays" (ironic, since it was a commercial failure for Congreve) is witty, complex, and very hard to keep up with. The plot revolves around who will get Lady Wishfort's inheritance and how, and some of the things they try are quite ridiculous. It has funny moments -- mostly provided by Mirabell's wit and the tomfoolery of Witwoud and Petulant, the comic relief. But it ends up just being pretty long and convoluted.

Go read Shakespeare.

I had to write a review after reading the two preceeding mine!

This is perhaps the most brilliant of the late Restoration comedies. For all of those unfamiliar with Restoration drama, it is a rich, witty genre which has been too often neglected in American educational institutions, relegated to the "secondary canon" of English lit. The Way of the World is ridiculously sublime, incorporating the tropes of the genre, but exceeding its predecessors.