PRESENTATION OF DRAMA

TOPIC:
THE PROVISO SCENE FROM THE WAY OF THE WORLD
AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN PRESENT AGE AND TIME

BIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM CONGRIEVE

He was born at bardsey, near Leeds on January 24 in 1670. He came of a old Staffordshire
family and is regarded as the most brilliant of the writer of Restoration comedy. In 1674 his
father was granted a commission in the army to join the garrison at youghal. William
Congreve was educated at Kilkenny School and at Trinity College, Dublin Ireland.
In 1691 he was as a law student at Middle Tempel but he did not seem to take Law seriously.
In 1692 Congreve published a light but delightful near-parody of fashionable romances,
called Íncognita’, or or Love and Duty reconciled.
In march 1693, at the age of twenty-three it was Congreve’s tryst with fame with the
production of ‘The old Bachelor’. The play was enormous success and was warmly greetd by
Dryden who declared that he had never read so brilliant a writer’s maiden play.
His famous plays are as follows :

 Love for Love

 The mourning Bride
 The way of the World

In April 1698 a clergyman named Jeremy Collier attacked the restoration comedy in his “A
short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage”. The play was brutally
assaulted and held to ransom. The attack was so virulent and the reaction so wide spread that
Congreve gave up play writing all together.
Contemporaries of William Congreve
Jonathan Swift was his senior in Ireland was unvarying in his affection. Alexander Pope
dedicated his Iliad to him is love for Mrs. Bracegirdle, who acted out most of the heroine’s
roles in his plays was deep and consistent. They were very good friends through. Congreve
remained a bachelor throughout. He left behind his legacy to the duchess of Marlborough
who erected an epitaph on his grave. He died in London on January 19, 1729.

Congreve's The Way of the World: Restoration Comedy of Manners The comedy of
Manners emerged during the age of Dryden, the age of Restoration. Therefore it is
also called Restoration Comedy. “The Restoration comedy of manners reached its
fullest expression in The Way of the World (1700) by William Congreve, which is
dominated by a brilliantly witty couple.” This sort of comedy is called comedy of
manners for the writers in the restoration theatre have shown the ‘manners’ and
‘morals’ of the ways of life of the higher class aristocratic fashionable society,
however, not of the lower class or middle class society. The themes of the
Restoration comedy of manners are love, marriage, false relationships amours and
legacy conflicts; and the characters generally include would be wits, jealous
husbands, conniving rivals and foppish dandies. It “relies for comic effect in large
part on the wit and sparkle of the dialogue- often in the form of wordplay, a witty
conversational give-and-take which constitutes a kind of verbal fencing match.” Now
let us evaluate Congreve’s The Way of the World as a comedy of manners. The
society depicted in The Way of the World is the upper class fashionable society of
London. The action of the play takes place in three places. The first is the chocolate
House which was used for socializing and entertainment during the Restoration. The
second is St James’s Park in London where the upper class people walked before
dinner. Witwould says, “We’ll all walk in the park; the ladies talked of being
there.”The third is the house of Lady Wishfort, an aristocratic woman. Most of the
male and female characters of the play are cultured, talented, formal, artificial,
fashionable, depraved, ‘cold’ and ‘courtly’. Their qualities are actually a part of
Restoration age culture.

In Act 4 of The Way of the World, couple Mirabell and Millamont find themselves in a
battle of wit as they discuss the terms of their
marriage. This scene, called the proviso scene, gives important insight into Mirabell
and Millamont's relationship. The terms of both
characters illustrate their concerns and fears for their future marriage.

The significance of the bargaining scene between Mirabell and Millamant in Congreve's
play The Way of the Word is actually manifold.

KNOWING THE ATTITUDE OF EACHOTHER

The first important thing is that they are barganing how each of them will allow each other to
behave once the marriage is in effect.
"COME TO DINNER WHEN I PLEASE, DINE IN MY DRESSING ROOM
WHEN I'M OUT OF HUMOR, WITHOUT GIVING A REASON."
ALLOWED TO EAT DINNER TOGETHER OR ALONE AS SHE WISHES

EXPECTATIONS AND REQUIREMENT

This is a parody on the social expectations of men and women upon becoming husband and
wife. The requirements make the union far from romantic. Instead, the parties involved are
expected to comply with a requirement that continuously reminds them that their union is one
based on networking and convenience, rather than love.

MIRABELL CANNOT CALL HER BY PET NAMES

NO PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION ALLOWED
MILLAMONT MUST LIKE HER OWN FACE

LIKING AND DISLIKING

Another important significance is that they both discover each other's penchants with this
behavior pact, and wonder about each other. Again, this is satirical. Millamant says that she
wants to be free, and allowed basically to do as she pleases. Mirabell takes this sourly and
says that his future bride better not be shameful nor a "fashion victim". In turn, Millamant
takes that personal and cannot believe he would think her to be that way.

MILLAMONT MUST NOT HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE WOMEN

LIBERTY TO PAY AND RECEIVE VISITS TO AND FROM WHOMEVER I
PLEASE

ALLOWED TO RESTRICT MILLAMONT'S DRINK INTAKE

"I PROHIBIT ALL MASKS FOR THE NIGHT, MADE OF OILED-SKINS AND I
KNOW NOT
WHAT- HOG'S BONES, HARE'S GALL, PIG WATER, AND THE MARROW OF
A ROASTED
CAT."

ENDING OF TRDITIONAL RELATION

Yet, it is possible that one of the most important parts of the bargaining scene is the
underlying shallowness of the pact. Mirabell says that, upon marriage, he would be high to
the rank of husband. Contrastingly, Millamant says that she will be demoted to the rank of
wife. This is a clear indicator that Millamant is not marriage material, and that Mirabell may
not be the dream husband that we assume he wants to be.

“ALLOWED TO WRITE AND RECEIVE ANY LETTERS WITHOUT QUESTION”

MIRABELL MUST ALWAYS KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING A ROOM

PRE-NUPTIAL PLANNING

Mirabell and Millamant are rushing through the very complex process of pre-nuptial
planning with very little evidence of what they really want out of their marriage.

"DON'T LET US BE FAMILIAR OR FOND, NOR KISS BEFORE PERSONS"

ALLOWED TO HAVE ANY VISITORS WITHOUT QUESTION

CHILDISH DESIRE

ALLOWED TO STAY IN BED LATE AS SHE WISHES

MILLAMONT CANNOT WEAR MAKEUP OR OTHER COSMETICS