William Congreve, The Way of the World

David Roberts (Birmingham City University)
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Since its premiere at the Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre on March 5th 1700,

The Way of the World

has remained among the best known and most puzzling comedies of the Restoration period. Great things were expected after Congreve’s very popular

Love for Love

and

The Mourning Bride

, but in his

Roscius Anglicanus

of 1708, John Downes recalled that “being too keen a Satyr, [

The Way of the World

] had not the Success the Company Expected”. Certainly the “world” in question runs on dubious moral fuel, but others found further cause for complaint. One week after the premiere, Lady Marow claimed there was “no plot in it”, a remark to raise eyebrows among modern audiences and readers used to finding more plot in it than can reasonably be followed. When the play was printed later in…

2339 words

Citation: Roberts, David. "The Way of the World". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 April 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8107, accessed 29 March 2024.]

8107 The Way of the World 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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