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The Way of the World

William Congreve

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Table of Contents

Play Summary (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/play-summary)

 (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-
All
analysis/millamant#)
Subjects
About The Way of the World (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/about-the-way-of-the-world)

Character List (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-list)

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Summary and Analysis (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/summary-and-

analysis/dedication)
Dedication (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/summary-and-analysis/dedication)

Prologue (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/summary-and-analysis/prologue)

Act I (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/summary-and-analysis/act-i)

Act II (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/summary-and-analysis/act-ii)

Act III (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/summary-and-analysis/act-iii)

Act IV (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/summary-and-analysis/act-iv)

Act V (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/summary-and-analysis/act-v)

Epilogue (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/summary-and-analysis/epilogue)

Character Analysis (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/mirabell)

Mirabell (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/mirabell)

Millamant (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/millamant)

Fainall (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/fainall)

Mrs. Marwood (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/mrs-marwood)

Lady Wishfort (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/lady-wishfort)

Sir Wilfull Witwoud (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/sir-wilfull-witwoud)

Young Witwoud (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/young-witwoud)

Petulant (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/petulant)

Waitwell (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/waitwell)

Foible (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/foible)

Mincing (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/mincing)

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Mrs. Fainall (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/character-analysis/mrs-fainall)
William Congreve Biography (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/william-congreve-biography)

Critical Essays (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/critical-essays/themes-in-the-way-of-the-

world)

Themes in The Way of the World (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/critical-essays/themes-in-

the-way-of-the-world)

Style, Wit, and Irony in The Way of the World (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/critical-

essays/style-wit-and-irony-in-the-way-of-the-world)

Notes on Performance of The Way of the World (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/critical-

essays/notes-on-performance-of-the-way-of-the-world)

The Reputation of Restoration Drama (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/critical-essays/the-

reputation-of-restoration-drama)

Study Help (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/study-help/quiz)

Quiz (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/study-help/quiz)

Essay Questions (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/study-help/essay-questions)

Cite this Literature Note (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/the-way-of-the-world/play-summary%3Flcitation=true)

Character Analysis Millamant

Millamant is generally conceded to be the most charming heroine in Restoration comedy. She is a
fitting partner-antagonist to Mirabell. She maintains the same self-control to the very end of the
proviso scene. She too loves but shows no sentiment. She is airy, teasing, light, beautiful,
tantalizing, and infuriating. Mirabell is aware of her faults — and comes to love them. The reader is
aware of her faults and comes to love them too. She is affected, coy, and arch, and we would have
her no other way. She can be sweet and charming, but there can be acid and irony in her wit.

Millamant appears significantly in five scenes: her first appearance, her dialogue with Mrs.
Marwood, her scene with Sir Wilfull, the proviso scene with Mirabell, and the drunken scene
immediately following. The first and fourth are the most important for revealing her character.

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Millamant's first appearance is prepared for carefully. When she arrives, trailing her court, Mincing
and young Witwoud, she automatically takes the center of the stage as if it is her right, as indeed it
is. Her character is outlined in the passage about putting up one's hair: Prose would never do, only
poetry, a piece of flippancy in which Mincing immediately abets her. Here she is revealed as the
complete belle. She is affectation that is fully conscious of itself, and flippancy that delights in its
own irreverence. She is completely sure of her feminine power, and Congreve has given her the
lines to justify her assurance. The lines concerning suitors — one makes them, one destroys them,
and one makes others — are all flippant. She knows her power and can laugh at herself, just as she
can tease Mirabell.

Within the limited world where she operates, she is intelligent. She sees through the forced false
wit of young Witwoud's humor and handles him gracefully and efficiently. "Truce with your
similitudes" and "Mincing stand between me and his wit" are deft lines which give Witwoud
precisely the attention he merits; incidentally, they gracefully dispose of the small deer, for
Millamant stalks more worthy game. She is shrewd enough to see through Mrs. Marwood:

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 That Mirabell loves me is no more a secret than it is a secret that you discovered it to my aunt, or
than the reason why you discovered it is a secret.

Above all, Millamant's character is Millamant in love. She and Mirabell are worthy partners. She,
too, will not admit her love to him, for to do so would be to give up one's position of vantage in the
game. It is the control of the skillful Restoration wit, which overlays her love, and through which it
must operate, that makes the proviso scene so completely successful.

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