Journal Entry #2: The Way of the World

The Way of the World focuses a lot on the issues between loved ones and former loved ones. The story, I will admit, was a bit hard to understand; there was a lot going on at once, and some of the situations were not previously explained, so, it was left up to the reader to “fill-in-the-blanks” on some of the events in the play. One such event was the previous relationship love affair between Mirabell and Lady Wishfort. In the first act, not a lot of details were given concerning the upcoming situation the affair played a role in. Like stated before, the reader had to guess on what happened, however, later Congreve gave more of a background story on what had happened between Mirabell and Lady Wishfort. The reason that this affair is so important is because of the plot which Mirabell has come up with to successfully marry Millamant, Lady Wishfort’s niece.

A lot of the issues that were brought up in The Way of the World were distrust in marriages and relationships, and reasons for being with a certain partner. In this play, the reader sees Fainall mention that he only married his wife for her money, that way he would be well off in life and be able to finance his love. It’s clear to see that there is no faith or trust in the love they share. In Act II the reader finds out that due to the lack of “love” for his wife, Fainall is having an affair with Mrs. Marwood. I fnd it interesting, though, how Mrs. Fainall was so easily tricked in the beginning of Act II into believing that Mrs. Marwood had feelings for Mirabell; but of course that was just a cover up. The two were speaking of manipulating men, and one line that stuck out to me was what Mrs. Fainall said in the first line of Act II. She states, “if we will be happy, we must find the means in ourselves, and among ourselves. Men are ever in extremes, either doting or averse.” This line states how men’s opposing feelings tend to clash, and those feelings eventually lead to men losing interest and attraction in the woman they are with. The conversation continues and the reader sees how the two women seem to despise men because of their constant need for sex and how they see women as objects. I agree with this line, but at the same time I disagree. For centuries, women have been degraded and used by men; it’s sickening. Women have been used as objects of lust just to feed the sexual desires that men possess; but, in this opening scene, Mrs. Fainall and Mrs. Marwood seem to be directing this toward all men. This reminds me of a saying that I hear quite often: “men are all the same.” While that may be true in some senses, as a whole, no man is the same. Some men have desires that they can control much easier than some men, but because women have been screwed over and “played” so many times the men are judged based on the acts of so many other men.

Nowadays, these womanizing acts are frowned upon a lot more than they were in earlier times.Men are not the only ones performing these acts. As I stated previously, Mrs. Fainall and Mrs. Marwood were speaking of how they like to manipulate men, so, it is not just men who are doing the manipulating. But sometimes, the reason for women doing the manipulating is because they have been hurt by a man in some way. In Act III the reader begins to see the plot unfold, but at the same time unravel. One scene that stood out was when the reader sees how the feelings that Mrs. Marwood has for Mirabell quickly change; her love becomes hatred. What I found interesting was the connection between two of Congreve’s plays. In his play The Mourning Bride, lies the famous line “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” and in The Way of the World Mrs. Marwood is the woman who is being scorned. By this scene, and by that relating line, the reader can tell that Mrs. Marwood seeks revenge. Her revenge involves telling Lady Wishfort about Mirabell’s plot in hopes that Lady Wishfort’s feelings toward Mirabell will arise, causing her to foil the plan.

Obviously, we can see the dangers in messing with a woman’s heart. Manipulation can go a long way, and so does lack of trust. Any relationship, whether marriage, friendship, or dating, needs trust; at the conclusion of the play we see the “friendship” between Mrs. Marwood and Lady Wishfort wither. When Fainall is revealed as the villain in the play, and Mrs. Marwood being his protégé, Lady Wishfort clearly sees that the friendship that she and Marwood had was a lie; and as a result she forgives Mirabell for the past, and allows him to marry her niece. This play is filled with a lot of information and is hard to follow at times; as a reader, you have to read the lines very carefully or else you will miss what the author is trying to say. Though, in some parts it was hard to understand and follow along with, other parts made up for that and helped me grasp the message that Congreve was trying to show. Trust and faith are what makes for lasting relationships, and manipulation will get you nowhere. If you want to succeed in anything, especially relationships, do not play with the emotions of your partner; trust them and give them a reason to trust you; and if you marry someone do not marry them for the wrong reasons and have them believe that you love them when you don’t, because that is manipulation, and it will come back to bite you. In my opinion, Congreve was saying that love is found through trust and faith, and once you can trust someone, then, you can love someone.

Journal Entry #1: The Country Wife

I really liked The Country Wife; it reminded me a lot of Moliere’s Tartuffe, which I read in one of my previous literature classes. There is no doubt Moliere’s work was an influence on this one. It was a controversial play, just like Moliere’s, and didn’t go over well with the higher officials due to the amount of sexuality it portrayed. Just like Tartuffe, the officials wanted to keep it off stage and from printing due to the message it was portraying. In my opinion, it was showing how corrupt society was becoming. 

This play is an example of just how much of an impact Moliere’s plays made on other writers. The set up seemed quite similar to Tartuffe: the antagonist, Horner, makes a claim of impotence (in other words, he can’t “get it up”) to try to gain the trust of the other characters. After he has done this, he will use his “charm” and sexual references to lure the ladies in so he can have his way with them. As the play states, he wants to “cuckold” them. Horner, whose name suggests just what it seems to intend (“horny”), is the womanizer. Horner is the Tartuffe of this play, he tricks the family and others into believing that he has given up his old ways, when really he is playing them all. Alethea, who will be marrying Sparkish, seems to be the only one who can see through Horner’s plan. Alethea represents Damis, the son of Orgon in Taruffe who eventually takes things into his own hands to prove Tartuffe guilty; and Sparkish represents Orgon, who is completely oblivious to what is going on in the household. The roles of the household are not the same as in Tartuffe, but the qualities and relations of “who’s who” are the same. I believe that Sparkish represents a wide group of people who become so oblivious to what is occurring in society, and do not want to admit the problems occurring. I often wonder how people can be so oblivious to what is going on around them; I can understand if someone does not want to get caught up in the drama that is around them because that can be hard to handle and you do not want to get lost in it all to where you cannot get out; but, to completely isolate yourself from your surroundings and the occurrences around you, especially in your family, that is absurd. In my opinion, it is as if they are happy with their life and what they have, so, they assume there is nothing wrong as long as nothing is happening to them. However, when something does happen it seems they try to put the blame on someone else even when they do not have all the facts. We see this in the play when Margery writes a letter to Horner, but finishes the letter with Alethea’s signature. Pinchwife later tells Sparkish about the letter, but fails to mention that Margery wrote it, therefore, making it seems as if Alethea is cheating on him. He becomes outraged and admits that he was only attracted to her for her money. 

In society, you can look at someone who can seem so good natured but it takes on slight situation to see their true colors. You can see situations like these even today. I’ve seen it many times with family and even some close friends. It does not take much to see the true nature of someone, but it’s shocking when it is someone who you have put your trust in and care about. Betrayal is one of the main issues that this play is trying to stress; it’s making the reader aware that society is full of betrayal and deception. Whether the deception is coming from someone you just met, or whether it is from a friend, family member, or someone else you put your trust in, like a government official. One of the reasons that government officials did not want plays such as Tartuffe and The Country Wife to be printed or performed on stage is because they believe the writers are oppressing them and the laws they have set. The writers are simply making the public aware of the corruption within the government and society; the laws they have set are flawed, especially in the marriage system. In these times, it was dangerous to try and speak your mind to government officials, so, really the only way someone could get their point across was to write about it. If you could make the public more aware of the problems that were trying to be covered up, in the eyes of some people you were a saint. 

Though the public was aware of womanizers, The Country Wife brought about the outlook that people would have to be extra cautious because it could even be someone whom you have put your trust into. This is quite scary; to think that someone you know and trust could be after your wife. In my opinion, in today’s society more than ever, sex is becoming more main-stream. Hormones are raging, and men will give it their all to get what they want. I have seen so many times, guys trying to use their charm on women and gain their trust but looking to get nothing more than sex from a woman. Sometimes the women know that and are okay with these one-night stands, but when a girl thinks there is something special, only to face heartbreak, it is sad. Quite a few of my friends have had to go through this, and it is sick that people who can be so deceptive. I’m also sad to say that I have known guys and been friends with guys who have done that. They will do all they can to gain the trust of a girl just to get sex; I’ve seen it go on for weeks and even months. I have never understood this, a lot of people say that women are complicated and men are so simple; but, I’m not so sure of that anymore, because despite being a man I can say that some men are quite difficult to understand as well. How someone can be so heartless only to fulfill sexual needs, and even go as far as getting someone in a relationship to cheat, is beyond my understanding.  

The Country Wife is a great play once you take the time to understand it and pay attention to it. I like it a lot because, like I said before, it makes the reader aware of so much that is going on in society; and even if we knew it was going on, it helps make aware how much more serious it is than we originally thought.