The Way of the World by William Congreve Short summary

Act 1

The play opens in a London chocolate house. Mirabell and Fainall are playing cards, and Mirabell is losing. Fainall asks why he is distracted, and Mirabell confesses that he loves Ms. Millamant but was rejected by her the night before. She was with her aunt, Lady Wishfort, her friends, and two foolish men—Witwoud and Petulant.

We learn that half of Millamant’s fortune depends on her aunt’s approval. But Lady Wishfort hates Mirabell because he once pretended to court her in order to get close to Millamant. Mrs. Marwood, secretly jealous and unkind, exposed his trick. This sets up the main conflict: Mirabell’s love is threatened by Lady Wishfort’s hostility.

Meanwhile, Mirabell has arranged for his servant Waitwell to marry Foible, Lady Wishfort’s maid, as part of a secret plan. When Mirabell speaks of Millamant, he admits he loves her with all her faults, even cherishing them because he knows them so well.

Later, Witwoud and Petulant enter, showing off their foolishness. Petulant even pays women to pretend to visit him so he looks popular. Through them, Mirabell discovers that Lady Wishfort plans to marry Millamant to Mirabell’s uncle, who has come to London recently. If that happens, Mirabell will lose his fortune and his love. 

Act 2

In St. James’s Park, Mrs. Fainall and Mrs. Marwood talk about the wickedness of men, though both are attracted to Mirabell. When the men join them, it is revealed that Fainall is having an affair with Mrs. Marwood, while Mrs. Fainall was once in love with Mirabell before marrying Fainall to protect her reputation.

Mirabell now shares his plot with Mrs. Fainall: his servant Waitwell will disguise himself as “Sir Rowland,” Mirabell’s fictional uncle, and pretend to court Lady Wishfort. If Lady Wishfort accepts, Mirabell will then use her embarrassment to win her consent to marry Millamant. Since Waitwell has just married Foible, both are united in the scheme.

Soon, Millamant enters with her maid Mincing and Witwoud. She flirts and jokes, mocking the conventions of love letters, but also hints that she knows something of Mirabell’s plan. Alone with Mirabell, she accuses him of being tiresome, yet her words reveal her mixed feelings. Their love is passionate but clouded by wit, pride, and uncertainty.

The act ends with Waitwell and Foible, newly married and in high spirits, preparing for the deception. Waitwell jokes that he has been “married and knighted in one day” and now must pretend to be another man entirely.

Act 3

At Lady Wishfort’s house, she fusses over her appearance while waiting for “Sir Rowland.” Mrs. Marwood warns her against Mirabell, but Foible cleverly convinces her mistress that Mirabell is cruel and insulting. Lady Wishfort, desperate to marry, is quickly won over to the idea of Sir Rowland.

Meanwhile, Foible tells Mrs. Fainall more of the plan, unaware that Mrs. Marwood is hiding and overhearing everything. Enraged, Marwood vows to destroy Mirabell’s scheme. She suggests instead that Lady Wishfort marry Millamant to Sir Wilfull, Witwoud’s country-bred half-brother.

Millamant then arrives and exchanges sharp words with Mrs. Marwood, showing her wit and independence. Soon, Sir Wilfull himself enters. Though rough and rustic, he proves more honest than the affected Witwoud and Petulant.

At the end of the act, Mrs. Marwood reveals Mirabell’s plan to Fainall. The two decide to ruin him by exposing Mrs. Fainall’s past love for Mirabell and demanding Lady Wishfort’s fortune. 

Act 4

Back at Lady Wishfort’s house, preparations are made for Sir Rowland’s visit. Meanwhile, Millamant and Mirabell finally have a private moment. In one of the play’s most famous scenes, they negotiate their “marriage contract.” Millamant insists on her independence—freedom to write letters, visit friends, and avoid being forced into dull domesticity. Mirabell agrees but sets his own conditions, asking her not to be scandalous or fashion-obsessed. Their witty bargaining reveals deep love and respect beneath the comedy.

Afterward, Sir Wilfull, very drunk, makes a clumsy attempt to court Millamant, but she easily dismisses him. Petulant also drunkenly declares his love, in his usual absurd manner.

Finally, Lady Wishfort meets “Sir Rowland” (really Waitwell in disguise). He showers her with flattery and insults Mirabell, which pleases her greatly. But just as things progress, a letter from Mrs. Marwood arrives exposing the trick. Lady Wishfort nearly faints, but Waitwell quickly pretends the letter is a forgery by Mirabell and promises to prove his sincerity with legal documents. 

Act 5 

The act opens with Lady Wishfort in a state of agitation. She has discovered the supposed betrayal involving “Sir Rowland” (Foible’s plot with Mirabell). She is furious at the trick played upon her vanity.

She declares she will never forgive Mirabell and even threatens to ruin Millamant’s chances of marrying him. This heightens the conflict, since the lovers’ happiness seems endangered.

Lady Wishfort embodies the restoration comedy’s ridicule of the older generation’s vanity and obsession with control in marriage arrangements.

Sir Wilfull Witwoud, who was earlier proposed as Millamant’s husband, now generously withdraws from the marriage contract.

He says he does not want to stand in the way of Millamant’s love for Mirabell, showing a rare moment of honesty and goodness amid general deceit.

 Sir Wilfull, despite being a country bumpkin, appears more honorable than the fashionable wits. His role underscores the contrast between rustic honesty and urban artificiality.

The central tension of this act revolves around Mrs. Marwood’s and Fainall’s scheme. Fainall tries to manipulate Lady Wishfort into giving him control over her fortune.

He claims that unless she surrenders power, he will expose Mrs. Fainall’s past love affair with Mirabell, thus destroying her reputation.

This moment threatens total scandal and disgrace for Lady Wishfort’s family.

At the height of tension, Mirabell reveals that he had earlier secured a legal deed from Mrs. Fainall, assigning all her fortune to him before her marriage to Fainall.

This deed prevents Fainall from taking control of his wife’s wealth and destroys his entire plan.

By producing this legal safeguard, Mirabell not only rescues Lady Wishfort but also secures her gratitude.

Grateful to Mirabell for saving her from Fainall’s blackmail, Lady Wishfort relents. She agrees to Millamant’s marriage with Mirabell, giving her blessing at last.Her vanity and earlier opposition dissolve when she realizes Mirabell is her only protector against ruin.

Lady Wishfort’s change of heart finalizes the main romantic plot. She remains comically vain, but her role shifts from antagonist to reconciled elder.

Fainall and Mrs. Marwood’s schemes collapse. They are exposed and disgraced, losing both social standing and financial gain.

The play closes with the union of Millamant and Mirabell, symbolizing the triumph of wit, love, and mutual understanding over greed, hypocrisy, and vanity.

The last act demonstrates Congreve’s genius: he transforms a comedy of manners into a sharp commentary on money, power, and gender dynamics in marriage. Order is restored, but not without exposing the corruption and self-interest beneath polite society.