April 23, 2014.
MIRABELL. Your bill of fare is something advanced in this latter account. Well, have I liberty to offer conditions---that when you are dwindled into a wife, I may not be beyond enlarged into a husband?
In the Proviso scene from William
Congreve’s play “The Way of the World,” Mirabell and Millamant barter conditions
and arrange an agreement for their marriage as if it were a bill of fare. They
negotiate in a humorous way their life together free from the cant and the
hypocrisy that surrounds them. Millamant may “dwindle” while Mirabell might
find cause to “enlarge into a husband.” Hence, their willingness to compromise
in order to gain some sort of equilibrium in their relationship is a refreshing
change from the socially obsessed artificiality of Congreve’s 17th century
England. Confronted with a tangle of intrigue it is the socially agile couple’s
skill in extricating themselves from it that must be admired. Their union is in
stark contrast to the other dysfunctional relationships in this comedy of
manners. The scene appears very funny but it is a serious comment on the
degradation of conjugal relations during the Restoration period. It serves as
an excellent medium through which Congreve conveys his satirical message to the
audience. The lovers discuss terms for a mutual happiness within the confines
of a world full of pretense. At this crucial point in the play, the author
invites the reader to realize the importance of an ideal coupling in a not so
idyllic society.
When Mirabell asks the question, “Well,
have I liberty to offer conditions…” one gets the impression that our hero is
well rehearsed in the courtship ritual. Congreve’s audience is aware of Mirabell’s
over scrupulous scheming throughout the play. His elaborate con is designed to
procure Millamant’s hand in marriage as well as lay claim to her purse strings;
and the audience must surely applaud him for his cunning. So conscious of his
surroundings, Mirabell is the consummate Machiavellian. Consistent with the
irresistible charm of Mirabell, Congreve builds the coy, flippant and spirited
character of Millamant. Together, they are a match made in Restoration heaven
for they love each other, they respect each other and they treat each other as
equals, while maintaining a somewhat stoic posture towards each other. Still,
Millamant “Upon the very verge of matrimony” values her freedom. She displays
her dislike for superficiality and through her skillful negotiations with
Mirabell; she expresses her need for both emotional and physical companionship
in marriage. “I’ll be solicited to the very last, nay and after.”(2399) In essence, the author is defining a more
progressive view of marriage. A union that is not merely a method of gaining
financial wealth or saving one’s honor. Instead, Congreve suggests a more
modern concept of companionship. By the end of the play, the happy couple
emerge as the triumphant culmination of qualities inherent to their period.
They are real enough to be human, and are endowed with enough strength of
character to have made a victory of their mutual surrender. As the title of the
play suggests, “The Way of the World” is a comical reminder to those that marry
for all the wrong reasons, and pay a price for their ill-fated indulgence.
From hence let those be warned, who mean to wed;
Lest
mutual falsehood stain the bed:
For
each deceiver to his cost may find,
That
marriage frauds too oft are paid in kind. (2419)
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