Chapter - 16

"The Way of The World"

- William Congreve

Question- Consider William Congreve as a dramatist.

Answer -

William Congreve is regarded by most critics as the greatest comedy writer in prose during the latter past of the Restoration period. He has depicted in his plays mostly the dandies and the fops, the conquettes and the gallants without any malice or touch of cynicism. His themes of the plays are mostly love and intrigue in the treatment of which he is far more human and passionate and far less bitter and cynical than any other Restoration dramatist. He presents also a far more serious outlook on life. He attaches an equal importance to sentiment and emotion which used to be ridiculed by most of the Restoration dramatists. He extends his full-hearted sympathy to the victims of social satire or of natural human follies. That is why, he is regarded as a human and generous play wright who is always sympathetic to the characters whom he comically presents in his plays. The tone of sympathy and pity is rather a striking feature of his comedies. There is no sting in his laughter, no tone of bitterness or cynicism or malice behind any of his caricatures. He does not ridicule love or marriage in the manner as his contemporaries do, which means that he regards love as a sacred sentiment and also marriage as a sacred institution and not as a mere commercial or biological adventure.

Congreve humanises love and marriage and raises them above scorn and ridicule. Congreve's characters in his plays are not frivolous or licentious characters like those in the plays of other Restoration dramatists such as of Etherege, Wycherlly and Vanburgh. His Heart well Mirabell, Millamant and Lady Wishfort are really masterpieces of dramatic creation. Dobree has rightly said that Congreve's intellectual fastidiousness made him hate any portraiture of gross fools who merely disturb and degrade the moral taste of their audience. Congreve's dramatic excellence lies in his wit and dialogue. As he was himself a highly intellectual person and also a literary artist, he used to take particular care in making his dialogues in the plays sparkling with wit and humour of a much higher order than in which his contemporaries used to delight. His style of prose is really admirable.

A. H. Thompson says about Congreve's style, "Congreve's scenes are one incessant flash and sparkle of the finest repartee; one dazzling rapier thrust of wit and satiric pleasantry succeeds another without interruption. And the wit, which is always the case in the highest examples, is allied to shrewd sense and acute observation of mankind."

Congreve was an original writer in the sense that he borrowed neither the models of his plots nor the style of his dialogues. He had his own sense of the comic by which he could make remarks or use words that made the audience or the reader laugh whole-heartedly but not at anybody's expense, which means, Congreve's comedies like Shakespeare's comedies give rise to good-humoured laughter. In Congreve's hand, the comedy of manners attained its perfection. His plays reflect the upper class society but they do not expose the immorality of that society with any banter or ridicule, malice or cynicism. It is his brilliant wit that saves the exposure. There is no moral judgment behind his plays. E. Albert says, "In the artificial society which Congreve depicts, moral judgments would be out of place. The tone is one of cynical vivacity, the characters all well-drawn, and his prose is lucid, concise and pointed and shows an excellent ear for rhythm and cadence. In all things he is the polished artist, whose destructive quality is brilliance.

Congreve was undoubtedly more refined and intellectual in his wit and humour. There is no sting of bitterness or cynicism about Congreve's humour, no irony or bitterness about his laughter or rather the laughter which his characters provoke in the audience. In the old Bachelor, we find all the elements of dramatic excellence or strength, namely, wit, humour, polished expression and witty remarks in the dialogues, and on top of all, humanity, which is the hallmark of everyone of Congreve's comic plays. Congreve could very easily and marvellously play with words.

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