Question for November 16: The Way of the World, Act 5
As we finish the play tomorrow, let's think about and comment upon the following: Is anyone hurt by the plots of the various characters, and if so, do they deserve to be?
Throughout this confusing cluster of a play, several women are "hurt" by Mirabell's scheme. Lady Wishfort, Foible, Mrs. Fainall, and Millamont are all portrayed as vulnerable women who fall for a man. They are all fooled by his so-called charm. While reading this play, it is very apparent that this play was written by a man. It's almost sexist. It's obvious that he views women in society as vulnerable, yet sneaky. The play could easily fit in with modern plays now about love affairs and secrets. The Way of the World is humorous in some aspects in how ironic parts of the play is. The women in the play who get "hurt" are for the most part the most deserving. Lady Wishfort is just old and bitter and not nice to hardly anyone especially Mirabell. Her hostility does come from their former love. Millamant is kin to Lady W. and also is fooled and sucked into Mirabell's evil doing. She is portrayed as having no backbone when she states, "am content to be a sacrifice to your repose, madam, and to convince you that I had no hand in the plot, as you were misinformed. I have laid my commands on Mirabell to come in person, and be a witness that I give my hand to this flower of knighthood." I do not think the women in this play were upmost deserving to be stuck in unfortunate situations as with Fainall and Millamant's trickery to be wed. That's just cruel to be tricked to be contracted with a man who "gets around!" :)
I do not agree with Modernmyth91 at all. I do not think that all of the women of The Way of the World were hurt during the play. I know that there were minor scandals through out the play but in the end everything worked itself out. The one who was most likely hurt the most was Lady Wishfort when Fainall was exploiting money out of her but Mirabell helped her. Mordernmyth91 portrays Mirabell to be this awful person who is only trying to take advantage of everyone but I don’t not think that this is the case.
I think that yes, Mirabell went to some extremes to be able to merry Millamant but it is because they are in love. Through out pretty much every love story there are young couples who go against their parents so they can be together. Millamant and Mirabell are no different. In Act 5 Mirabell says “At least think it is punishment enough I have lost what in my heart I hold most dear, that to your cruel indignation, I have offered up this beauty, and with her my peace and quiet; nay all my hopes of comfort.” Mirabell is not a bad person Mirabell is in love! Yes, Mirabell and Millamant probably should have gone about it in a different way but in the end Mirabell was able to correct his wrong doings towards Lady Wishfort and was able to merry Millamant. The story ends on a more or less good note. :)
I do agree with Modernmyth91 in that women in the play were hurt; however I do not believe any deserve to be hurt. I also agree with Nerilii in that Mirabell is not a bad person; he is just going to great depths in the name of love. All of the women in this play are casualties of love. Lady Wishfort wants nothing more than to have a man. Perhaps she has become jaded with her age, but she does not deserve to be hurt. All of the characters in this play act out of loyalty or love. Mirabell never forces any of the women in this play to love him. He does trick Lady Wishfort but that is only because he is so deeply in love with Millimant. In act IV he says to Millamant, “Or is this pretty artifice contrived to signify that here the chase must end, and my pursuit be crowned, for you can fly no further?” Mirabell wishes to marry Millamant and he even has the consent of his former lover Mrs. Fainall. It seems that every person in this play wants the same thing: money and love. Because it is impossible to please everyone, characters are hurt. Despite the fact that some characters, namely Fainall and Mrs. Marwood, have somewhat evil intentions they are themselves only seeking money to replace the void in their hearts. Considering any character to be deserving of hurt is wrong. These characters are only human and act as any emotional people would. Mirabell is most certainly an untraditional hero. He is a hero in love and over comes the adversity that he faces.
I agree with Nerilii, I do not think that Maribell is a bad person or that he was trying to hurt the women in the play. as Dr. Mantis Tabogan said Mirabell did not force any of the women to fall in love with him, he is just simply charming. Until he falls in love with Millamant and he stops playing his game. Yes, he hurt Lady Wishfort but only out of love for Millamant and his dyer need to marry her. In the end Miribell apologized to Lady Wishfort when he says "my reward is intercepted. You have disposed of her who only could have made me a compensation for all my services; but be it as it may, I am resolved I'll serve you." (2280) and she excepts it. Everything turns around once he is granted the permission to marry the love of his life. Though he and Millamant could have gone about it a different way without hurting people, they apologized for it in the end and it all turned out okay. Mirabell got the love of his life, and forgiveness from the people. Nobody deserves to be hurt, everything is always fixable if you just talk it out.
No one in this play genuinely “deserves” to be hurt, as Dr. Mantis Tabogan said; although I do believe that Lady Wishfort was unnecessarily hurt by Mirabell. Even though it is for love, Mirabell should not have used other people to achieve a hand in marriage. Throughout the entire play, Lady Wishfort is constantly made a fool of. Before the play begins, for example, Mirabell tried to woo Lady Wishfort in order to gain her approval for his marriage to Millament. Why does Mirabell have to trick her into her consent for Millament? Lady Wishfort may have even approved of Mirabell if he had not been trying to trick her from the very beginning, causing no conflict and resulting in a normal marriage without scheming. He continues to trick her, yet again without success, with the Sir Rowland faux-marriage ploy. By doing this, he is playing on Lady Wishfort’s flaws. She is simply an older woman who has wanted a man, as most older maids do. He aims to make her feel love, what he knows she most desires, but then take it away. I believe that this is just a cruel exploitation in order to achieve his goal. Although the plan falls through, she is still hurt by the scheme. This is shown in her outrage to Foible in Act 5: “No damage? What, to betray me, to marry me to a cast servingman; to make me a receptacle, an hospital for a decayed pimp?” It is unessecary, and does not show good morals on Mirabell’s behalf.
I agree with modernmyth91, the play does portray the women as vulnerable and almost stupid. "Professed a friendship! Oh, the pious friendships of the female sex!" The ploy that Mirabell tries to direct ends up hurting almost everyone in the play in one way or another. Painall seems to be the man in charge throughout the majority of the complicated play, and especially at the end. His greed and need for power hurt him the most. In Act V, everything buckles on him. He thinks he will get Mrs. Fainall's fortune but he is mistaken. His behavior caused her to not trust him and made Mirabell control her fortune. This play is full of dramatic affairs, greed, and deceit. So, Fainall, deservingly, gets hurt by himself because of his greed. Mrs. Fainall gets hurt by Fainall and his trickery, plus she found out that Fainall was unfaithful. I do not think that she deserved to get hurt. I do not agree with modernmyth91 in that I do not believe that everyone in the play deserved to be hurt. Like modernmyth91 said before, the women are vulnerable and dependent on the men who are full of tricks and lies. The women of the play are all almost competing for Milamant's attention. Then men of the play are competing for the sole reason that they have testosterone it seems. They want the women, they want money, and more importantly they want to "win."
I believe the only person in this play that is hurt and does not deserve it is Lady Wishfort. I also agree with the statement made by Dr. Mantis, that all that Lady Wishfort wants was the love of a man. This desire makes her vulnerable to getting hurt easily, especially since everyone is after her fortune. I feel the rest of the characters that are hurt due to the outcome of the plot deserve it. Two of the most deserving was the villainous Fainall and Mrs. Marwood, who ends up with nothing at the end of the play. I also strongly disagree with some of the previous bloggers’ beliefs about Mirabell being a bad person. He is definitely able to woo and manipulate people, especially women, but I don’t think that this characteristic makes him a bad guy. This can be proven by how he uses his natural charisma to manipulate circumstances so he and Millament can have the best life possible together. One example that proves this love is true is when Mirabell states, “I like her with all her faults: nay, like her for her faults…They now to grown as familiar to me as my own frailties.” I also strongly agree with Dr. Mantis in that everyone in this play is after love and money, and when people go after the same love and money someone has to get hurt, because someone has to lose. I am just glad that in this story the love and money seemed to fall into the right hands. -Hawk
Throughout this confusing cluster of a play, several women are "hurt" by Mirabell's scheme. Lady Wishfort, Foible, Mrs. Fainall, and Millamont are all portrayed as vulnerable women who fall for a man. They are all fooled by his so-called charm. While reading this play, it is very apparent that this play was written by a man. It's almost sexist. It's obvious that he views women in society as vulnerable, yet sneaky. The play could easily fit in with modern plays now about love affairs and secrets. The Way of the World is humorous in some aspects in how ironic parts of the play is. The women in the play who get "hurt" are for the most part the most deserving. Lady Wishfort is just old and bitter and not nice to hardly anyone especially Mirabell. Her hostility does come from their former love. Millamant is kin to Lady W. and also is fooled and sucked into Mirabell's evil doing. She is portrayed as having no backbone when she states, "am content to be a sacrifice to your repose, madam, and to convince you that I had no hand in the plot, as you were misinformed. I have laid my commands on Mirabell to come in person, and be a witness that I give my hand to this flower of knighthood." I do not think the women in this play were upmost deserving to be stuck in unfortunate situations as with Fainall and Millamant's trickery to be wed. That's just cruel to be tricked to be contracted with a man who "gets around!" :)
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with Modernmyth91 at all. I do not think that all of the women of The Way of the World were hurt during the play. I know that there were minor scandals through out the play but in the end everything worked itself out. The one who was most likely hurt the most was Lady Wishfort when Fainall was exploiting money out of her but Mirabell helped her. Mordernmyth91 portrays Mirabell to be this awful person who is only trying to take advantage of everyone but I don’t not think that this is the case.
ReplyDeleteI think that yes, Mirabell went to some extremes to be able to merry Millamant but it is because they are in love. Through out pretty much every love story there are young couples who go against their parents so they can be together. Millamant and Mirabell are no different. In Act 5 Mirabell says “At least think it is punishment enough I have lost what in my heart I hold most dear, that to your cruel indignation, I have offered up this beauty, and with her my peace and quiet; nay all my hopes of comfort.” Mirabell is not a bad person Mirabell is in love! Yes, Mirabell and Millamant probably should have gone about it in a different way but in the end Mirabell was able to correct his wrong doings towards Lady Wishfort and was able to merry Millamant. The story ends on a more or less good note. :)
I do agree with Modernmyth91 in that women in the play were hurt; however I do not believe any deserve to be hurt. I also agree with Nerilii in that Mirabell is not a bad person; he is just going to great depths in the name of love. All of the women in this play are casualties of love. Lady Wishfort wants nothing more than to have a man. Perhaps she has become jaded with her age, but she does not deserve to be hurt. All of the characters in this play act out of loyalty or love. Mirabell never forces any of the women in this play to love him. He does trick Lady Wishfort but that is only because he is so deeply in love with Millimant. In act IV he says to Millamant, “Or is this pretty artifice contrived to signify that here the chase must end, and my pursuit be crowned, for you can fly no further?” Mirabell wishes to marry Millamant and he even has the consent of his former lover Mrs. Fainall. It seems that every person in this play wants the same thing: money and love. Because it is impossible to please everyone, characters are hurt. Despite the fact that some characters, namely Fainall and Mrs. Marwood, have somewhat evil intentions they are themselves only seeking money to replace the void in their hearts. Considering any character to be deserving of hurt is wrong. These characters are only human and act as any emotional people would. Mirabell is most certainly an untraditional hero. He is a hero in love and over comes the adversity that he faces.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nerilii, I do not think that Maribell is a bad person or that he was trying to hurt the women in the play. as Dr. Mantis Tabogan said Mirabell did not force any of the women to fall in love with him, he is just simply charming. Until he falls in love with Millamant and he stops playing his game. Yes, he hurt Lady Wishfort but only out of love for Millamant and his dyer need to marry her. In the end Miribell apologized to Lady Wishfort when he says "my reward is intercepted. You have disposed of her who only could have made me a compensation for all my services; but be it as it may, I am resolved I'll serve you." (2280) and she excepts it. Everything turns around once he is granted the permission to marry the love of his life. Though he and Millamant could have gone about it a different way without hurting people, they apologized for it in the end and it all turned out okay. Mirabell got the love of his life, and forgiveness from the people. Nobody deserves to be hurt, everything is always fixable if you just talk it out.
ReplyDeleteNo one in this play genuinely “deserves” to be hurt, as Dr. Mantis Tabogan said; although I do believe that Lady Wishfort was unnecessarily hurt by Mirabell. Even though it is for love, Mirabell should not have used other people to achieve a hand in marriage. Throughout the entire play, Lady Wishfort is constantly made a fool of. Before the play begins, for example, Mirabell tried to woo Lady Wishfort in order to gain her approval for his marriage to Millament. Why does Mirabell have to trick her into her consent for Millament? Lady Wishfort may have even approved of Mirabell if he had not been trying to trick her from the very beginning, causing no conflict and resulting in a normal marriage without scheming. He continues to trick her, yet again without success, with the Sir Rowland faux-marriage ploy. By doing this, he is playing on Lady Wishfort’s flaws. She is simply an older woman who has wanted a man, as most older maids do. He aims to make her feel love, what he knows she most desires, but then take it away. I believe that this is just a cruel exploitation in order to achieve his goal. Although the plan falls through, she is still hurt by the scheme. This is shown in her outrage to Foible in Act 5: “No damage? What, to betray me, to marry me to a cast servingman; to make me a receptacle, an hospital for a decayed pimp?” It is unessecary, and does not show good morals on Mirabell’s behalf.
ReplyDeleteI agree with modernmyth91, the play does portray the women as vulnerable and almost stupid. "Professed a friendship! Oh, the pious friendships of the female sex!" The ploy that Mirabell tries to direct ends up hurting almost everyone in the play in one way or another. Painall seems to be the man in charge throughout the majority of the complicated play, and especially at the end. His greed and need for power hurt him the most. In Act V, everything buckles on him. He thinks he will get Mrs. Fainall's fortune but he is mistaken. His behavior caused her to not trust him and made Mirabell control her fortune. This play is full of dramatic affairs, greed, and deceit. So, Fainall, deservingly, gets hurt by himself because of his greed. Mrs. Fainall gets hurt by Fainall and his trickery, plus she found out that Fainall was unfaithful. I do not think that she deserved to get hurt. I do not agree with modernmyth91 in that I do not believe that everyone in the play deserved to be hurt. Like modernmyth91 said before, the women are vulnerable and dependent on the men who are full of tricks and lies. The women of the play are all almost competing for Milamant's attention. Then men of the play are competing for the sole reason that they have testosterone it seems. They want the women, they want money, and more importantly they want to "win."
ReplyDeletePeacock1
I believe the only person in this play that is hurt and does not deserve it is Lady Wishfort. I also agree with the statement made by Dr. Mantis, that all that Lady Wishfort wants was the love of a man. This desire makes her vulnerable to getting hurt easily, especially since everyone is after her fortune. I feel the rest of the characters that are hurt due to the outcome of the plot deserve it. Two of the most deserving was the villainous Fainall and Mrs. Marwood, who ends up with nothing at the end of the play. I also strongly disagree with some of the previous bloggers’ beliefs about Mirabell being a bad person. He is definitely able to woo and manipulate people, especially women, but I don’t think that this characteristic makes him a bad guy. This can be proven by how he uses his natural charisma to manipulate circumstances so he and Millament can have the best life possible together. One example that proves this love is true is when Mirabell states, “I like her with all her faults: nay, like her for her faults…They now to grown as familiar to me as my own frailties.” I also strongly agree with Dr. Mantis in that everyone in this play is after love and money, and when people go after the same love and money someone has to get hurt, because someone has to lose. I am just glad that in this story the love and money seemed to fall into the right hands.
ReplyDelete-Hawk