During the seventeenth to eighteenth-century, many playwrights were experimenting with different ways to display characters within their works. Two plays that became popular during this time were The Duchess of Malfi, written by John Webster in 1614, and The Way of the World, written by William Congreve in 1700. These works, although having many years between them, have so much in common, such as their characters and themes. I will discuss throughout this paper that The Duchess of Malfi and The Way of the World both display themes such as reputation, corruption, and powerful women throughout their similar characters.
The Way of the World is a five-act play that follows Mirabell and Fainall as they are trying to marry rich women. One of the most important ongoing conflicts in The Way of the World is Mirabell as he tries to marry Ms. Millamont. As he is attempting to woo Ms. Millamont, he realizes that he must also impress Lady Wishfort, Ms. Millamont’s aunt who is holding on to her inheritance. Contrary to Mirabell’s desires, Lady Wishfort is not a fan of Mirabell since he was very flirty with her during a previous date. Mirabell then goes behind Lady Wishfort’s back and makes a plan to marry Ms. Millamont anyway. He plans to marry their servants and disguise himself as his uncle, Sir Rowland, to flirt with her, in hopes to approve a marriage between Mirabell and Millamont. Lady Wishfort’s daughter, Mrs. Fainall, and Ms. Marwood overhear this scheme and want to ruin his plans. The climax in this play is when Mirabell is disguised as Sir Rowland meeting with Lady Wishfort, as she receives a letter from Ms. Marwood reveling the scheme. At the end of this play everyone started to threaten to blackmail each other and in the and Mirabell is able to marry Ms. Millamant with her full inheritance.
The Duchess of Malfi tells the story of the Duchess and her two brothers, the Cardinal and Ferdinand. The Cardinal and Ferdinand hire Bosola, a manipulative character that needs a job, to spy on their sister to make sure she isn’t doing anything wrong. Even though Bosola is hired to keep track of the Duchess, she still manages to marry her steward, Antonio, and have two children with him without anyone knowing. The Cardinal and Ferdinand are both outraged by finding out what the Duchess has been up to and threaten her to tell them who the father of these children are. The brothers eventually figure out, through Bosola, that it is Antonio who the Duchess has been spending all her time with. She marries Antonio in direct conflict with the demands of her brothers that she shall not marry (Balizet 26). Once they figure this out, events start downward spiraling fast. The Duchess and two of her three children are imprisoned and strangled while Bosola accidentally kills Antonio. Bosola, feeling terrible about his actions, decides to have revenge on the brothers for making him do such terrible tasks. The play ended with everyone killed, while Delio, a staff member who was friends with Antonio, took the Duchess’s only living child into protection.
Both The Way of the World and The Duchess of Malfi relate to the theme of reputation and status within each play respectably. Balizet writes, “The family bloodline was a crucial metaphor within the dramatic literature of early modern England and Spain…depicted blood as the manifestation of competing discourses on race, class, sexuality, and gender” (Balizet 23). This explains how status was viewed in The Duchess of Malfi within the characters of the Duchess, and most importantly Ferdinand. Balizet further explains Ferdinand as, “repulsed by the interrogation of class that his sister’s family represents, as he refers to the couple’s legitimate children as ‘bastards’ and ‘taints’ to the family bloodline” (Balizet 41). Ferdinand was a hopelessly corrupt character that is prohibiting his sister, the Duchess, from marrying anyone below their social status. Ferdinand and the Cardinal tried to protect their family’s reputation by stating, “Ferdinand ‘You are a widow:/ You know already what man is; and therefore/ Let not youth, high promotion, eloquence –’/ Cardinal ‘No, nore any thing without the addition, honor,/ Sway your high blood’” (The Duchess of Malfi 1.3.1129). This scene is important within The Duchess of Malfi because it shows early on that both Ferdinand and the Cardinal were against the Duchess getting remarried to anyone, especially of a lower social class. Ferdinand further shows is power by foreshadowing the Duchess’s family in act 1. He states, “Such weddings may more properly be said/ To be executed than celebrated” (The Duchess of Malfi 1.3.1130). Ferdinand’s quote explains how he would be willing to do anything, even kill his sister, to protect his own reputation. The theme of reputation is viewed in The Way of the World when Mirabell states, “Why do we daily commit disagreeable and dangerous actions? To save that idol, reputation” (The Way of the World 2.204). This explains that Mirabell, along with the other characters, would so anything, no matter how dangerous or disagreeable, to save their reputation. Mirabell, along with other men such as Fainall, is looking to protect their reputation by marrying rich. These men were not born with a hefty inheritance so they must marry to survive within their society. This is explained as, “Congreve… reveals the weakness of those who treat love as a war or a game (The Way of the World 187) Congreve does so by writing:
“From hence let those be warned, who mean to wed;
Lest mutual falsehood stain the bridal bed:
For each deceiver to his cost may find,
That marriage frauds too oft are paid in kind.” (The Way of the World A Dance 247)
This quote shows that marrying for money was common during the 16-1700s. It explains that everyone during this time was marrying for self-interest and had little to no affection with their so-called true love (The Way of the World 187).
Another theme that is present in both The Duchess of Malfi and The Way of the World is the corruption of money and power. The Duchess of Malfi exemplified their corruption of money and power through the characters of Ferdinand and Cardinal. Both men make an effort to appear honorable and noble, while on the inside they are evil. Both of these men rely heavily on spies, such as Bosola when he found out about the Duchess’s marriage and children. Ferdinand shows his corruption when he suggests that Bosola should be hired within the court. He states, “To life i’ th’ court here, and observe the duchess;/ To note all the particulars of her ‘havior…” (The Duchess of Malfi 1.3.1128). Moody explains this as, “Ferdinand recommends that she choose Bosola as her purveyor (master of the horse). Our impressions are reinforced of the Cardinal and Ferdinand as depraved, Bosola as a well-paid spy who resents both Ferdinand’s corruption of him and his own moral surrender to his employer” (Moody 197). The death of the main characters, the Duchess and Antonio, is also a key example of the corruption shown by Ferdinand and the Cardinal. It further shows, one Ferdinand and the Cardinal are killed, that corruption is a negative aspect in society. In the end, Ferdinand and the Cardinal’s positions aren’t filled in society proving that corruption in government cannot last forever and will eventually end. With regards to The Way of the World, characters such as Fainall symbolize corruption. Fainall and Mirabell discuss early on within the play that they are running low on money and must find new women that will marry them, giving them all their money. Fainall is a clever and witty character that is involved with several women within The Way of the World such as Mrs. Fainall and Mrs. Marwood. Fainall shows his corruption by marrying only for money and looking at new women because he is realizing he used all of Mrs. Fainall’s money. Mrs. Marwood exposes their affair to the audience as she states to Fainall, “Disclose it to your wife; own what has passed between us” (The Way of the World 2.203). Sieber, in Character portrayal in Congreve’s Comedies The Old Bachelour, Love for Love, and The Way of The World, states that,
“Congreve draws a more important connection between familial and romantic love and the desire for money as a means of financial security. Money is actually an essential ingredient of love as money provides for a comfortable life, which then allows one to enjoy one’s love.” (Sieber 103).
Sieber’s quote further restates and assures that men, such as Fainall, were marrying to acquire money rather than a wife. These men were not born into an elite social class so they must go and find one.
The last theme that both The Duchess of Malfi and The Way of the World have in common is the portrayal of their female characters as being powerful. Although men in these plays are important, such as Ferdinand, the Cardinal, Mirabell, and, Fainall, the main focus is on women, such as the Duchess and Lady Wishfort having power. These plays are thought of as unusual because women the key central figures with power but are being portrayed as being adulterous. Moody describes The Duchess of Malfi as, “a fourth embodiment of the Renaissance Woman who balances constructive feminine characteristics with constructive masculine ones” (Moody 190). The Duchess depicts an independent sexual agency while she defied social conventions by remarking, which was not common by women during this time period. Webster represents the Duchess as both a virtuous and sensual person as she embodied the virtues of a sexually fulfilling married life in secret. He shows the contradiction of having powerful women when the Duchess states, “The misery of us that are born great!/ We are forced to woo, because none dare to woo us” (1.3.1133). This shows the Duchess’ mindset by knowing that she is in power and that no men are as high of a standard as she is, therefore she must approach who she wants to marry, instead of the other way around. Moody agrees by stating, “She, too, is the center of her play world” (Moody 190). By saying this, Moody states that everything in the play revolves around her and the decisions that she makes, making her a powerful female figure.
The main character that shows power in The Way of The World is Lady Wishfort. Lady Wishfort is described as the aunt of Millamant and the mother of Mrs. Fainall. She would be the antagonist as she is the main problem that is keeping Mirabell from marking Millamant. Lady Wishfort shows her power throughout this play by being the holder of Millamant’s £6,000 inheritance. Sieber agrees and writes that,
“In The Way of the World it is Lady Wishfort who stands in the way of the young lovers Mirabell and Millamant. On the one hand she is crossed because of Mirabell’s false advances to her and wants to revenge herself on him; on the other hand she is jealous of Millamant’s beauty and youthful charm and ‘does not want to see her married to a man to whom she herself is attracted.” (Sieber 75)
Seiber’s quote explains that although she does not want to admit that she has grown old, Lady Wishfort realized the power that she had was legal rather than natural. With knowing that most of the characters are financially dependent on her she uses her power by tyrannizing the young people, such as Mirabell, who think that they can be her superior (Sieber 75)
From the years of 1614 through 1700, playwriters such as Webster and Congreve were changing the way plays, and their characters were viewed within society. Both Webster and Congreve displayed themes such as the importance of reputation, corruption of money and power, and the importance of powerful women. Both Webster and Congreve both tackle themes that were not talked about during this time, therefore bringing important topics to the surface for discussion.