The Way of the World as a Typical Comedy of Manners

Abstract

The Way of thee World is an excellent example of Restoration comedy of manners in which Congreve shows himself to be at his best as far as wit and humour in the play is concerned.  In The Way of the World Congreve attempts to create true wit in contrast to the attempted wit in such a manner that the audience may see the difference, Oscar Wilde created a world in which wit may never be truly false, as it will never be recognized as such. He stripped his characters of a true sense of personality and created them in a way they are more of his own echo rather than posing as individuals with their own voice. Consequently, they do not differ as much from each other as the characters in The Way of the World do and as a result the same distinction between false and true wit cannot be applied.