Thursday, November 10, 2011
Question for November 11: The Way of the World, Acts 1 and 2
The hero of "The Way of the World" is Mirabell. He is a character whose "heroism" made perfect sense to 18th century audiences, but modern audiences tend to have trouble, at first, viewing him as the hero of the story. Examine the character of Mirabell as he is presented in Acts 1 and 2 (pp. 2228-48). The last three paragraphs of the introduction, pages 2227-28, will be helpful in explaining the characters and their relationships. What relationships with women has Mirabell had in the past? Whom does he want to marry? What admirable (or disturbing) actions has he done in the past? Discuss Mirabell actions and passions and decide whether or not you find him heroic thus far.
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I don’t really see Mirabell as a hero character in this play. All of his actions seem to serve his own interests and the only admirable thing about him in the first two acts of the play is that he seems to be sincerely love with Millamant, though this far from makes him a good person much less a hero. He pretended to love Lady Wishfort to get closer to Millamant even though it backfired on him since he can’t marry her without her losing half of her money because Lady Wishfort, Millamant’s aunt, despises him now and would never give Millamant consent to marry him. Now Mirabell must contrive a plot to squeeze the money out of her and get the girl at the same time. To do this he sends his servant Waitwell off to be married to one of Lady Wishfort’s women, Foible, to assure that his plan would work. He doesn’t care whether they want to be married or not, even saying right to his face, “Sirrah, Waitwell, why sure you think you were married for your own recreation and not for my conveniency.” After Mirabell does this he makes Waitwell pretend to be his uncle and get Lady Wishfort to attempt to marry Millamant and the fake uncle so that Mirabell could spring some kind of contract trap and force Lady Wishfort to give him consent to marry Millamant. The marriage of Waitwell and Foible was conducted so that Waitwell couldn’t betray Mirabell and actually marry Millamant getting all of her fortune. In modern literature such actions are synonymous with those of a crazy, conniving villain; not the hero.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dandelion. Based on what I gather about Mirabell from the first 2 acts, he is not a hero or a good person. He is constantly scheming and manipulating people to get his way. It seems as if almost every character (with the exception of Millamant) dislikes him... I cannot imagine a "good" person would have so many enemies. In Act 2, we learn that Mirabell has had an affair with Mrs. Fainall and then orchestrated her marriage with Fainall in an effort to cover it up. We also learn that Mirabell is about to start manipulating Lady Wishfort so that he can marry Millamant. He comes up with a fake uncle who is going to somehow woo Lady Wishfort and convince her to allow Millamant to marry Mirabell. The fact that he is willing to go to such great lengths for his love MIGHT count as an argument towards Miraell's heroism, but I think that's a stretch, especially considering all the negative things we know of Mirabell so far.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dandelion when she says that she believes that Mirabell is not a hero. Although Mirabell seems to be in love with Millament, I do not believe it is very genuine. He does not speak of his love for Millament, in fact, whenever he talks about her it is almost always in association with her inheritance. He is worried because if he marries Millament without the consent of Lady Wishfort. His concern for collecting all of his lover’s fortune turns into an intricate plan. Mirabell obviously has no respect for love since previously to the beginning to the plot he dumps his original mistress onto a man she does not love. Heroes do not have to be completely moral beings, but Mirabell seems to be only driven by greed. He uses other people’s emotions as play things in his plot. For example, he forces his servant, Foible, to marry so that he would not fall in love with Millament and steal her fortune away from him. This trait makes the main character seem too sly and conniving to be considered a hero. He has had affairs with Lady Wishfort, her daughter, her niece, and treated them badly. Lady Wishfort withholds the fortune from Mirabell for good reasons. He does not deserve a dime of it, but still pursues the money like a madman. His greed is the main downfall of his “heroic” status.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Khalost when they mention that they believe that Mirabell is not a hero as he centers around his own interests. Any love that Mirabell seems to have towars Millament is shadowed by his desire for his own improvement. The love that he truly shows is his desire to please all of his lovers in some way. Yet he dumps them upon men they do not love, nor want. Moreover, Fainall seems to put him in his place. Giving him questions that shows his true side of his emotions. Speaking of how Fainall asks him if he is such a compassionate lover, Mirabell seems to enthralled with her misfortunes that her forturnes. Yet, Mirabell comes back with saying that he loves her for her faults. Which to me seems pretty strange in his actions as im sure it does to all. At the same time, he said he tears her faults apart and takes them by the root. Showing how he has the ability to use them towards his advantage in ways of the heart. Millamant shows a lot of contempment towards Mr. Witwoud shown when he says, "Dear Mr. Witwoud, truce with your similitudes: For I am as sick of "em- (2244). He seems to always have something witty to say. He is very blunt and seems to feel compelled to speak at every turn. Telling her that the ways she goes about things, for instance how to ask for a woman. Even if she must ask her husband for her, even though it is not the usual fashion of the time. Millamant is inflamed with agitation over this and seems to be stressed out of her mind.It seems to me that this piece is a giant mess of emotions, with diseases of the heart.-queso
ReplyDeleteI agree with inisfree mirabell is not liked by anyone but millamont. Everything he does is for his own personal gain therefor i do not think mirabell is a hero at all. I think it just makes him a ambitious person. In act 2 Mirabell persuades lady wishfort so he can marry willamont. He does go above and beyond for this girl which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depends on who your asking. I personally think its good. I know mirabell did things in the past that were shady and selfish but maybe marrying willamont is a sign that he might just be heroic and respectable but again depends on who you ask. We all do things for our personal gain, so just because mirabell does that and hurts others in the process is that to say he is not heroic? Are we so much better? I think not. Mirabell says "so one will be rotten before he be ripe, and the other will be rotten without ever being ripe at all." I think he is saying what i said above, in order to get what he wants he will have to do things that are not that heroic but in the long run he will be "ripe" or i think he means heroic. Basically you can either not try and always be "rotten" (non heroic), or whatever it takes to be heroic even if it means hurting others in the process.
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