The Way of the World: Character sketch of 'Fainall'

The Way of the World

William Congreve

Q. Give a sketch of Fainall in The Way of the World.

Answer: Fainal is a cynic. Like Mirabell, he is a man-about-town, but as the drama progresses we observed that he seems to have developed less of a sense of good and evil than Mirabell.

In Fainall's mind falsehood is to be expected; since deceit constitutes ‘the way of the world’, it is simply a question of who fools whom first. Fainall despises marriage: to him, it is a farce, an empty form of legal imprisonment. This negative view of life- Fainall’s own lack of kindness and responsibility- is reflected in the other characters’ negative reactions to him. It is significant that he and his partner, Mrs Marwood leave the stage in ill intent before the play’s conclusion, neither expressing guilt nor seeking forgiveness.

Fainall is a gambler. When the play opens Mirabell congratulates him on his success, but as the plot unfolds we see that Fainall, although sharper and more literate than Witwoud, Petulant or Sir Willful is not true match for Mirabell.

Mirabell outwits him in the matter of the control of Mrs Fainall's, fortune and also in his attempt to fleece Lady Wishfort and her family. In addition - though it is Mrs Marwood who first encourages him to blackmail Lady Wishfort. Mrs Marwood also suggests a plan to him when he does not act on his own initiative- in dictating terms to his mother-in-law, he acts the bullying, like all bullies, he panics when he is himself confronted an attacked.

It is ironic that after sneering at Sir Willful for making an unsophisticated attempt to preserve Lady Wishfort's honour, he then attacks his own wife, trying to kill her. For all his pretence of cynical indifference he is ultimately very much at the mercy of his own uncontrolled emotions.

Fainall’s relationships with women are more callous, more self-seeking than those of Mirabell. Fainall's relationship, for instance, with Mrs Marwood is dissimilar such that exists between Mirabell and Millamant. Jealousy, mistrust and mutual criticism make the former an uneasy pair.

Fainall certainly says he loves his mistress and fights the idea of losing her and yet her acid comments create in negative impression. Fainall, trying to justify himself to Mrs Marwood, says that he only married an heiress so that he should have money to squander on her. But Mrs Marwood accuses him of squandering her own money. Crude disagreements of this kind with each suspecting the other capable of lying are a very long way from the happier exchanges of Mirabell and Millamant which lead to increasing frankness. Whereas the conversational intimacy of the hero and heroine is leading to a permanent union, it is almost impossible to imagine that Fainall’s, deliberately secretive obsession with Mrs. Marwood will develop in any positive way. He is frightened by her threat to disclose their affair.

Finally, Fainall's fear that he will lose his mistress prompts him to declare that he will divorce his wife and marry Mrs Marwood. Mirabell, however, indicates that Mrs Fainall will, in fact, be able to retain and control her husband when he finds that she is in charge of her fortune. Fainall will be too greedy, too materialistic to resist accepting her money on her terms.

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