The way of the world is a story written by William Congreve in which a young man named Mirabell loves Millamant who is the niece of Lady Wishfort. Lady Wishfort holds the control over Millamant’s jewels and fortune and will hand it over to her only if she marries a man of her choice. So, Mirabell plans of impressing Lady Wishfort. But he becomes over flirtatious with her which makes her think and feel that Mirabell is interested in her despite of her age. But when she gets to know that he loves Millamant she gets embarrassed and angry and refuses for both of them getting married.
After this Mirabell plans to put Waitwell (his valet) in the costume of MR. Rowland, a wealthy uncle of his. As Sir Rowland, Waitwell will impress Lady Wishfort and propose to marry her. But just before the marriage, Mirabell will come and reveal the truth to Lady Wishfort and promise her of not revealing the truth to anyone only if she agrees to his and Millamant’s wedding. But before this plot is executed, he arranges a wedding between Waitwell and Foible who is Lady Wishfort’s maid so that Waitwell cannot even think of double crossing him and actually going through with the marriage.
Lady Wishfort has a daughter who was a widow and then got married to Mr. Fainall and her had an affair with Mrs. Marwood who was Lady Wishfort’s friend. Both of them plan to reveal Mirabell’s plan and then inheritance all the money of Lady Wishfort. Their major plan was to blackmail Lady Wishfort as they knew that when Mrs. Fainall was a widow, she had a romantic affair with Mirabell and she was even pregnant with his child. To hide this truth, Mirabell chose Fainall for Lady Wishfort’s daughter and arranged their wedding. Fainall thought that this would ruin Lady Wishfort’s image. Even after her marriage, Mrs. Fainall and Mirabell remained very good friends which was very odd.
Mirabell visits Millamant in the same afternoon and proposes her to marry him. She accepts the proposal knowing that Lady Wishfort has arranged her wedding to her cousin Mr. Wilfull. Sir Rowland arrives, Lady Wishfort welcomes her as a suitor for her niece, but eventually throws herself on him as her shows some interest in her. After overhearing the truth and plot of Mirabell and Mrs. Fainall, both Mrs. Marwood and Fainall set off to reveal the truth. Fainsll goes and reveals the truth about Sir Rowland and at the same time he even reveals the previous affair of Mrs. Fainall and Mirabell and blackmails Lady Wishfort that if she doesn’t transfer all her money, her daughter’s money and Millamant’s inheritance to him, he will reveal all the truth publicly and divorce her daughter and spoil their reputation and image.
While all this Chaos was going on, Millamant agrees to marry Mr. Wilfull so that her inheritance could be saved. Mirabell plans again to win Millamant by revealing the truth about Failnall and Mrs. Marwood’s affair with the help of the two maids Foible and Mincing the two maids of Lady Wishfort who have witnessed it. When Fainall returns and demands Lady Wishfort’s agreement on his terms, the two maids reveal the truth about Mrs. Marwood and Fainall’s love affair. At the end of the story Laday Wishfort and Mrs. Fainall kick all the bad people out of their house and Lady Wishfort breaks Millamant’s and Sir Wilfull’s engagement so that Mirabell and Millamant can get married.