Previous
Act 3, Scene 7
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Way of the World, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Jealousy, Deceit, and Intrigue
Wits and Fools
Men vs. Women
Female (In)dependence
Love and Money
Summary
Analysis
Wishfort apologizes to Marwood for forgetting her in the closet. Marwood responds that she has been well entertained. Wishfort informs Marwood that her nephew, Sir Wilfull, is coming to visit before going to travel across Europe to improve his mind. Marwood responds that since Willful is forty, he should think about getting married instead and suggests that he and Millamant would make a good match. Wishfort promises to think about that idea more, especially because she values her judgment.
Marwood begins to act on the new information she has gained right away by once again, interfering with Millamant’s (and Mirabell’s) love life. Yet her action is one of short-sighted spite: she’s looking for the quickest way to frustrate Mirabell’s goals and has not yet concocted a master plan to steal Wishfort’s fortune. Her hastily made marriage suggestion will later actually turn out to be useful to Mirabell later. Note how she doesn’t actually tell Wishfort anything, though; she just uses the woman who thinks she is her friend.
Themes
