How does The Way of the World portray love and marriage?

In William Congreve’s masterpiece, The Way of the World (1700), the portrayal of love and marriage serves as a sophisticated critique of the social assumptions governing his era.12

Rather than viewing love merely as the gratification of lust or a simple appetite, Congreve approaches the subject with greater depth and subtlety than his contemporaries. He avoids the extremes of treating love as purely physical or overly "rationalizing" the emotion, instead focusing on the individual experience.2

The play functions as a comedy of manners that satirizes the artificial restraints society imposes on human nature. In this context, marriage and courtship are depicted as a high-stakes game where success depends on intelligence, grace, and style. The characters must navigate the tension between their natural desires and the necessity of maintaining social decorum, often highlighting the hypocrisy inherent in such a society. Ultimately, the play portrays the pursuit of a relationship as a complex negotiation, where the protagonists, Millamant and Mirabell, must overcome various social complications and schemes to secure their union.134