Fainall’s character :
William Congreve’s The Way of the World(1700) is a masterpiece among all the Restoration comedy of manners. Its popularity is chiefly due to its witty dialogues and a brilliant and satirical portrait of the post Restoration English aristocracy. Along with Mirabell, Millamant and Lady Wishfort, Mr. Fainall is another brilliant character who exposes the follies and vices of the upper class people of Congreve’s time.
In Congreve’s ” The Way of the World”(1700), Mr. Fainall is Mirabell’s friend and is introduced in the very beginning of the play as playing cards Mirabell. He is the second husband of the widowed daughter of Lady Wishfort and the paramour of Mrs. Marwood. His “Wit and outward fair Behaviour,” has allowed him to enjoy a good reputation “with the Town,” but his true nature is greedy and false. As his name implies(feign all), he is truly a pretender. But his talent for getting along makes him a suitable man to be “sacrificed” to Arabella Languish, whom Mirabell has made pregnant. Fainall is not at all a dull person but very shrewd and the only reason he doesn’t object against the marriage is his plan to rob his wife’s fortune. He is a true opportunist because he not only married to extract wealth from his wife but also to finance his extramarital affair. He declares himself to be ” a rank husband” and that is “all in the way of the world”. He is also intensely suspicious. He suspects Mirabell’s words and thinks that he is hiding something from him. He also doubts his beloved Mrs. Marwood to be the secret admirer of Mirabell and this unnatural hot temper and suspicious nature tends to mar their plan. He is a classic villain and possesses no morals beyond those necessary to his own satisfaction. As the play progresses, his character goes from bad, to worse, to monstrous in his unyielding pursuit of money and power. He cheats his wife by having a secret affair, blackmails Lady Wishfort for money and even threatens Mrs Fainall with physical violence without a second thought.
Fainall is a somewhat tarnished version of Mirabell. Mirabell’s deftness in handling his world becomes Fainall’s “bustling” opportunism. Mirabell’s caution in trusting people becomes Fainall’s suspicion. Mirabell moves to a marriage based on mutual respect while Fainall engages in an illicit affair and abusive treatment of his wife and mother-in-law. He represents better than any character in the play the attitude toward societal relationships – distaste for mate, money-centric love, interest in self and moral degeneration.
