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| 2012 Production of WOTW, Chichester Main Theatre |
Answer TWO of the following...
1. If the first
act shows us how society men think of women, in Act Two, how do society women
think of men? What ‘wit’ and satire do
they share with themselves over men’s behavior and manners—or the institution
of marriage itself?
2. How does Act Two play on the idea of masks and
acting? Part of the fun of this play is
that the actors are playing people who are also playing roles with each other.
Who is acting and why? How do we
know this—and who else knows it?
3. On page 23, Mirabell says that “beauty is the lover’s
gift; ‘tis he bestows your charms—your glass is all a cheat,” which echoes
Sonnet 22, 113 (and many others) which claim that the lover sees his love in the mirror rather than
himself. Mrs. Millamant (unlike the
Sonnets) is allowed to respond to this and they have an argument about it; what
does she say and how might this be a woman’s response to Shakespeare’s claims
about love?
4. Discuss the conversation between Fainall and Mrs.
Marwood on pages 16-19. How does this
scene play with the idea of being true/false as well as the tortured
relationship of love in seventeenth century London. What echoes of the Sonnets might we find here, too?
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