The Way of the World: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Way of the World, credited to William Congreve, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Way of the World, by William Congreve. The Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded as being one of the best Restoration comedies written and is still performed sporadically to this day. The play is based around the two lovers Mirabell and Millamant (originally famously played by John Verbruggen and Anne Bracegirdle). In order for the two to get married and receive Millamant's full dowry, Mirabell must receive the blessing of Millamant's aunt, Lady Wishfort. Unfortunately, she is a very bitter lady, who despises Mirabell and wants her own nephew, Sir Wilful, to wed Millamant. Other characters include Fainall who is having a secret affair with Mrs. Marwood, a friend of Mrs. Fainall's, who in turn once had an affair with Mirabell. Waitwell is Mirabell's servant and is married to Foible, Lady Wishfort's servant. Waitwell pretends to be Sir Rowland and, on Mirabell's command, tries to trick Lady Wishfort into a false engagement. (Summary by Wikipedia) Cast: Mirabell: bish Fainall: DublinGothic Betty: Lucy Perry Footman; Messenger; Coachman: Phil Chenevert Witwoud: thebicyclethief Petulant: Martin Geeson Mrs Fainall: Carol Box Mrs Marwood: Helen Falconer Mincing: Bev J. Stevens Waitwell: Nigel Boydell Foible: Malane Lady Wishfort: Mil Nicholson Peg: Maria Calderazzo Mrs Millamant: Liberty Stump Sir Wilfull Witwoud: Bob Gonzalez Narrator: Algy Pug

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Way of the World
• Author credits: William Congreve
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 6
• Listed recording duration: 3:04:10

Catalogue topics

• dramatic reading
• play
• comedy
• romance

Track guide

1. 0 - Introductory Section — 15:40
2. 1 - Act 1 — 27:06
3. 2 - Act 2 — 26:47
4. 3 - Act 3 — 42:40
5. 4 - Act 4 — 35:54
6. 5 - Act 5 — 36:05

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.