The Way of the World

The Prologue is Congreve’s comment on his own superiority and the impulsiveness of critics. Do you agree?

In terms of prologue please give a big answer.

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The fact that, as it is written, the prologue is spoken by an actor, not a character, is important to the tone of the show. This metatheatrical move demonstrates how Congreve is pushing for the audience to really think about the show - to analyze it show as part of its genre and as apart from other theatre of the time. Showing the character, likely already in his garb for the scene about to follow, demonstrates the reality of the character, and makes the plea for the audience to withhold their criticism until the end of the show seem even to come from the characters of the play themselves.