Literature Network » William Congreve

There's no smoking gun in this case. It's just one damn thing after another

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From: The Spectator
Date: 20041204
Author:Parris, Matthew

In scene 9 of William Congreve's The Way of the World, amid a fiendish tangle of desire, deception and general waywardness (Sir Wilfull Witwoud: 'Ahey! Wenches? Where are the wenches?'), Lady Wishfort speaks for many of us as she cuts the discussion short. 'This will never do!' she declares.

This will never do. To my dismay this week, as the nation's kitchen tables buzz with instant opinion concerning a particular politician's private life, Filipina nannies, rail warrants, visa applications, DNA tests, security warnings, government cars, and the bearing (or otherwise) of any or all of these ...

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