The Way of the World is a comedy play written by the English playwright William Congreve, first performed in 1700. It premiered in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded by critics as one of the finest works of Restoration comedy ever written, and has often been called a centerpiece of the genre. Initially, however, the play struck many audience members as continuing the "immorality" of the previous decades, and was not well received.