The Merry Wives of Windsor

John Falstaff of the Henry plays is visiting Windsor and writes letters to two of the wives, attempting to seduce them for their husbands' money. The wives, Mistress Ford (of a jealous husband) and Mistress Page (of a not-so-jealous husband), decide to have some fun with him for coming up with so outrageous a plot. Meanwhile, multiple suitors try to Miss Anne Page's hand.

This is a departure from many of Shakespeare's plays in that the majority of it is written in prose; only some is in meter. I enjoyed the wordplay and the ridiculous scenarios and ways the wives outwit Falstaff. The fat jokes may offend.

This was surprisingly simple and funny, compared to Henry IV! A nice, refreshing Shakespearean comedy that might have a few of his favourite tropes but largely does its own thing. This has never been one of the plays I’ve wanted to see performed, but now I’d be up for it.

I was surprised by how different this felt, not only in its lack of complexity, but also in the sources of humour. While there is a young woman with romantic troubles, she’s the B plot and her troubles aren’t about getting the guy, it’s having too many. Most of the humour actually comes from people creating problems for Falstaff, and from wordplay and other linguistic humour. Also disguises. It’s much more of a farce, and I can absolutely see every cast show more member hamming it up for the audience, really leaning into the lines and action.

One of the things that struck me most, probably the first thing, was the accents. I’m so used to dialects and accents being written with minimal spelling changes, and to such things being more common in 18th and 19th century fiction, that I was surprised and delighted to see Shakespeare doing it. And to see that his way of writing accents pretty much holds up today. Is all the mocking of foreigners and the uneducated offensive? Especially when people make puns based on mispronunciations? Heck yeah. It is still darn cool to see? You bet.

The other thing that I really noticed reading this one is that it’s a lot more female-focused than many of his plays. The women here have agency, and the message seems to be that women know their own minds and can be trusted. (To be obedient to their husbands,yes, because this is still the 16th century, but hey.) I had fun watching the wives planning their pranks, and seeing the jealous husband mocked for his jealousy, and the secondary women equally having agendas. A lot of the jokes are also at the expense of the men, not the women, which was refreshing.

That said, the plot pretty much hangs by a thread at a few points, and it’s pretty clear that a) Shakespeare was basically writing fan service and b) he was occasionally stumped about where the plot would go. There’s one character, fun as they are, who’s basically a messenger to further the plot and nothing else, and I have a suspicion the ending is at least partly inspired but what costumes were lying around at the time. It’s relatable as anything, but I agree with the academic consensus that this is not one of Shakespeare’s deepest and best thought-out plays. However, it’s also not trying to be and does a good job at being pure entertainment.

Basically, if you’re like me and read Shakespeare for fun, I don’t think this is a play you should miss. It’s light, a faster read because nobody’s really pontificating about anything, and you get to see Falstaff carted out with the laundry. Don’t be like me and assume because Henry IV was kind of dry, that this one will be also.
7.5/10

Contains: attempted adultery, women being married off, lots of stereotypical accents, fat jokes, the man in a dress gag show less

It's not Falstaff at his most iconic, but nevertheless, more Falstaff is never a bad thing. Comes across as kinda cutesy as it's full of mischief, whimsy, and shenanigans, but I couldn't help but root for these two wives who are messing with the entitled men in their lives. There's a lot of bizarrity to be found here, like the French doctor, the randomly inserted Latin lesson, and the "magical" prank at the end. Even though this play doesn't always make sense and the humour isn't the most sophisticated, it's still pretty entertaining if you're down to clown and looking for something light-hearted and silly.

I adore Shakespeare. I’ve read at least half of his works. I’ve seen dozens of his plays performed. In college I took a class completely devoted to learning how to read and interpret his writing. I’ve visited the Globe in England and every time I read a new play of his I find a new reason to love his work.

His writing isn’t perfect. He ripped story lines from others and his plays can be repetitive. He can be long-winded when he wants to, but all-in-all, there’s more brilliance than hot air there. When Shakespeare ran out of words to express what he was feeling, he invented them! That’s just amazing. Not only did he invent words, but they are ones that stuck and that we still use today.

I love his wit. He was incredibly funny. show more Many of his jokes were topical, so they aren’t nearly as amusing to us as they were to audiences that lived during his lifespan. It’s like someone watching an episode of Saturday Night Live from 30 years ago and expecting to catch every joke from the weekend update.

On to the The Merry Wives of Windsor. This isn’t my favorite play, it isn’t even my favorite comedy by the Bard, but it is entertaining. It’s well-known purely because it brought back a fan-favorite, Sir John Falstaff (from the Henry IV history plays).

The basic plot is as follows, that well-loved pompous old fool, Falstaff, decides to seduce two of the married ladies in the town of Windsor. The confusion that ensues is almost like a French farce. People run in, doors slam, identities are mistaken, etc. In other words, good times.

Always the idiot, Falstaff makes the mistake of wooing two women who happen to be best friends. Mistress Ford and Mistress Page both receive love letter from the fat knight and devise a plan to trap and mock him. Mistress Ford’s husband ends up as collateral damage when he’s led to believe his wife is actually cheating on him.

What sets this play apart from his many others is the fact that it’s the only one set in contemporary (for Shakespeare) England. Most of his other plays either took place in the past or in another country. The subplot involves a husband and wife (the Pages) who are trying to marry their daughter off to men she doesn't love. The clever daughter evades her parents' wishes by coming up with a tricky solution of her own to get the man she truly loves.

If you're new to Shakespeare, see it live first! It's a play, it was meant to be seen and not just read. Once you've done that, explore the beauty of his writing. Much Ado About Nothing is a great place to start in the comedies and Hamlet remains my favorite tragedy... so far.

---One side note, if you’re looking for a definitive edition of Shakespeare, I would highly recommend the The Riverside Shakespeare. It is massive (like five inches thick), but I love it. show less

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I enjoyed this much more than I had expected to, and indeed I enjoyed the end more than the rather slow start. It must be the closest Shakespeare gets to slapstick humour, with Falstaff getting covered in dirty laundry, dumped in the Thames, forced to disguise himself as an old woman, beaten up by the husband of one of the women he is pursuing, and then humiliated by a flock of fake fairies. I would love to see it on stage: the audio can't really catch it - though Dinsdale Landen as Falstaff in the Arkangel production grew on me, and Clive Swift as Shallow was as excellent as ever. Also Shakespeare's word play and Welsh/French accent humour really needs some stage business to illuminate it for show more today's audience.

The striking thing about it is (particularly after the overt and unredeemed misogyny of The Taming of the Shrew) that the women win. Mrs Page and Mrs Ford (the eponymous wives) comprehensively outflank Falstaff; Mrs Ford is a step ahead of her own husband; and while Mrs Page does suffer a defeat, it is at the hands of another woman, her own daughter.

Having just read Germaine Greer, I noted with interest that the young Anne at the centre of one of the plot lines manages to outwit two older suitors to marry the younger man whom she actually loves. There is also a young lad called William who studiously does his Latin lessons despite the older generation not really understanding him. One should of course always be careful about reading autobiography into the plays, but in this case it is impossible to avoid the temptation. show less

Written around 1597, critics believe that The Merry Wives of Windsor was written to capitalise on the popular success of the corpulent, knavish Sir John Falstaff in the two parts of Henry IV. Falstaff takes centre stage again in this play, hard up for money and planning to pay off his debts by seducing the wives of two rich citizens, Ford and Page. As in the earlier Henry IV plays, Falstaff's elaborate plans go awry, with disastrous and humiliating consequences. Ford is furious with Falstaff's attempt to woo his wife, whilst both Mistress Ford and Mistress Page have the measure of Falstaff, and repeatedly dupe him, first hiding him in a laundry basket and dumping him in the river, then tormenting him in the forest of Windsor with show more children disguised as fairies.Often dismissed as a hasty and mechanical play lacking in depth, The Merry Wives of Windsor is in fact a wonderfully inventive farce. Falstaff is a ludicrous mock hero, dressed as a mythical hunter in the forest, declaiming "powerful love that in some respects makes a beast a man, in some others a man a beast!" Mistress Ford and Page are also great comic creations, witty and resilient women who drive the comedy, no longer "in the holiday time" of beauty, but wise and streetwise women who are always one step ahead of the absurd Falstaff. A greatly underrated play. --Jerry Brotton show less

Written around 1597, critics believe that The Merry Wives of Windsor was written to capitalise on the popular success of the corpulent, knavish Sir John Falstaff in the two parts of Henry IV. Falstaff takes centre stage again in this play, hard up for money and planning to pay off his debts by seducing the wives of two rich citizens, Ford and Page. As in the earlier Henry IV plays, Falstaff's elaborate plans go awry, with disastrous and humiliating consequences. Ford is furious with Falstaff's attempt to woo his wife, whilst both Mistress Ford and Mistress Page have the measure of Falstaff, and repeatedly dupe him, first hiding him in a laundry basket and dumping him in the river, then tormenting him in the forest of Windsor with show more children disguised as fairies.Often dismissed as a hasty and mechanical play lacking in depth, The Merry Wives of Windsor is in fact a wonderfully inventive farce. Falstaff is a ludicrous mock hero, dressed as a mythical hunter in the forest, declaiming "powerful love that in some respects makes a beast a man, in some others a man a beast!" Mistress Ford and Page are also great comic creations, witty and resilient women who drive the comedy, no longer "in the holiday time" of beauty, but wise and streetwise women who are always one step ahead of the absurd Falstaff. A greatly underrated play. --Jerry Brotton show less