The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare. It was probably written in 1597 and is said to have been first performed on April 23 of that year, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth I of England.The central character, Falstaff, originally appeared in one of Shakespeare's earlier plays, Henry IV, part 1, and it is often claimed that he was persuaded to revive the character by the Queen herself, who had so much enjoyed the comedic episodes in the earlier work.
Critics have universally noted that this is not one of the Bard's best plays, and that the Falstaff of Merry Wives is much inferior to the character as he appears in the two Henry IV plays. A satisfactory reason for this remains to be found. It is possible that Shakespeare was merely revising an existing play by another hand, and allowed much of the material from the earlier play to stand.
The plot turns on the efforts of Sir John Falstaff to obtain financial advantage by having affairs with two wealthy married women, Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. The "merry wives" are not interested in the ageing, overweight Falstaff as a suitor, but decide to play along with him for their own amusement. At one point Falstaff is forced to hide in a laundry basket and is thrown into the river. Eventually his scheme is revealed and he is held up to ridicule, but the play does end happily, with the marriage of Mistress Page's daughter.
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