The Merry Wives of Windsor (20 page)

Fenton complains to Anne that her father will never sanction their marriage: despite his high status, Fenton has spent most of his fortune during his dissipated youth. He confesses to Anne that initially he wooed her for her father’s fortune, but that he found that she had “more value / Than stamps in gold or sums in sealèd bags.” Anne repeats that he must continue to seek her father’s approval, implying that she is not as indifferent to Fenton as Mistress Quickly has suggested. They are joined by Mistress Quickly, Shallow, and Slender. Shallow orders Mistress Quickly to interrupt Anne and Fenton so that Slender may court Anne. Anne tells Fenton, in an aside, that “ill-favoured” Slender is her father’s choice. Slender makes inept attempts to woo Anne, assisted by Shallow, who points out the financial benefits of marrying his cousin. As Slender continues his courtship, Anne’s parents arrive. Page encourages Slender and tells Fenton not to “haunt” his house. He refuses to listen to Fenton, and invites Shallow and Slender in, leaving Anne and Fenton with Mistress Page and Mistress Quickly. Mistress Page assures Anne that she does not want her to marry Slender, saying that Caius would be a “better husband.” She says she will be neither “friend nor enemy” to Fenton, but agrees that she will support Anne if she loves him. She takes Anne indoors, and Mistress Quickly tells Fenton that Anne’s encouragement is her doing and he thanks her, before giving her a ring to give to Anne. Alone, Mistress Quickly declares her preference for all three suitors, before going to deliver the message from Mistresses Page and Ford to Falstaff.

Falstaff sends Bardolph to fetch him a drink and muses on recent events. He is indignant at having been “carried in a basket like a barrow of butcher’s offal.” Bardolph shows in Mistress Quickly. When Falstaff learns that she has come from Mistress Ford he refuses to listen
but she persuades him that Mistress Ford is sorry and wishes to make amends. He agrees that he will visit her between eight and nine, and Mistress Quickly goes to tell Mistress Ford. Falstaff wonders why he has not heard from Broom, just as Ford appears in disguise. Falstaff tells Broom that he was at Ford’s house at the appointed time, but that Ford came home and interrupted him, so he was forced to hide in a laundry basket. His indignation mounts as he describes the scene to the disguised Ford, ironically insulting the man he is speaking to as a “lunatic knave” and a “jealous rotten bell-wether.” He announces that he has not given up: he will call on Mistress Ford again while her husband is out “a-birding.” Broom informs him that it is “past eight” and Falstaff hurries off to Ford’s house, promising that Broom “shall cuckold Ford.” Alone, Ford vents his fury and pursues Falstaff to his house.

Mistress Quickly tells Mistress Page that Falstaff is at Ford’s house and Mistress Page says that she will go there after she has taken her son, William, to school. Evans arrives and tests William on his Latin. Mistress Quickly comically misinterprets the Latin words.

Lines 1–98:
Mistress Ford has succeeded in convincing Falstaff that she is sorry and he assures her that he loves her. Mistress Page arrives and calls out, and Mistress Ford urges Falstaff to hide in “th’chamber” next door. Once again they act out a conversation for the listening Falstaff: Mistress Page pretends to be glad that “the fat knight” is not there, as Ford is approaching the house with the other men, adding that he will be there “anon.” Mistress Ford again “confesses” that Falstaff is there and Mistress Page tells her that he is a “dead man” if Ford catches him. Falstaff emerges, and Mistress Page tells him that Ford’s brothers are guarding the house doors “with pistols.” The two women suggest that he disguise himself in clothes belonging to Mistress Ford’s maid’s aunt, “the fat woman of Brentford.” Falstaff runs to put on the gown, and Mistress Ford hopes that
Ford meets with the disguised Falstaff as he “cannot abide the old woman of Brentford … and hath threatened to beat her.” Mistress Page says that somehow Ford knows about the laundry basket, and the women decide to use this as a decoy. Mistress Page delivers a little rhyme that neatly sums up the play to the effect that “Wives may be merry, and yet honest too.” Mistress Page goes to dress Falstaff, and Mistress Ford instructs her servants to take up the laundry basket again, but to “set it down” if Ford asks them to.

Lines 99–198:
Ford arrives and orders his servants to set down the laundry basket. He calls angrily for his wife. Mistress Ford enters, and he accuses her of “brazen-face” dishonesty before starting to pull clothes from the basket. He orders his servants to “Empty the basket,” but finds only clothes. Page, Shallow, and Evans suggest that it is all his jealous imagination. Mistress Ford calls Mistress Page to come down with “the old woman.” On learning that his maid’s aunt is in the house, Ford flies into another fury and takes up his cudgel. Mistress Ford begs the other men not to let him “strike the old woman.” Mistress Page then leads the disguised Falstaff through, and Ford beats him out of the house before inviting the others to search for Falstaff. They agree to “humour” him “a little further,” and follow. Alone, Mistress Ford and Mistress Page delight in the beating Falstaff has received. They agree that they have had their revenge and decide to tell their husbands everything in the hope that Falstaff will be “publicly shamed.”

Bardolph informs the Host that some German noblemen wish to hire three of his horses. The Host agrees, intending to overcharge the Germans, but it seems likely that this is part of Caius and Evans’s plan for revenge.

Mistress Ford and Mistress Page have told their husbands about Falstaff. Ford begs his wife’s pardon, promising that he will “suspect the sun with cold” rather than suspect her of “wantonness” in the future.
Page says that they must publicly disgrace Falstaff. The women have suggested that they lure him to “the park at midnight,” and Mistress Page now reveals her plan. There is an oak in Windsor Forest, supposedly haunted by the spirit of Herne the Hunter. She proposes that they meet Falstaff there, asking him to come disguised as Herne. Then her children and several others, dressed “Like urchins, oafs and fairies,” with candles on their heads and “rattles in their hands,” will appear. Mistress Page and Mistress Ford will pretend to run away with fright, and the children, “fairy-like,” will encircle Falstaff, asking why “their so sacred paths he dares to tread.” They will then pinch him and burn him with their candles until he tells the truth, at which point the adults will appear and “mock him home to Windsor.” As they make plans for this, Page adds in an aside that this will be the ideal opportunity for Slender to steal Anne away and marry her. In a brief soliloquy, however, Mistress Page reveals that she is going to find Caius, determined that he shall marry Anne.

Simple is looking for Falstaff, and the Host directs him to Falstaff’s chamber, but Simple says that he has seen “a fat woman” go up there. Falstaff emerges, and Simple inquires whether the woman in his chamber was “the wise woman of Brentford,” as he wishes to consult her on behalf of his master. Slender wants to know whether Nim has stolen a chain from him and whether he will marry Anne Page. Falstaff pretends that he has consulted the wise woman, and gives Simple ambiguous answers to both questions. Once Simple has gone, the Host questions Falstaff about the wise woman, also receiving ambiguous answers. They are interrupted by Bardolph, who reports that the Germans have stolen the Host’s horses. As the Host argues that “Germans are honest men,” Evans arrives. He warns the Host that “three cozen-germans” have been robbing hosts in other towns of their horses and money. Caius then comes to tell the Host that there is no “duke de Jamany” at court. The Host realizes that he is “undone” before rushing off, accompanied by Bardolph, and the audience understands that Evans and Caius have had their revenge. Falstaff reflects that he, too, has been “cozened”: by Mistress Page and
Mistress Ford. Mistress Quickly arrives, but Falstaff says that he has “suffered” enough for the sake of the two women. Mistress Quickly promises that she has news that will “content” him, and they go to his chamber.

The Host is miserable and refuses to help Fenton any more in his pursuit of Anne. Fenton offers him “a hundred pound in gold” and tells him of a letter from Anne, detailing the plan against Falstaff. Both of Anne’s parents have suggested she use the occasion to elope with their preferred suitor: Page has told Slender that Anne will be masked and dressed in white, and Mistress Page has told Caius that she will be dressed in green. Fenton explains that Anne means to deceive both parents and leave with him. He asks the Host to arrange for the vicar to wait for them in the church so that they can be married, and the Host agrees.

Falstaff tells Mistress Quickly that he will keep the appointment at the oak tree, and she offers to help him disguise himself as Herne. As she leaves, Ford arrives disguised as Broom. Falstaff tells him to be at Herne’s oak at midnight, where he “shall see wonders.” He describes the beating he received the day before, and ironically adds that he will be revenged on the “knave Ford” by delivering his wife into Broom’s hands.

Page, Slender, and Shallow watch for the lights of the disguised children. Page reminds Slender that Anne will be in white.

Mistress Page reminds Caius that Anne will be in green. She and Mistress Ford head off to the oak.

Evans leads the “fairies” to the oak.

At midnight Falstaff arrives, disguised as Herne, contemplating the “rut-time” he is about to have. He meets Mistress Ford and Mistress Page and says they may “divide” him between them “like a bribed buck.” The sound of horns is heard and the women run away. The “fairies” and “hobgoblins” come in with their candles, singing. Frightened, Falstaff lies down. Evans pretends to smell “a man of middle-earth,” and the fairies burn and pinch Falstaff while singing of his “sinful fantasy” and “unchaste desire.” As they dance, an unwitting Slender runs away with a boy dressed in white, and Caius leaves with a boy dressed in green. Meanwhile, Fenton steals away with Anne. Hunting horns are heard again and the fairies run away as Falstaff removes his disguise. Ford and Page arrive with their wives and mock and insult Falstaff, who realizes he has been deceived. He delivers another of the play’s lighthearted “morals”: “Wit may be made a Jack-a-lent, when ’tis upon ill employment!” Slender arrives and tells Page that he ran away with “a postmaster’s boy” by mistake. Mistress Page reveals that Anne has run away with Caius, but Caius himself arrives and reveals that he, too, has “married
un garçon
.” Finally, Fenton arrives with Anne to announce their marriage. He chastises those who would have married her “Where there was no proportion held in love,” purely for social or financial gain. Page relents over the marriage and, with the various enmities resolved and forgiven, they all “go home” to “laugh this sport o’er by a country fire.”

The best way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or ideally to participate in it. By examining a range of productions, we may gain a sense of the extraordinary variety of approaches and interpretations that are possible—a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made “our contemporary” four centuries after his death.

We begin with a brief overview of the play’s theatrical and cinematic life, offering historical perspectives on how it has been performed. We then analyze in more detail a series of productions staged over the last half century by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The sense of dialogue between productions that can only occur when a company is dedicated to the revival and investigation of the Shakespeare canon over a long period, together with the uniquely comprehensive archival resource of promptbooks, program notes, reviews, and interviews held on behalf of the RSC at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, allows an “RSC stage history” to become a crucible in which the chemistry of the play can be explored.

Modern theater is dominated by the figure of the director, who must hold together the whole play, whereas the actor must concentrate on his or her part. The director’s viewpoint is therefore especially valuable. Shakespeare’s plasticity is wonderfully revealed when we hear directors of highly successful productions answering the same questions in very different ways. In addition, we have the perspective of a major actor who has played Falstaff in versions not only of
The Merry Wives
but also of the
Henry IV
plays.

Apocryphal anecdotes circulating since the early eighteenth century tell us that
The Merry Wives of Windsor
was composed in only fourteen days at the command of Queen Elizabeth, who wished to see Falstaff in love.
¹
True or not, this story has had an important effect on the play: originally associated with the highest reaches of English society, the play’s apparent weaknesses were blamed by later critics on its being written quickly and to order. The performance history of the play has persistently cast it as a lightweight, though crowd-pleasing, entertainment.

The play’s known stage life begins at court in 1601 (fittingly, at Windsor
²
), though some critics have suggested it was originally written for the 1597 Garter Feast, at which Lord Hunsdon (patron of Shakespeare’s company) was elected to the order. The Quarto title (
Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor
) confirms that Falstaff was the main attraction, and the part may have been originated by the company clown Will Kempe. The play is a uniquely ensemble-driven piece, however, and leading actors have excelled as the Wives, Ford, Evans, Caius, and others.