The Merry Wives of Windsor (29 page)

Beiner, G., “The Libido as Pharmakos, or The Triumph of Love:
The Merry Wives of Windsor
in the Context of Comedy,”
Orbis Litteraria
, Vol. 43, 1988, pp. 195–216. Examines play’s comedic structure in relation to other Shakespeare plays.

Ellis, Anthony,
Old Age, Masculinity and Early Modern Drama: Comic Elders on the Italian and Shakespeare Stage
(2009). Chapter 2, “Old Age and the Uses of Comedy: Bibbiena’s
Calenda
and Shakespeare’s
Merry Wives of Windsor,”
sociohistorical study of Falstaff in early modern context.

Erickson, Peter, “The Order of the Garter, the Cult of Elizabeth, and Class-Gender Tension in
The Merry Wives of Windsor,”
in
Shakespeare Reproduced: The Text in History and Ideology
, edited by Jean E. Howard and Marion F. O’Connor (1987), pp. 116–40. Influential historicist reading.

Grav, Peter F.,
Shakespeare and the Economic Imperative
(2008). Examines the significance of money in Shakespeare’s plays and society; chapter 2 focuses on
Merry Wives
, “Shakespeare’s England:
The Merry Wives of Windsor’s
Bourgeois Cash Values,” pp. 54–82.

Green, William,
Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor
(1962). Slightly dated but still useful general introduction that covers various aspects of play’s historical context, the Order of the Garter, first performance, and text, with some nice illustrations.

Lamb, Mary Ellen,
The Popular Culture of Shakespeare, Spenser, and Jonson
(2006). Cultural studies foray into the importance of fairies, old wives’ tales, and hobbyhorses in early modern literature and society; chapter 6 on
Merry Wives:
“Domestic Nationalism and the Refuse of the Realm,” pp. 125–59.

Melchiori, Giorgio,
Shakespeare’s Garter Plays: Edward III to Merry Wives of Windsor
(1994). Examines all aspects of historical tradition of play and context.

Miola, Robert S., “The
Merry Wives of Windsor:
Classical and Italian Inter-texts,”
Comparative Drama
, Vol. 27, No. 3, Fall 1993, pp. 364–76. Traces influences on play of comic traditions of Roman New Comedy.

Roberts, Jeanne Addison,
Shakespeare’s English Comedy
(1979). Relatively early critical work discussing play’s lowly historical position in the canon and arguing for its critical revaluation.

Ryan, Kiernan,
Shakespeare’s Comedies
(2009). Excellent introductory account in chapter 7: “Pribbles and Prabbles:
The Merry Wives of Windsor,”
pp. 134–63.

Steadman, John M., “Falstaff as Actaeon: A Dramatic Emblem,”
Shakespeare Quarterly
, Vol. XIV, No. 3, Summer 1963, pp. 231–44. Iconographic study comparing Falstaff to the Renaissance myth of Actaeon.

Theis, Jeffrey S.,
Writing the Forest in Early Modern England
(2009). Ecocritical study exploring the relationship between landscape, culture, and society; chapter 4, “A Border Skirmish: Community, Deer Poaching, and Spatial Transgression in
The Merry Wives of Windsor.”

Wall, Wendy, “ ‘Household Stuff’: The Sexual Politics of Domesticity and the Advent of English Comedy,”
English Literary History
, Vol. 65, No. 1, Spring 1998. Ingenious account which argues for the play as an allegory of the gendered formation of English national culture.

Holland, Peter, “The
Merry Wives of Windsor:
The Performance of Community,”
Shakespeare Quarterly
, Vol. 23, No. 2, 2005, pp. 5–18. Critique of various productions’ failure to attend to Shakespeare’s precisely detailed rural locale.

Tardiff, Joseph E., ed.,
Shakespearean Criticism
18 (1992). Includes stage history, reviews, and retrospective accounts of selected productions.

Chimes at Midnight
directed by Orson Welles (1965, DVD 2000). Condenses all the Falstaff material from both parts of
Henry IV
plus
Henry V
and
The Merry Wives of Windsor
. Multi-award nominated, with a star-studded cast, as eccentric and brilliant as Welles’s own performance as Falstaff. One of the all-time classic Shakespeare films.

The Merry Wives of Windsor
directed by David Jones for the BBC Shakespeare (1982, DVD 2006). Stars Richard Griffiths, Michael Bryant, Ben Kingsley, Alan Bennett, with acting honors going to Prunella Scales and Judy Davis as the Merry Wives.

Falstaff
directed by Richard Jones (2009, DVD 2010). Fine Glyndebourne Festival recording of Verdi’s operatic masterpiece with Christopher Purves as Falstaff.

1.
John Dennis,
The Comical Gallant: or the amours of Sir John Falstaffe. A Comedy
(1702), A2. A famous painting by David Scott,
Queen Elizabeth Viewing the Performance of the “Merry Wives of Windsor” in the Globe Theatre
(1840), captures an imagined version of the first performance, with public figures from across Elizabeth’s reign anachronistically brought together to view the play.

2.
William Winter,
Shakespeare on the Stage
(1916), p. 383.

3.
Samuel Pepys,
Diaries
, 15 August 1667.

4.
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The Comical Gallant
, p. 49.

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Shakespeare on the Stage
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9.
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11.
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, 15 January 1886.

12.
Stratford-upon-Avon Herald
, 29 April 1887.

13.
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, 29 April 1887.

14.
Western Daily Press
, 3 May 1914.

15.
New York
Evening Post
, 16 February 1895.

16.
New York Sun
, 21 March 1916.

17.
Birmingham Post
, 4 August 1919.

18.
Western Daily Mail
, 20 April 1935.

19.
The Times
, London, 20 April 1935.

20.
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21.
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23.
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24.
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26.
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27.
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29.
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30.
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31.
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32.
Independent
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33.
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34.
Guardian
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35.
Wilhelm Hortmann,
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36.
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37.
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38.
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Punch
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39.
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Shakespearean Criticism
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40.
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Spectator
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41.
Spurling,
Spectator
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42.
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43.
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New Statesman
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44.
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45.
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46.
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47.
Spurling,
Spectator
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48.
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New Statesman
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49.
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New Statesman
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Guardian
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Financial Times
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53.
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Plays and Players
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Punch
, Vol. 254, No. 6662, 15 May 1968.

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Listener
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57.
Young,
Financial Times
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58.
Higgins,
Financial Times
, 16 July 1968.

59.
Young,
Financial Times
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60.
Irving Wardle,
The Times
, London, 27 March 1976.

61.
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Shakespearean Criticism
18, p. 53.

62.
Michael Billington,
Guardian
, 4 April 1979.

63.
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New Statesman
, Vol. 97, No. 2508, 13 April 1979.

64.
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Cahiers Elisabéthains
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65.
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66.
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67.
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68.
Billington,
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69.
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Cahiers Elisabéthains
, p. 104.

70.
Michael Ratcliffe,
Observer
, 7 April 1985.

71.
Francis King,
Sunday Telegraph
, 7 April 1985.

72.
John Barber,
Daily Telegraph
, 6 April 1985.

73.
Nicholas Shrimpton, “Shakespeare Performances in London and Stratford-Upon-Avon, 1984–85,”
Shakespeare Survey
39 (1987), pp. 191–206.

74.
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Sunday Telegraph
, 7 April 1985.

75.
Roger Warren,
Shakespeare Quarterly
37, p. 115.

76.
Irving Wardle,
The Times
, London, 6 April 1985.

77.
Stanley Wells,
Times Literary Supplement
, No. 4281, 19 April 1985.

78.
Michael Coveney,
Financial Times
, 6 April 1985.

79.
John Peter,
Sunday Times
, 7 April 1985.

80.
Warren,
Shakespeare Quarterly
37 (1986), p. 115.

81.
Shrimpton, “Shakespeare Performances in London and Stratford-Upon-Avon, 1984–85,” p. 198.

82.
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On Directing Shakespeare
(1989), p. 179.

83.
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The Times
, 6 April 1985.

84.
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Guardian
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85.
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Times Literary Supplement
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86.
Kirsty Milne,
Sunday Telegraph
, 6 September 1992.

87.
Andrew St. George,
Financial Times
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88.
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Daily Telegraph
, 6 September 1992.

89.
Michael Billington,
Guardian
, 3 September 1992.

90.
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The Times
, London, 4 September 1992.

91.
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Guardian
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92.
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93.
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Daily Express
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94.
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The Times
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95.
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The Times
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Daily Telegraph
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103.
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Daily Telegraph
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104.
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105.
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Daily Express
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Guardian
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Daily Telegraph
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Daily Telegraph
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Punch
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Daily Express
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Guardian
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Daily Mail
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125.
Benedict Nightingale,
The Times
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Daily Telegraph
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Daily Express
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128.
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Financial Times
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129.
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Sunday Times
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130.
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Financial Times
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