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= The_Merry_Wives_of_Windsor =
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Introduction
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'The Merry Wives of Windsor' or 'Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives
of Windsor' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in
1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The
Windsor of the play's title is a reference to the town of Windsor,
also the location of Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England. Though
nominally set in the reign of Henry IV or early in the reign of Henry
V, the play makes no pretence to exist outside contemporary
Elizabethan-era English middle-class life. It features the character
Sir John Falstaff, the fat knight who had previously been featured in
'Henry IV, Part 1' and 'Part 2'. It has been adapted for the opera at
least ten times. The play is one of Shakespeare's lesser-regarded
works among literary critics.
Tradition has it that 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' was written at the
request of Queen Elizabeth I. After watching 'Henry IV, Part 1', she
asked Shakespeare to write a play depicting Falstaff in love.
Characters
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* Sir John Falstaff
* Bardolph, Pistol, Nym - followers of Falstaff.
* Robin - page to Falstaff.
* Messrs. Frank Ford & George (Thomas) Page - two gentlemen
dwelling at Windsor.
* William Page - a boy, son to Page.
* Sir Hugh Evans - a Welsh parson
* Doctor Caius - a French physician.
* John Rugby - a servant to Doctor Caius.
* Mistress Quickly - servant to Doctor Caius.
* Robert Shallow - a Country Justice.
* Abraham Slender - cousin to Shallow.
* Peter Simple - servant to Slender.
* Fenton - a young gentleman.
* The Host of the Garter Inn
* Mistress Alice Ford
* Mistress Margaret Page
* Anne Page - Mistress Page's daughter.
Plot
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The play is nominally set in the early 15th century, during the same
period as the 'Henry IV' plays featuring Falstaff, but there is only
one brief reference to this period, a line in which the character
Fenton is said to have been one of Prince Hal's rowdy friends (he
"kept company with the wild prince and Poins"). In all other respects,
the play implies a contemporary setting of the Elizabethan era, c.
1600.
Falstaff arrives in Windsor very short of money. He decides that, to
obtain financial advantage, he will court two wealthy married women,
Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. Falstaff decides to send the women
identical love letters and asks his servants - Pistol and Nym - to
deliver them to the wives. When they refuse, Falstaff sacks them,
and, in revenge, the men tell the husbands Ford and Page of Falstaff's
intentions. Page is not concerned, but the jealous Ford persuades the
Host of the Garter Inn to introduce him to Falstaff as a 'Master
Brook' so that he can find out Falstaff's plans.
Meanwhile, three different men are trying to win the hand of Page's
daughter, Anne Page. Mistress Page would like her daughter to marry
Doctor Caius, a French physician, whereas the girl's father would like
her to marry Master Slender. Anne herself is in love with Master
Fenton, but Page had previously rejected Fenton as a suitor due to his
having squandered his considerable fortune on high-class living. Hugh
Evans, a Welsh parson, tries to enlist the help of Mistress Quickly
(servant to Doctor Caius) in wooing Anne for Slender, but the doctor
discovers this and challenges Evans to a duel. The Host of the Garter
Inn prevents this duel by telling each man a different meeting place,
causing much amusement for himself, Justice Shallow, Page and others.
Evans and Caius decide to work together to be revenged on the Host.
When the women receive the letters, each goes to tell the other, and
they quickly find that the letters are almost identical. The "merry
wives" are not interested in the aging, overweight Falstaff as a
suitor; however, for the sake of their own amusement and to gain
revenge for his indecent assumptions towards them both, they pretend
to respond to his advances.
This all results in great embarrassment for Falstaff. Mr. Ford poses
as 'Mr. Brook' and says he is in love with Mistress Ford but cannot
woo her as she is too virtuous. He offers to pay Falstaff to court
her, saying that once she has lost her honour he will be able to tempt
her himself. Falstaff cannot believe his luck, and tells 'Brook' he
has already arranged to meet Mistress Ford while her husband is out.
Falstaff leaves to keep his appointment and Ford soliloquizes that he
is right to suspect his wife and that the trusting Page is a fool.
When Falstaff arrives to meet Mistress Ford, the merry wives trick him
into hiding in a laundry basket ("buck basket") full of filthy, smelly
clothes awaiting laundering. When the jealous Ford returns to try and
catch his wife with the knight, the wives have the basket taken away
and the contents (including Falstaff) dumped into the river. Although
this affects Falstaff's pride, his ego is surprisingly resilient. He
is convinced that the wives are just "playing hard to get" with him,
so he continues his pursuit of sexual advancement, with its attendant
capital and opportunities for blackmail.
Again Falstaff goes to meet the women but Mistress Page comes back and
warns Mistress Ford of her husband's approach again. They try to think
of ways to hide him other than the laundry basket which he refuses to
get into again. They trick him again, this time into disguising
himself as Mistress Ford's maid's obese aunt, known as "the fat woman
of Brentford". Ford tries once again to catch his wife with the knight
but ends up hitting the "old woman", whom he despises and takes for a
witch, and throwing her out of his house. Having been beaten "into all
the colors of the rainbow", Falstaff laments his bad luck.
Eventually the wives tell their husbands about the series of jokes
they have played on Falstaff, and together they devise one last trick
which ends up with the Knight being humiliated in front of the whole
town. They tell Falstaff to dress as "Herne, the Hunter" and meet them
by an old oak tree in Windsor Forest (now part of Windsor Great Park).
They then dress several of the local children, including Anne and
William Page, as fairies and get them to pinch and burn Falstaff to
punish him. Page plots to dress Anne in white and tells Slender to
steal her away and marry her during the revels. Mistress Page and
Doctor Caius arrange to do the same, but they arrange Anne shall be
dressed in green. Anne tells Fenton this, and he and the Host arrange
for Anne and Fenton to be married instead.
The wives meet Falstaff, and almost immediately the "fairies" attack.
Slender, Caius, and Fenton steal away their brides-to-be during the
chaos, and the rest of the characters reveal their true identities to
Falstaff.
Although he is embarrassed, Falstaff takes the joke surprisingly well,
as he sees it was what he deserved. Ford says he must pay back the 20
pounds 'Brook' gave him and takes the Knight's horses as recompense.
Slender suddenly appears and says he has been deceived - the 'girl' he
took away to marry was not Anne but a young boy. Caius arrives with
similar news - however, he has actually married his boy. Fenton and
Anne arrive and admit that they love each other and have been married.
Fenton chides the parents for trying to force Anne to marry men she
did not love and the parents accept the marriage and congratulate the
young pair. Eventually they all leave together and Mistress Page even
invites Falstaff to come with them:
"let us every one go home, and laugh this sport o'er by a country
fire; Sir John and all".
Sources
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Some elements of 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' may have been adapted
from 'Il Pecorone', a collection of stories by Ser Giovanni
Fiorentino; one of these stories was included in William Painter's
'The Palace of Pleasure'.
Date and text
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The play's date of composition is unknown; it was registered for
publication in 1602, but was probably several years old by that date.
In the Fairy pageant in Act 5 Scene 5 (lines 54-75), Mistress Quickly,
as the Queen of the Fairies, gives a long speech giving an elaborate
description of the Order of the Garter. The play also alludes to a
German duke, who is generally thought to be Frederick I, Duke of
Württemberg, who had visited England in 1592 and was elected to the
Order of the Garter in 1597 (but was eventually only installed in
Stuttgart on 6 November 1603). These facts led commentators starting
with Edmond Malone in 1790 to suggest that the play was written and
performed for the Order of the Garter festival. William Green suggests
that the play was drawn up when George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, as
Lord Chamberlain and patron of Shakespeare's company, was elected
Order of the Garter in April 1597. If this is so, it was probably
performed when Elizabeth I attended Garter Feast on 23 April.
The Garter theory is only speculation, but it is consistent with a
story first recorded by John Dennis in 1702 and Nicholas Rowe in 1709:
that Shakespeare was commanded to write the play by Queen Elizabeth,
who wanted to see Falstaff in love. This theatrical tradition was
first recorded by Dennis in the prologue to his adaptation of the
play, 'The Comical Gallant'. He states that Queen Elizabeth "commanded
it to be finished in fourteen days." Rowe wrote that Elizabeth "was so
well pleased with that admirable character of 'Falstaff', in the two
parts of 'Henry the Fourth', that she commanded him to continue it for
one play more, and to shew him in love." T. W. Craik suggests that
these stories may simply be fantasies occasioned by the Quarto's title
page which says of the play "As it hath diuers times Acted...Both
before her Maiestie, and else-where." Nevertheless, Carey would have
been well placed to pass on the queen's wishes to his players, which
could account for the tradition.
Support for the Garter theory is divided. If it is correct, it would
probably mean that Shakespeare wrote 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'
between 'Henry IV, Part 1' and 'Part 2'. Critics have trouble
believing this for several reasons. One is that Pistol and Shallow are
introduced as new characters in 'Henry IV, Part 2', but in 'The Merry
Wives' their connection to Falstaff is taken for granted. Also, there
are no references to any of the major events from Falstaff's
15th-century exploits from the history plays, such as the rebellion
('Henry IV, Part 1' & '2'), in 'Merry Wives'. T.W. Craik suggests
that Shakespeare was forced to interrupt work on 'Henry IV, Part 2',
having written most of it, because 'The Merry Wives' had to be
completed quickly. Another possible explanation comes from the
epilogue to 'Henry IV, Part 2', which promises to "continue the story,
with Sir John in it". Sir John does not appear in 'Henry V', so 'Merry
Wives' could have been written to make good on the pledge.
At least parts of the play may have been written around or before the
first performances of 'Part 1' in 1597, after which controversy over
the original naming of Falstaff (he was originally the historic Sir
John Oldcastle, which presumably did not please Oldcastle's
descendants) forced Shakespeare to rename the character. It appears
that the joke in V,v,85-90 is that Oldcastle/Falstaff incriminates
himself by calling out the first letter of his name, "O, O, O!," when
his fingertips are singed with candleswhich of course works for
"Oldcastle" but not "Falstaff." There is also the "castle" reference
in IV,v,6.
18 January 1602 was the date the play was entered into the Register of
the Stationers Company. The first quarto was published later that
year, in an inferior text, by bookseller Arthur Johnson. It was
published in a second quarto in 1619, as part of William Jaggard's
False Folio; the superior First Folio text followed in 1623.
The title page of Q1 states that the play was acted by the Lord
Chamberlain's Men, "Both before Her Majesty, and elsewhere." The
earliest definitely dated performance occurred on 4 November 1604, at
Whitehall Palace. The play is also known to have been performed on 15
November 1638, at the Cockpit in Court.
Analysis and criticism
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Considering the Falstaff of 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' in contrast
to the Falstaff portrayed in the two 'Henry IV' plays, Mark Van Doren
states: "Only the husk of Falstaff's voice is here." Harold Bloom
refers to this Falstaff as "a nameless impostor masquerading as the
great Sir John Falstaff." He adds:
No longer either witty in himself or the cause of wit in other men,
this Falstaff would make me lament a lost glory if I did not know him
to be a rank impostor. His fascination, indeed, is that Shakespeare
wastes nothing upon him. 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' is Shakespeare's
only play that he himself seems to hold in contempt, even as he
indites it.
That Shakespeare would so stumble with one of his greatest creations
is puzzling and a satisfactory reason for this remains to be found.
The most obvious explanation is that it was written very quickly.
Leslie Hotson wrote that "it is certain that the play bears the
earmarks of hasty writing."
Themes
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Key themes of 'Merry Wives' include love and marriage, jealousy and
revenge, social class and wealth. Explored with irony, sexual
innuendo, sarcasm, and stereotypical views of classes and
nationalities, these themes help to give the play something closer to
a modern-day view than is often found in Shakespeare's plays.
The play is centered on the class prejudices of middle-class England.
The lower class is represented by characters such as Bardolph, Nym,
and Pistol (Falstaff's followers), and the upper class is represented
by Sir John Falstaff and Master Fenton. Shakespeare uses both Latin
and misused English to represent the attitudes and differences of the
people of this era. Much humour is derived from the exaggerated
accents of Dr. Caius and Sir Hugh Evans. For example, Caius speaks in
an exaggerated French dialect; when he finds out he has married a page
instead of Mistress Anne, he exclaims that he has married "oon
garcon", and Evans speaks in a thick Welsh accent to the point that
Falstaff complains that he "makes fritters of English" (5,5,135). Much
of the comedic effect of the play is derived from misunderstandings
among characters.
Other scholars say that the treatment of sexual jealousy in the play
differs from its treatment in others, like 'Othello' and 'A Winter's
Tale'. The jealousy of Leontes and Othello is dangerous and
deep-seated, while Ford's jealousy is something to be mocked and
laughed at.
Performance history
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'Merry Wives' was one of the first Shakespearean plays to be performed
once the theatres re-opened in 1660 after the Interregnum. Samuel
Pepys saw the King's Company act it on 5 Dec. 1660, and again in 1661
and 1667 (though he didn't like it on any occasion). In 1702 John
Dennis offered an adaptation (it has been called a "perversion") of
the play, titled 'The Comical Gallant, or the Amours of Sir John
Falstaff' - which flopped. In 1824 Frederick Reynolds included 'Merry
Wives' in his series of operatic adaptations, with music by Henry
Bishop. Charles Kean returned to Shakespeare's text in an 1851
production. Arthur Sullivan composed incidental music for use in Act V
of an 1874 production at the Gaiety Theatre, London, which was also
used in the 1889 Haymarket Theatre production.
During the period of anti-German feelings in England during World War
I, many German names and titles were changed and given more
English-sounding names, including the royal family's from
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. Kaiser Wilhelm II (who as Queen Victoria
and Prince Albert’s eldest grandson was a member of the House of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha through his mother) countered this by jokingly
saying that he wanted to see a command performance of "The Merry Wives
of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha."
Film
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* 'Chimes at Midnight' (released in most of Europe as 'Falstaff') is a
1966 period comedy-drama film written, directed by, and starring Orson
Welles.
* 'John Tucker Must Die,' a loose American modern adaptation of the
play that re-imagines it as a teen comedy, directed by Betty Thomas
(2006)
Plays
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* 'The Comical Gallant,' a revision and adaptation by John Dennis
(1702)
* 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' was adapted and translated into Swahili
for the Bitter Pill Company by Joshua Ogutu. It performed at
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London (2012)
*'The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa' by Alison Carey, adapted the
play as a modern political satire, blending new dialogue with
Shakespeare's text. Premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
(2012)
* 'The Merry Widows of Windsor' by Emily C. A. Snyder is a sequel to
Shakespeare's text, written in blank verse. It played as a staged
reading at the Sheen Center in New York City (2018).
* 'Anne Page Hates Fun' by Amy E. Whitting is a modern play in
conversation with Shakespeare's text. It premiered at the American
Shakespeare Center, as one of the winners of Round 1 of Shakespeare's
New Contemporaries (2018)
* Merry Wives adapted by Jocelyn Bioh for NYC's Shakespeare in the
Park by The Public Theater in 2021. The adaptation is set among West
African immigrants in present-day Harlem. The play was also televised
for the PBS program, Great Performances
Operas
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*'Les deux amies, ou le vieux garçon', music by Louis-August Papavoine
(1761)
*'Herne le chasseur', music by François-André Danican Philidor,
libretto by Douin (1773)
*'Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor', libretto by George Christian
Romer, music by Peter Ritter (1794)
*'Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor', libretto by George Christian
Romer, music by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1796)
*'Falstaff,' an 'opera buffa' by composer Antonio Salieri, with a
libretto by Carlo Prospero Defranceschi (1799)
*'Falstaff' by composer Michael William Balfe, with an Italian
libretto by Manfredo Maggioni (1838)
*'Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor', a singspiel, by German composer
Carl Otto Nicolai (1849). The opera contains much German spoken
dialogue, and many of the characters' names have been changed (the
names of the Mistresses Ford and Page are now Fluth and Reich) and
there is more focus given between the romance of Fenton and Anne. It
is the only opera adaptation to include the disguising of Falstaff as
a woman.
*'Falstaff', one-act, music by Adolphe Adam, libretto by Jules-Henri
Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Adolphe de Leuven (1856)
*'Falstaff' by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Arrigo Boito, was
Verdi's last opera (1893). Some of the changes include Anne (known as
Nanetta) now as the daughter of Mistress Ford rather than Mistress
Page, and she is betrothed by her father to Dr. Caius alone, with
Mistresses Ford and Page conspiring to aid in her elopement with
Fenton. The roles of Master Page, Slender, Shallow, Sir Hugh Evans,
and many others are eliminated. To flesh out Falstaff's character,
librettist Arrigo Boito adds material from Shakespeare's 'Henry IV,
Part I' and 'Part II', including the famous "honour" soliloquy. It is
largely considered to be the best operatic adaptation of 'The Merry
Wives of Windsor', as well as one of opera's greatest comic
achievements.
*'Sir John in Love' by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1929).
Much of the libretto the composer took directly from Shakespeare's
text, making it the most accurate of the operatic adaptations. This is
the only opera version to retain all of the characters as well as the
subplot of the duel between Dr. Caius and Sir Hugh Evans.
External links
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*
*
* [
http://www.maximumedge.com/shakespeare/merrywives.htm 'The Merry
Wives of Windsor'] - Searchable, scene-indexed version of the play.
*
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20050906224919/http://www.rsc.org.uk/picturesandexhibitions/action/viewExhibition?exhibitionid=4§ionid=3
Royal Shakespeare Company photos and information relating to
performances and background of 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' through
the years]
* [
http://www.rscshakespeare.co.uk/merryWives.html RSC Plot Summary
and list of performances and actors]
License
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Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Merry_Wives_of_Windsor
