The Merry Wives of Windsor

William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat, Paul Werstine, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat, Paul Werstine

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780671722784
• eBook ISBN: 9781501136870
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

Shakespeare’s “merry wives” are Mistress Ford and Mistress Page of the town of Windsor. The two play practical jokes on Mistress Ford’s jealous husband and a visiting knight, Sir John Falstaff.

Merry wives, jealous husbands, and predatory knights were common in a kind of play called “citizen comedy” or “city comedy.” In such plays, courtiers, gentlemen, or knights use social superiority to seduce citizens’ wives.

The Windsor wives, though, do not follow that pattern. Instead, Falstaff’s offer of himself as lover inspires their torment of him. Falstaff responds with the same linguistic facility that Shakespeare gives him in the history plays in which he appears, making him the “hero” of the play for many audiences.

The authoritative edition of The Merry Wives of Windsor from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Natasha Korda

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

THE
MERRY WIVES
OF WINDSOR

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ACT 1

ACT 1

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Scene 1

Enter Justice Shallow, Slender, <and> Sir Hugh Evans.

SHALLOW Sir Hugh, persuade me not. I will make a	1
Star-Chamber matter of it. If he were twenty Sir	2
John Falstaffs, he shall not abuse Robert Shallow,	3
Esquire.	4
SLENDER In the county of Gloucester, Justice of Peace	5
and Coram.	6
SHALLOW Ay, Cousin Slender, and Custalorum.	7
SLENDER Ay, and Ratolorum too; and a gentleman born,	8
Master Parson, who writes himself “Armigero”	9
in any bill, warrant, quittance, or obligation—	10
“Armigero!”	11
SHALLOW Ay, that I do, and have done any time these	12
three hundred years.	13
SLENDER All his successors gone before him hath	14
done ’t, and all his ancestors that come after him	15
may. They may give the dozen white luces in their	16
coat.	17
SHALLOW It is an old coat.	18
SIR HUGH The dozen white louses do become an old	19
coat well. It agrees well, passant. It is a f...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Editors’ Preface
• Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor
• Reading Shakespeare’s Language: The Merry Wives of Windsor
• Shakespeare’s Life
• Shakespeare’s Theater
• The Publication of Shakespeare’s Plays
• An Introduction to This Text
• Characters in the Play
• The Merry Wives of Windsor
• Longer Notes
• Textual Notes
• The Merry Wives of Windsor: A Modern Perspective by Natasha Korda
• Further Reading
• Key to Famous Lines and Phrases
• Commentary
• Copyright