The Merry Wives of Windsor

William Shakespeare

The Merry Wives of Windsor — First published in 1602, William Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor features Sir John Falstaff, familiar from Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2. An unsubstantiated tradition claims that Queen Elizabeth I asked Shakespeare to show Falstaff in love and that he wrote the play in a hurry. This story should not be treated as a documented account of its creation. The play revolves around two intertwined plots: the adventures of the rogue Falstaff who plans to seduce several local wives, and the story of young Anne Page who is being wooed by prominent citizens while she has her sights set on young Fenton. The wives come together to teach Falstaff a lesson, and in the end love triumphs. The date of the first performance is unknown; a performance in 1597 has been suggested. The play appeared in quarto in 1602, in a second quarto in 1619, and in the 1623 First Folio. It was among the Shakespeare plays staged in 1660 after Charles II’s restoration and the reopening of London’s theatres. This Standard Ebooks production is based on Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch and John Dover Wilson’s 1923 Cambridge edition.