The Merry Wives of Windsor

The Merry Wives of Windsor is a play written by William Shakespeare in the early 17th century. It is a comedic play that follows the character of Sir John Falstaff a roguish knight from Shakespeares historical plays as he attempts to seduce two wealthy married women Mistress Page and Mistress Ford in order to gain access to their husbands fortunes. The play is set in the town of Windsor where the two women live with their husbands. The women become aware of Falstaffs intentions and decide to turn the tables on him leading to a series of humorous situations and mistaken identities. The play is notable for its focus on middle-class characters and domestic situations which were not typical subjects for Shakespeares plays. The female characters in particular are given a significant amount of agency and are portrayed as intelligent and resourceful which was unusual for the time. The Merry Wives of Windsor is also notable for being the only play that Shakespeare wrote that is set in his own time and place rather than in a historical or mythological setting. This has led some scholars to speculate that the play was written in response to a request from Queen Elizabeth I who was a patron of the arts and may have wanted to see a play set in contemporary England.