Merry Wives Of Windsor Essay

‘Merry Wives of Windsor’ is a comedic play written by William Shakespeare. It is set in Berkshire, England during the Elizabethan era. Its chief focus is that of the character of Sir John Falstaff, who, along with Mistress Quickly, had previously appeared in Henry IV part 1 and 2. The play is believed to have been written for the knights of the garter ceremony. The play, like many of Shakespeare’s Elizabethan works, includes dominant female figures, which may have been influenced by the fact there was a female monarch. Although arguably one of Shakespeare’s funniest play, it is often seen as some of his worst writing, due to an apparently weak storyline, with John Leslie Hotson, a famous critic of Elizabethan literary works, saying that "it is certain that the play bears the earmarks of hasty writing.”
As an introduction to the body of work the class were given a ten-point plotline of the play, and we were tasked with having to make still images for all of them, thus incorporating our newfound knowledge of the story into our work. This gave us a better insight into the characters, and allowed us to understand the storyline more.
Shakespearean theatre

This plays a major role in the play due to Ford and Page’s fear of it happening to them, which is a key factor in their hatred and jealousy of Falstaff, who is attempting to woo their wives. This theme is represented in throughout Shakespeare’s many plays, including that of “Much Ado about Nothing” where Benedick states “pluck off the bull’s horns and set them in my forehead”, referring to the metaphorical horns a man receives if he’s a cuckold, which is apparent to everyone but the man himself. This is a physical representation of the shame of your wife being perfidious to you, which would emphasise the comedic elements to the audience, as it mocks a serious issue in a new