The Merry Wives of Windsor is one of the most inconsequential of Shakespeare’s dramatic works. It was written in the last years of the C16th and, according to probably apocryphal legend, it was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I, who had seen Henry IV, Part I and wanted to see more of Falstaff. Apparently, she gave Shakespeare 14 days to do the needful. Whatever the truth of this story, it is the case that The Merry Wives of Windsor features the aforementioned Falstaff, together with other characters such as Nym, Pistol and Mistress Quickly, who also appeared first in the history play.  

The action follows Falstaff and his attempts to seduce two women with a view to gaining control over their fortunes – he has identified these women as heads of household who manage their husbands’ wealth. The women themselves are rather disgusted that Falstaff could imagine they would fall for such a transparent plan (and for such an unpleasant character) and they decide to plot their own revenge. They also have to deal with the jealousy of their husbands – although this is a comedy and it ends with the traditional celebrations, the fates that might have faced these women is quite grim, for not only might they have been cheated out of their position, money and status, courts would not have looked kindly on women who had ruined their husbands and who might have responded to with violence.

Subsequently, there are scenes in a supposedly haunted wood, with people deliberately confusing their appearance and identity and indulging in theft and other types of shenanigans. When the action switches to a wilderness area, such as in this case, it usually signals the opportunity for characters to reveal their inner selves, whether or not that is their real selves. Sometimes, the things that are let out by people when given freedom to do as they will (like being under the influence of drink or drugs) are neither the kinds of thing they would like other people to know about nor the real truth about an individual. In this play, the interlude of free behaviour is concluded by the restoration of normality and the re-establishment of the bourgeois rules of society – if the play has an overwhelming theme, then it is that English society, as a representative of all civilized societies, is strong enough not to succumb to pressure from the outside (as represented by the ghouls and elves of the forest) and revert to savagery and evil. It is tempting to imagine exactly how such a message would have been received by the Queen.