The Merry Wives of Windsor

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1564. His  parents were John Shakespeare, a glovemaker and alderman; and Mary Shakespeare (née Arden), daughter of a gentleman farmer. Many aspects of Shakespeare’s life are not well-documented, leading to a certain amount of mystery surrounding all but the most major milestones of his early life and career. Scholars agree that Shakespeare attended grammar school, likely at the King’s New School in Stratford, where he would almost certainly have afforded him a fairly rigorous classical education. In November of 1582, when he was 18 years old, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. By 1592, Shakespeare had built the beginnings of a career in London as an actor and playwright. His early plays were largely comedies, such as The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and histories, such as the Henry VI trilogy. In the 1590s, he published two narrative poems based on classical subjects, which helped to boost his fame and reputation. In 1603, following the death of Queen Elizabeth I, King James I gave Shakespeare’s company a royal patent, and they became the “King’s Men.” Shakespeare’s later career saw him write tragedies like Hamlet, King Lear, and Othello, many of which are considered among the greatest works in the English language. Toward the end of his life, he penned romances (tragicomic plays, often with magical elements) like The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale. Shakespeare died in 1616. In his will, he left money to Richard Burbage, John Heminges, and Henry Condell, three of his friends from the London theater scene. In 1623, they repaid this gift by publishing the First Folio, a nearly comprehensive collection of Shakespeare’s plays.

Sir John Falstaff, the visiting knight in The Merry Wives of Windsor, originally appears in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 1 and Henry IV Part 2, where he appears as a delightfully gluttonous and dissolute companion of Prince Hal, the future Henry V. Falstaff’s wit and charm in these plays, which he presents unapologetically alongside his drunkenness  and debauchery, make him a fan favorite. In fact, many feel that the Falstaff in Merry Wives doesn’t do the Falstaff of the Henriad justice. Falstaff is no longer around in Henry V, but several linked characters (e.g., Mistress Quickly) are still involved in the story. The Merry Wives of Windsor is just one of Shakespeare’s many comedic works, which include A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night, among others. Merry Wives is also full of allusions to other works of literature. For instance, Abraham Slender wishes for his copy of Songes and Sonnettes (also known as Tottel’s Miscellany), a 1557 collection of verses that Elizabethan men used for courting. Shakespeare also makes several references in Merry Wives to Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Readers who have had enough of Shakespeare and his sources could turn to more recently published works of literature. One candidate is John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces, a 1980 novel featuring another comically self-important central character who’s the butt of most of the book’s jokes. Alternatively, Sweet Sweet Revenge Ltd. by Jonas Jonasson, a 2020 release, is a humorous novel that develops an elaborate revenge plot.