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Act 5, Scene 4
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Merry Wives of Windsor, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Deception and Dishonesty
Love
Gender
Community
Summary
Analysis
Fully in costume, Falstaff enters the meeting place. He dwells on the different animal forms that Jove took to rape different women in Roman mythology, fancying himself similar in his horns. Mistress Ford approaches and greets him warmly, revealing that Mistress Page is with her. Falstaff, believing that he’s going to have sex with both women, is pleased with the evening’s events so far. Suddenly, horns sound, and the women run away. Mistress Quickly, Pistol, Sir Hugh, Anne Page, and the Windsor boys approach with candles. Mistress Quickly, in costume as the Fairy Queen, starts to order the fairies around, telling them to visit the homes of the idle and ignorant and pinch them. Then, as they prepare to dance, Mistress Quickly declares that she senses a human—Falstaff—near.
Falstaff, in his borrowed horns and portly enthusiasm, doesn’t make much of a Jove (king of the gods in Roman mythology). The contrast is comical, but Falstaff’s erotic preoccupation with Jove’s rapes makes these lines a little bit threatening, too. But just as Falstaff thinks his dreams are about to come true, the two women are replaced by a full fairy court instead. The Windsor townspeople, whom Falstaff once looked down on, now appear as fairies, a higher species than Falstaff altogether. Again, the balance of social power has shifted.
Active
Themes
Mistress Quickly, as the Fairy Queen, declares that she’s going to test Falstaff’s chastity by burning his finger with a magical flame. If he’s chaste, it won’t hurt him. At her command, Sir Hugh burns Falstaff’s finger with a candle, and he recoils. Declaring him lustful and corrupt, Mistress Quickly orders the fairies to surround Falstaff and pinch him while they sing and dance about the evils of “sinful fantasy.” After some time, Mistress Ford, Master Ford, Mistress Page, and Master Page reappear, and Mistress Page lets Falstaff in on the joke.
The Fairy Queen’s test of Falstaff’s “chastity” turns the tables: instead of Falstaff and Master Ford constantly trying to feel out the limits of Mistress Page and Mistress Ford’s chastity, Falstaff has to account for his own. The townspeople don’t have to be actual fairies to know that his chastity is sorely lacking, and they punish him in an almost cult-like way for his moral failings. In this way, the whole community joins together to purge the source of sin from their ranks—albeit in a pretty lighthearted way.
Active
Themes
Mistress Page and Master Ford tease Falstaff for the horns he now wears, symbols of the cuckold. Master Ford threatens him, telling him that he owes “Master Brook” money for failing to deliver him Master Ford’s wife. Slowly, Falstaff starts to process what is happening. Sir Hugh urges Falstaff to give up his wicked ways, and Master Ford to give up his jealousy, saying all will be well if they leave their respective vices behind. After some more taunting, the townspeople turn to lead Falstaff back to Windsor for a friendly dinner. Mistress Page and Master Page both admit that they’ve planned for Anne to marry a different man on this night.
Active
Themes
Just then, a furious Slender appears. He did disappear from the dance with a girl dressed in white who gave the proper response to his signal, but when they got to Eton, he discovered that he was actually with a boy in a white dress. Mistress Page laughingly admits that she’s at fault, since she told Anne to dress in green instead. But then Doctor Caius appears, equally confused and angry. He has accidentally married a boy in a green dress. Finally, Fenton and Anne appear, married.
Active
Themes
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Mistress Page and Master Page both turn angrily on Anne, but Fenton asks them to listen first. He tells them that they married for love, which is a sort of promise that can’t be taken back. Because Anne married to keep that promise, her betrayal of her parents’ wishes wasn’t really deceitful—instead, she was being honest to the world and to herself, committing a “holy offense.” Fenton speaks out against the sadness and rebellion that Anne would have felt if she were forced into a marriage she didn’t want. Ford agrees with Fenton, telling Master and Mistress Page that marriage is ruled by love rather than money. Anne’s parents relent and give the couple well-wishes, and the whole group goes back to Windsor to sit by the fire.
