The Merry Wives of Windsor

The Merry Wives of Windsor is the only First Folio work named for the women, and it’s the closest Shakespeare came to farce or to a present-day screwball comedy or sitcom.

It’s also his only real English “citizen” comedy; his other comedies of the time are set at court, or on the Continent, or in the countryside. It’s set in a town, and the characters are all middle-class merchant/tradesmen types.

Language is much at issue here: there is much talk of the English language, and of foreigners mangling it; and many characters have colourful ways of speaking.

How do the characters relate to their Henry IV selves? What’s Falstaff like here? In what period is the play set? Why are there so many minor characters? What’s with the German horse thieves? What’s the plotting like?