The Complete Merry Wives of Windsor

One critic of the Merry Wives of Windsor argues that "no longer does Shakespeare endow the fat knight [Falstaff] with the nimble wit that enabled him in the earlier plays to extricate himself from every embarrassing situation" (Wright, xii). The result is a "fast-paced farce" (Green, Introduction, lxiv) which "bears traits of Italian comedy" (Green, lxviii). Bate agrees that "the play is Shakespeare's nearest approach to farce or sitcom" (Introduction, ix).

There are obvious oversights in the play which may argue for its hasty composition at the behest of Queen Elizabeth. However, as Green writes, "Surely Shakespeare deserves some forgiveness for the abundance of loose ends in the play" lxxvi). Certainly no Midsummer Night's Dream, the Merry Wives of Windsor does propound a pleasant evening at the theatre.