The Merry Wives of Windsor: Analysis of Setting
"The Merry Wives of Windsor" is a comedic play by William Shakespeare, primarily set in the town of Windsor, located on the River Thames. Windsor serves as a vibrant backdrop, characterized by its solid, community-oriented environment, which is home to the majority of the play's characters, including Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, the wives central to the plot. The setting highlights notable landmarks such as Windsor Castle, the Garter Inn, and the nearby forest, each contributing to the social fabric of the town. The Garter Inn, in particular, is a crucial meeting point for Sir John Falstaff and his associates, where his financial schemes unfold. Other locations, like Caius's house, provide comedic opportunities, showcasing the absurdities of the characters through farcical situations. Additionally, Herne's Oak plays a significant role in the narrative, serving as the site of Falstaff's humorous escapades and linking to classical themes of mythology. Overall, the setting of Windsor enriches the play's exploration of community dynamics and individual folly, providing a relatable yet whimsical stage for the unfolding of its comedic events.
The Merry Wives of Windsor: Analysis of Setting
First published: 1602
First produced: 1597
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Comedy
Time of work: Sixteenth century
Asterisk denotes entries on real places.
Places Discussed
*Windsor
*Windsor. Town on the River Thames that is the play’s principal setting. Windsor is also the site of Windsor Castle, about twenty miles west of the center of London. Landmarks in the town include the great park and the castle, Datchet Mead, the road to Frogmore, the Garter Inn, the great oak in the forest, the nearby sawpit, and the castle ditch, in which Thomas Page conceals himself with Justice Shallow and Shallow’s simple-minded nephew, Slender. The play’s Windsor is a solid, comfortable community that takes pride in itself. Apart from the decadent knight Sir John Falstaff, Master Fenton, Justice Shallow, and Slender, all the characters in the play are citizens of Windsor.
*Garter Inn
*Garter Inn. Windsor meeting place of Falstaff and his cohorts. The setting provides another perspective of Windsor society and affords Falstaff a place in which to hatch his scheme to replenish his finances by wooing Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, the wives of two substantial citizens.
Caius’s house
Caius’s house. Home of the stupid French doctor Caius that is the scene of sheer farce, in which the eccentric Frenchman is satirized. Production designers avail themselves of the opportunity to embellish the set with extra doors and paraphernalia that add to the scene’s zaniness.
Herne’s oak
Herne’s oak. Site of Falstaff’s third adventure, where he appears at midnight, disguised as Herne the Hunter with antlers on his head. The forest is appropriate for the references to Diana and Actaeon, with Falstaff’s becoming a parodic Actaeon figure.
Bibliography
Barton, Ann. “Falstaff and the Comic Community.” In Shakespeare’s “Rough Magic”: Renaissance Essays in Honor of C. L. Barber, edited by Peter Erickson and Coppélia Kahn. Newark, N.J.: University of Delaware Press, 1985. An excellent study of Falstaff, the most controversial character in the play. Barton shows that Shakespeare was consciously trying to exclude such self-seeking epicureans from his plays; Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor was the last time such a character received such prominence.
Green, William. Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor.” Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1962. This book follows the history of the play, from its composition to its first performance and audience.
Hemingway, Samuel B. “On Behalf of That Falstaff.” Shakespeare Quarterly 3 (1952): 307-311. Hemingway attributes Falstaff’s controversy to his presence in the Henry IV plays as well as in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Shakespeare’s portrayal of him is different in each.
Roberts, Jeanne Addison. Shakespeare’s English Comedy: “The Merry Wives of Windsor” in Context. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1979. Places the play into the context of the development of Shakespeare’s career, arguing that the play provided Shakespeare’s transition from writing histories to writing tragedies. Roberts also includes chapters on the text, date, sources, and genre.
Wells, Stanley, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Studies. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1986. This is where all studies of Shakespeare should begin. It includes excellent chapters introducing the poet’s biography, conventions and beliefs of Elizabethan England, and reviews of scholarship in the field.