1441100 1623 Shakespeare. Merry Wives. Title plus one other leaf.
10225.
Merry Wives of Windsor. First Folio. 1623.
Two Leaves. Comedies 39-40 (Title), 45-46.
In Merry wives, we once again encounter the fantastical character of Falstaff fresh from his exploits in Henry IV part one and about to embark on his painful and demeaning fall from grace in Henry IV part two. Merry wives is as close as Shakespeare gets to outright farce: written virtually entirely in prose, it contains some of the wittiest passages of the plays and provides quite deep characterizations (many carried over from other plays) and provides a very three-dimensional view of its chief characters.
In this second leaf (the two leaves are connected and constitute a bifolium) Mistress Page and Mistress Ford have both received identical love letters from Falstaff. The letters have hardly been flattering as both women are described as being “Not young” and fond of drinking. Mistress Quickly arrives with the response from Mistress Ford to Falstaff advising him that her husband will be away from the house “from 10 to 11” in the morning. The very presentation of the letter is riotous in that the combination of Mistress Quickly’s verbosity and Falstaff’s inpatience make for quite a duet.
Mr. Ford, disguising himself as a Mr. Broome, calls on Falstaff and tells him he has been trying to woo Mrs. Ford for ages but has fallen short at every turn. Broome flatters Falstaff and offers him money to use his superior “art of wooing” to “lay an amiable siege” to the honesty of Ford’s wife. Falstaff is willing but puzzled, so Broome explains that if Falstaff can destroy Mistress Ford’s reputation of honor and purity, she will have no defense against him. Falstaff takes the money and promises that Broome will “enjoy Ford’s wife”.
The fragment perfectly encapsulates all that we’ve come to love and admire about this deliciously disreputable knight called Falstaff.
Extremely Fine