I am a huge fan of William Shakespeare's works - particularly the comedies - and one of his most hilarious plays is The Merry Wives of Windsor. One of only four Shakespearean plays considered to be an original work (rather than a retelling of a previously-told story), Merry Wives is also the most middle-class of Shakespeare's plays. It takes place in a provincial town, and all of its characters are average denizens of Windsor. There are no dukes, queens, fairies or Roman generals in this play; rather, its broad and accessible humor and endearing working-class characters makes Merry Wives among the most enjoyable for contemporary audiences.
The play begins with Justice Robert Shallow, Master Abraham Slender, and the foolish Welsh pastor Sir Hugh Evans discussing Sir John Falstaff. Slender is angry with Falstaff, by whom he has been insulted and disrespected in various ways. However, the conversation quickly moves to a discussion of Anne Page, a young woman with whom Slender is enamored. The three men arrive at the home of Master Page, Anne's father, and after a confrontation with Falstaff the men enter the house.
Meanwhile, Falstaff and his men have settled at the local Garter Inn. Falstaff lays out his plan to seduce two local women - Mistress Ford and Mistress Page (Anne's mother and the wife of Master Page) - in order to get at their husbands' money. Falstaff sends his servants Pistol and Nim to deliver his romantic letters to the women; however, the two men plot instead to reveal Falstaff's intentions to Masters Page and Ford.
Master Slender's servant, Simple, has a conversation with Mistress Quickly, the servant of the local physician, Dr. Caius. Quickly agrees to speak favorably about Slender to Anne Page. Dr. Caius enters; he is a Frenchman with a ridiculous accent. When he learns of Slender's plans, he is angered; Caius, too, is in love with Anne Page, and when he learns that Simple was sent by Sir Hugh Evans he challenges the Welshman to a duel. Later, Fenton enters; he is a young man of high birth, who is also in love with Anne Page.
Meanwhile, at the Page household, Mrs. Page has received Falstaff's letter. She can't believe that Falstaff could be so bold as to try to seduce her. When Mrs. Ford shows up with an identical letter, the two women decide to lead Falstaff on in order to humiliate him. At the same time, Pistol and Nim are revealing Falstaff's plans to Mr. Page and Mr. Ford; Page scoffs at the thought of his wife cheating on him, but Ford is racked by jealousy and worries that his wife will be unfaithful.
Later, at the Garter Inn, Quickly delivers a letter to Falstaff from Mistresses Ford and Page. In it, Mrs. Ford lets on that her husband will be out of the house the next day, and invites Falstaff to come over. Mrs. Page has not been able to get her husband out, so she will contact Falstaff at a later date. Next, Mr. Ford enters in disguise. Introducing himself to Falstaff as "Brooke", Ford tells Falstaff that he has tried to seduce Mrs. Ford but that she has rebuffed him out of loyalty to her husband. "Brooke" asks Falstaff to seduce the woman, so that in the future she will not have an excuse to turn "Brooke" down. Falstaff assures "Brooke" that he already has a date lined up with Mrs. Ford tomorrow morning. Alone, Ford is distraught that his wife has agreed to cheat on him.
Meanwhile, Caius awaits Evans for their duel. They meet and prepare to fight, but the bystanders, including Masters Page and Ford, take their weapons. The two men get to talking, and decide that this whole disagreement is the fault of the Host of the Garter Inn. The three men believe that the Host is scorning them because of their foreign accents; they decide to get back at him. (Later in the play they succeed in this endeavour by disguising themselves as German lords and stealing three of the Host's horses.) On the way back from the fight, the men discuss marriage options for Anne Page. Mr. Page reveals that he favors Slender, but his wife prefers Caius.
Falstaff has arrived at Mrs. Ford's house, but he hides when Mrs. page arrives and announces the imminent arrival of Mr. Ford. Falstaff begs the two women to help him escape. They hide him in a laundry basket; as Mr. Ford shows up, his wife's servants take out the laundry and dump it, Falstaff and all, in the river.
Anne Page meets with Fenton, and the two express their love for each other. Slender, Quickly and Shallow show up. Slender attempts to make romantic overtures to Anne, but ends up babbling incoherently. Meanwhile, Quickly tells Fenton that despite Anne's parents' dismissal of him, she prefers Fenton for Anne.
Falstaff returns to the Fords' house. Once again, Mrs. Page enters to warn of Mr. Ford's approach. Falstaff refuses to be taken out with the laundry again, so this time they disguise him by dressing him up as the fat aunt of one of her servants. When Mr. Ford arrives, he is outraged; he hates the fat aunt, and he chases Falstaff away with a beating. Satisfied that their scheme has run its course, the two women let their husbands in on how everything has played out. Ford apologizes for his unfounded jealousy, and they all decide to work together to publicly humiliate Falstaff. Their plan is as such: Mrs. Ford will invite Falstaff for a rendezvous in the local allegedly haunted woods. The Fords and the Pages will dress their children up as ghosts and evil spirits to terrify Falstaff.
At the Garter Inn, Fenton talks to the Host about a letter he has received from Anne Page. She tells him of her parents' plot to embarrass Falstaff, and reveals that her parents want to use the chaos of the occasion as an opportunity for their respectively-preferred suitors to elope with her. She is to wear a specifically-colored outfit, so that her suitor can identify her. However, she plans to elope with Fenton that night.
Falstaff arrives in the wood, and the children all jump out in their monstrous disguises and frighten Falstaff. Once they have scared him sufficiently, they leave and Page and Ford enter. As they admonish Falstaff for his lustiness, they wonder where Anne is. Slender and Caius show up and reveal that they have each eloped with a young boy dressed in Anne's clothing. Anne and Fenton enter and reveal that they have just gotten married. Her parents realize that they should have listened to their daughters' desire, and everyone departs to the Page house for dinner.
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