SOURCE: "The Merry Wives of Windsor: Sharing the Queen's Holiday," in Representations, No. 51, Summer, 1995, pp. 77-91.

In the following essay, Katz examines the connection between The Merry Wives of Windsor's first showing before the Queen in honor of her knights of the Garter and its subsequent performances held for the general populace. The author contends that the play was intended to inspire patriotism in the citizenry.

I

The Merry Wives of Windsor is a spin-off: in it, Shakespeare resituates Falstaff in Windsor, where the well-known scoundrel causes mischief by wooing the wives of two prominent townsmen, Master Ford and Master Page. Perhaps the play's identity as sequel or appendage contributes to its minor reputation; but Merry Wives has also suffered (in the annals of twentieth-century criticism) for being an "occasional" play, trivialized by its connection to a ceremonial occasion—much as Charles Dickens's Christmas Carol has become...