Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare Project Lecture) (Patreon)

Published:
2023-08-09 20:08:03
Imported:
2026-06
haven't archived this post yet. have a subscription? use the importer!

Downloads

  • Shakespeare Windsor Discussion.mp3

Missing 1 full-res photo, 1 file, as this post has not yet been imported.

Content

Our journey through the works of William Shakespeare continues with The Merry Wives of Windsor.

We’re discussing a particularly eventful period in Shakespeare's life, the bard's Lost Years, the writer's alignment with Falstaff, encountering plays we dislike, and much more.

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 how this play was written
  • 1:40 my personal response to this play
  • 4:00 the effect of reading in sequence
  • 5:30 Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor
  • 7:30 musing on the humour of this play
  • 10:30 where the name Falstaff comes from
  • 11:40 the Lost Years of William Shakespeare
  • 12:30 Shakespeare the deer poacher
  • 14:00 a year in the life of Shakespeare
  • 17:00 Will gets into a violent dispute
  • 19:40 Shakespeare purchases New Place
  • 23:00 first performance of this play
  • 25:00 on this play’s critical reception
  • 29:00 Sir John Falstaff’s love letters
  • 31:00 comedy as festive celebration
  • 32:00 on good vs bad productions
  • 34:00 our Shakespeare read-through
  • 37:00 your thoughts on this play?

Recommended Resources:

  • Musical Appreciation: Verdi wrote three operas based on the plays of William Shakespeare. Macbeth, Othello, and his very last opera, Falstaff, was based on The Merry Wives of Windsor. Superb productions abound online. This one and this one both offer rewarding experiences. You might also enjoy the overture from Otto Nicolai's divine opera here.
  • The Family Coat of Arms: Our playwright is now a gentleman. And you can check out Shakespeare's beautiful coat of arms here. It has a gold background, a spear running across it on a black bar, a silver falcon with its own spear, and the motto 'Non Sans Droict', which means 'Not Without Right.'
  • Shakespeare's Family Homes: You may find that this video from Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust inspires you to plan a visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon in the future. It's a pilgrimage that Bardolators find deeply rewarding. 
  • Arden Edition: The Arden edition of this play continues to prove a valuable resource because the annotations and introduction are brilliant.
  • Audio Dramatisation: The Arkangel team have once again delivered a splendid audio version for this play here.
  • The Shakespeare Code: You might find this documentary to be an interesting watch. It tells the story of a man who believes he has deciphered a secret coded map hidden in the First Folio.

Questions for You:

1) What do you make of this play's Falstaff?

2) Why do you think Shakespeare inspires musical adaptations?

3) What line, passage, idea, or character most resonated with you? And what is your personal grading for The Merry Wives of Windsor?

Happy reading, Bardolators!

Files

Previews only

Comments

Ellen M

Well I couldn’t finish this one fast enough- definitely way down on the list of all we’ve read so far. Ben, as always your lectures shine even for the lesser works. I don’t bave any lines that stood out for me. It felt like this play was just a vehicle to use Falstaff and fill some seats at the theater, but I do think I need to watch an adaptation just to give it a fair shot Ben: I’ve been wondering when you’d post a link to that video about the Shakespeare code, and what your thoughts are about it? Seems like total nonsense initially but the way he links all those numbers is beyond strange

Tammi Kibler

Wow, I loved this play. I was late to a party yesterday because I couldn’t put it down. I felt like all of the language was accessible and the plot points didn’t seem forced or silly. I was so happy driving to the party. I felt like, “Hey Mr. McEvoy, it happened. I finally found the play I loved the first time through.” Then last night, I listened to your lecture. We left with different opinions. But you said you would like to hear from those who loved it. So… It’s a strange stance to take, presuming as a reader one would know the character better than the playwright. I agree this Falstaff is not exactly the one I read in Henry IV part one. And it is possible I’m missing nuances of character that will be revealed in Henry IV part two and Henry V. Maybe there was a commission from the queen. Maybe it was just the news from the box office. “They want another Falstaff play. Give the people what they want.” Shakespeare is a master of character, and it’s possible here he gave us an example of how character is filtered through the eyes of others. Perhaps Falstaff appeared to the king's court differently than he did to the commoner folk. Perhaps Will understood something about exactly what his audience wanted to see. Every play features a wordplay character, and I enjoyed the Host of the Garter more than several who preceded him. The bit that first caught my eye: "Peace, I say! hear mine host of the Garter. Am I politic? am I subtle? am I a Machiavel? Shall I lose my doctor? no; he gives me the potions and the motions. Shall I lose my parson, my priest, my Sir Hugh? no; he gives me the proverbs and the no-verbs. [Give me thy hand, terrestrial; so.] Give me thy hand, celestial; so." I can see the host in the theater of my mind miming the drinking of a potion and then wiggling his body to indicate the motions that followed. I liked the symmetry and rhyme of terrestrial and celestial. I loved “the proverbs and the no-verbs” as a rhyme. And I especially enjoyed not having the host go on for thirty more lines of philosophical punnery comparing the health of his corporal form to the health of his soul only to come to the same conclusion that both men were equally important to him. This play moved quickly, motivations were clear, situations were amusing. I enjoyed it.

Ylva

It’s been over a month since I read this, and not a day has gone by during which I think, fondly yet emphatically, “The merry wives of Windsor…damn this play was terrible. What were you thinking, Will?” And yet, in a perhaps weird way, I get it. It makes me wonder whether every writer has that one story deep, deep, deep within a secret drawer that he’d rather like to forget. One that was written in a desperate moment, or on a date, or out of obligation/duty or other tactical, art-preserving reasons, like pleasing your publisher or, indeed, your royal benefactor. That’s not to say I refuse engaging with this ever again or that I declare I’ll never like this play. Funnily enough, I even already like it alone for the fact that it shows Shakespeare was only human too, like we all are. The play still gets my first F. A fat, underlined one. Since wow, I really wish I could pretend this one wasn’t Shakespeare 😂 Then I look at the lines again and sigh a defeated, “damn it is, though. It’s obvious.” “He speaks holiday, he smells April and May.”