The Merry Wives of Windsor has several plots (or subplots), but the main plot is clearly The Wives vs. Falstaff. Or is it Falstaff vs. The Wives? Are the two wives the main protagonists, or is Falstaff the protagonist? An argument could be made either way. A common term used in modern literature is antihero. The antihero is a central character in a work of literature who is not conventional and not very heroic. Further, he may exhibit many negative qualities. Although Falstaff is clearly a negative force in Windsor, he is certainly the central figure of the play. He dominates the work. Falstaff as the protagonist clearly has a goal that he sets out to achieve (namely, to make money by seducing the wives), and the other characters in the play are antagonistic toward Falstaff’s accomplishing that goal.
Some Shakespeare scholars and critics suggests that the play has two main problems in regards to the plot. First, the play introduces two minor conflicts in the first act that are never completed: (1) Shallow vs. Falstaff and (2) Slender vs. Falstaff. In regards to the first of these, three judges were appointed to settle the matter; and that bit of business never takes place. Of course, an argument could also be made that since Shallow and Slender played a role in the humiliation of Falstaff in the final scene of the play, that humiliation and