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Some critics also suggest that the Falstaff of Merry Wives is too “tame” and “unresourceful” compared to his counterpart in the history plays. Other critics suggest a Falstaff in a comedy necessitates changes from a Falstaff in the historyplays.
No source exists for this comedy, but it belongs in tradition of fabliaux: in some fabliaux, the wife plots against her would besuitor.
Lyly’s Endimion from 1588 contains a scene of a nobleman who is pinched by fairies as a punishment for his lust. But they are real fairies, notchildren.
Merry Wivesis the lightest of Shakespeare’s comedies. There is no threat of death, nothing great at risk. Even Falstaff is invited to the weddingfeast.
Falstaff is a threat to the social order, but the knight is also passive, an unwitting victim who thinks he is initiatingevents.
The comedy Falstaff has some characteristics in common with the historyFalstaff:
