Understanding Shakespeare: The Merry Wives of Windsor by Robert A. Albano - HTML preview

his ready companions. He was not such a lone force. In 1 Henry IV Bardolph, Peto, and even Prince Hal (despite the tricks he plays) are friends to Falstaff. And in 2 Henry IV the knight has for companions Bardolph, Pistol, and Nym as well as Hostess Quickly and Doll Tearsheet. But in Merry Wives, the other characters abandon him or are abandoned by Falstaff. When Falstaff realizes that his financial state has come to an extreme situation, he dismisses his companion Bardolph (I, iii); and Bardolph takes up the profession of tapster at the Garter Inn. More to the point, the characters of Pistol and Nym abandon Falstaff when the knight bids them to convey letters of assignation (tryst) to Mistress Page and Mistress Ford in his attempt to seduce the women and then profit by it (I, iii). But even these rogues – Pistol and Nym – realize that Falstaff has sunk to an all-new depth, a depth that is so low that, even for thieves, such an act of pandering would be dishonorable and discreditable. Falstaff then dismisses Pistol and Nym, who plan to get revenge by informing the husbands (Page and Ford) of Falstaff’s plans to seduce their wives. And even Mistress Quickly no longer serves as a hostess for or companion to Falstaff. Instead, she contributes to the plot being made against Falstaff.

Shakespeare unlikely intended, then, the character of Falstaff to receive much sympathy from the audience. Falstaff is the antagonist in this play, and the protagonist is the entire town of Windsor that band against him and his immoral and corrupt