Before the stag can enjoy his two does, Hugh Evans, Mistress Quickly, and the children appear in costume (at line 34). Before they come close to Falstaff, the pretend fairies recite poetry about the tasks they perform: for example, they pinch the maid servants who fail to complete their tasks (line 42); but for maids who earnestly say their nighttime prayers, the fairies help them to sleep soundly (lines 46-49). The fairies, thus, can be helpful or harmful to humans depending on the goodness or badness of the individual. Readers might recall a similar idea being suggested in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which the fairies were real, not children in costumes.
Falstaff, like many people during the Renaissance, believes that fairies and other supernatural creatures do exist; and he lies down and shuts his eyes (at line 45) in the hope that the fairies will pass by him without mistreating him.
Falstaff, however, is not to get off so easily. A fairy called Hobgoblin (and played by the character Pistol) approaches the knight and declares, “Vile worm, thou wast o’erlooked even in the birth” (80- 81). To be “overlooked at birth” means to be looked at with an evil eye or to be predestined to be evil. The fairies thus accuse Falstaff and decide to punish him. Mistress Quickly then suggests “trial-fire” (82) to be sure whether the knight is good or evil. The fairies then apply their candles to the knight’s