The Merry Wives of Windsor
Overview
The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare
, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight
Sir John Falstaff
, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era
English middle class life. It has been adapted for the opera on occasions.
Some elements of The Merry Wives of Windsor may have been adapted from Il Pecorone, a collection of stories by Ser Giovanni Fiorentino; one of these stories was included in William Painter
's The Palace of Pleasure.
The play's date of composition is unknown; it was registered for publication in 1602, but was probably several years old by that date.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
Sir John Falstaff
Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare. In the two Henry IV plays, he is a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V. A fat, vain, boastful, and cowardly knight, Falstaff leads the apparently wayward Prince Hal into trouble, and is...
, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
English middle class life. It has been adapted for the opera on occasions.
Some elements of The Merry Wives of Windsor may have been adapted from Il Pecorone, a collection of stories by Ser Giovanni Fiorentino; one of these stories was included in William Painter
William Painter
William Painter was an English author and translator.William Painter was a native of Kent. He matriculated at St John's College, Cambridge, in 1554. In 1561 he became clerk of the ordnance in the Tower of London, a position in which he appears to have amassed a fortune out of the public funds...
's The Palace of Pleasure.
The play's date of composition is unknown; it was registered for publication in 1602, but was probably several years old by that date.
