The Merry Wives of Windsor

Act II of The Merry Wives of Windsor develops the play’s central comic conflicts by intertwining personal schemes with broader social dynamics.  The women of Windsor resist patriarchal and aristocratic authority most directly in this act. Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, having received Falstaff’s identical letters, are not intimidated by his authority as a man or his status as a knight. Their laughter and decision to feign interest in Falstaff mark an important inversion of power. Normally, Falstaff would expect to exercise authority over women of lower rank, but in Windsor, social hierarchy gives way to domestic agency. However, Mistress Ford’s caveat—that they never compromise themselves in a way that could empower her jealous husband—complicates the portrayal. She accepts Ford’s suspicious nature even as she anticipates it, navigating and tempering her husband’s power while accommodating the limitations it imposes on her own behavior. The relative conservatism of the play’s challenge to gender norms speaks to its interest in Redefining Authority as Competence: The wives are representatives of their class, their skill in thwarting Falstaff demonstrating the emerging bourgeoisie’s practical competence.

The potential for social mobility extends even to the lower classes, provided they demonstrate sufficient ability. Mistress Quickly continues to manipulate her position to gain influence with Anne’s suitors and with Falstaff. In this act, she successfully convinces Falstaff that both wives are secretly interested in him. Her performance allows her to collect money from Falstaff while maintaining her employment with Caius and her usefulness to Sir Hugh. Through deception and careful maneuvering, she demonstrates how individuals with little formal power can resist or even subvert authority.

The Complexities of Marriage also continue to be a central concern in this act. The suitor subplot lingers in the background as Doctor Caius prepares to duel Sir Hugh over his pursuit of Anne. Their quarrel presents courtship as a matter of competition and pride rather than love. Each suitor treats Anne as a prize to be won, reinforcing marriage in Windsor as an economic and social arrangement driven by reputation, inheritance, and opportunity. The more immediate marital drama in Act II lies in the contrast between Ford and Page’s responses to warnings that Falstaff intends to seduce their wives. Page responds with trust and composure, whereas Ford reacts with suspicion and jealousy, his inability to trust Mistress Ford leading him to elaborate schemes and self-torment. This divergence highlights two very different visions of marriage: one based on confidence and the other undermined by doubt. Implicitly, these different visions reflect different understandings of a wife’s status—that is, as a companion versus as property.

Revenge and ridicule dominate much of the action in Act II, developing the theme of Revenge and Ridicule as Tools of Social Correction. Mistress Page and Mistress Ford’s decision to entrap Falstaff rather than reject him outright demonstrates the role of ridicule in reestablishing moral balance. To laugh at Falstaff is to strip him of his authority and remind the community of Windsor that his attempts to corrupt respectable households will only rebound upon him. The duel subplot also illustrates ridicule as a form of correction. The Host of the Garter Inn, tasked with refereeing the duel between Doctor Caius and Sir Hugh, mischievously sends them to different locations. His trick ensures they never fight, but it also makes them appear foolish for being manipulated so easily, mocking their hot tempers and reminding them that their professions are entirely unsuited to violence. Their anger over Anne becomes not a noble contest but a comic spectacle, corrected through ridicule rather than through serious confrontation.

That said, the play suggests that ridicule can go too far. In occupying a unique position as both subject and object of ridicule, Falstaff sounds a cautionary note. Mistress Quickly conveys the supposed messages from Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, and Falstaff congratulates himself as irresistible, never realizing that multiple people play him at once. He brags to “Brook” (Ford in disguise) about his upcoming rendezvous with Mistress Ford and fills his boasts with derisive mockery, confident in his ability to triumph over another man’s household. Yet this very mockery plants the seeds of his humiliation. By bragging too openly, he ensures that Ford will be lying in wait to interrupt the tryst. The play uses this reversal to show how ridicule often boomerangs back on the one who wields it most arrogantly.