When did Shakespeare write The Merry Wives of Windsor?
201695#0
The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a reference to the town of Windsor, also the location of Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, England. Though nominally set in the reign of Henry IV, the play makes no pretense to exist outside contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life. It features the character Sir John Falstaff, the fat knight who had previously been featured in "Henry IV, Part 1" and "Part 2". It has been adapted for the opera on several occasions. The play is one of Shakespeare's lesser-regarded works among literary critics.
The Merry Wives of Windsor
11246#23
The Cobhams appear to have intervened while Shakespeare was in the process of writing either "The Merry Wives of Windsor" or the second part of "Henry IV". The first part of "Henry IV" was probably written and performed in 1596, and the name Oldcastle had almost certainly been allowed by Master of the Revels Edmund Tilney. William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham may have become aware of the offensive representation after a public performance; he may also have learned of it while it was being prepared for a court performance (Cobham was at that time Lord Chamberlain). As father-in-law to the newly widowed Robert Cecil, Cobham certainly possessed the influence at court to get his complaint heard quickly. Shakespeare may have included a sly retaliation against the complaint in his play "The Merry Wives of Windsor" (published after the Henry IV series). In the play, the paranoid, jealous Master Ford uses the alias "Brook" to fool Falstaff, perhaps in reference to William Brooke. At any rate, the name is Falstaff in the "Henry IV, Part 1" quarto, of 1598, and the epilogue to the second part, published in 1600, contains this clarification:
Falstaff
201695#15
Most critics consider "Merry Wives" to be one of Shakespeare's weakest plays, and the Falstaff of "Merry Wives" to be much inferior to the Falstaff of the two "Henry IV" plays. That Shakespeare would so stumble with one of his greatest creations is puzzling and a satisfactory reason for this remains to be found. The most obvious explanation is that it was written very quickly. Leslie Hotson wrote that "it is certain that the play bears the earmarks of hasty writing."
The Merry Wives of Windsor
47620207#0
The Merry Wives of Windsor (German:Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor) is a 1918 German silent comedy film directed by William Wauer. It is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor".
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1918 film)
35889414#0
The Merry Wives of Windsor is an English play by William Shakespeare which was first published in 1602.
The Merry Wives of Windsor (disambiguation)
1924302#0
The Merry Wives of Windsor (in German: Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor) is an opera in three acts by Otto Nicolai to a German libretto by Salomon Hermann Mosenthal based on the play "The Merry Wives of Windsor" by William Shakespeare.
The Merry Wives of Windsor (opera)
201695#11
Support for the Garter theory is divided. If it is correct, it would probably mean that Shakespeare wrote "The Merry Wives of Windsor" between "Henry IV, Part 1" and "Part 2". Critics have trouble believing this for several reasons. One is that Pistol and Shallow are introduced as new characters in "Henry IV, Part 2", but in "The Merry Wives" their connection to Falstaff is taken for granted. Also, there are no references to any of the major events from Falstaff's 15th-century exploits from the history plays, such as the rebellion ("Henry IV, Part 1" & "2"), in "Merry Wives". T.W. Craik suggests that Shakespeare was forced to interrupt work on "Henry IV, Part 2", having written most of it, because "The Merry Wives" had to be completed quickly. Another possible explanation comes from the epilogue to "Henry IV, Part 2", which promises to "continue the story, with Sir John in it". Sir John does not appear in "Henry V", so "Merry Wives" could have been written to make good on the pledge.
The Merry Wives of Windsor
35889525#0
The Merry Wives of Windsor () is a 1950 East German musical comedy film directed by Georg Wildhagen. It was based on William Shakespeare's play by the same name.
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1950 film)
26383204#4
Unlike later such theorists, Hart did not suggest that there was a conspiracy to hide the identity of the true authors, merely that evidence of their identities had been lost by the time the plays were published. Hart asserts that Shakespeare had been "dead for one hundred years and utterly forgotten" when in 1709 old playscripts were discovered and published under his name by Nicholas Rowe and Thomas Betterton. The error occurred because Shakespeare, as a shareholder in The King's Men, owned the manuscripts used by the theater. He speculates that only "The Merry Wives of Windsor" was Shakespeare's own work and suggests that Ben Jonson wrote most of "Hamlet", Shakespeare himself contributing only the grave-digging scene.
Joseph C. Hart
35889525#1
In Elizabethan England, Sir John Falstaff is embroiled in attempting to have a love affair with several women, which soon turns into a humorous adventure.The film is an adaptation of the 1849 opera "The Merry Wives of Windsor" composed by Otto Nicolai with a libretto by Salomon Hermann Mosenthal which was based on William Shakespeare's play of the same title. It was made by the state-owned DEFA studio on a large budget.
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1950 film)