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Summary
Falstaff, Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol enter the Garter Inn and call for the inn’s Host. Falstaff makes a deal with the Host to be housed for a discounted sum provided that Bardolph works as the Host’s bartender. Falstaff says he is glad to have Bardolph off his hands for a time, since his funds are running dangerously low and Bardolph is an indiscriminate thief.
He then tells Pistol and Nym of his plan to seduce Mistress Ford. Not only does he like her good-natured attitude, but he also hears she has control over her husband’s cash. He shows two letters that he wrote, one to Mistress Ford and the other to Mistress Page. He thinks they both look favorably on him as well. Like Mistress Ford, Mistress Page also allegedly controls the purse-strings in her marriage, and Falstaff hopes to benefit from an affair with each. He asks Pistol and Nym to convey his letters to the ladies, but they refuse, saying that they prefer to behave respectably. Falstaff exits to find someone else to take them. Pistol and Nym scorn Falstaff for his base behavior, and they decide to thwart his plan by revealing it to Ford and Page.
Meanwhile, Mistress Quickly awaits the return of her master, Doctor Caius, while speaking to Simple. Simple explains his errand from Evans, who has sent him to ask Mistress Quickly to speak to Anne Page on Slender’s behalf. Mistress Quickly thinks Anne would do well to marry Slender, so she promises to urge her to make the match.
Caius approaches, and Mistress Quickly hides Simple in a closet. Caius is about to depart to visit the court, and he goes to his closet to fetch some medicines. When he opens the door, he encounters Simple. Quickly explains that Simple has come with an errand from Evans, and Simple confirms that Evans sent him to ask Quickly to put in a good word for Slender with Anne. Caius is upset and asks for paper and writes a note. While he writes, Quickly whispers to Simple that she will do all she can for his master, but the truth is that her master is in love with Anne Page too.
Caius hands his letter to Simple and announces that he will challenge Evans to a duel. He sends Simple to deliver the letter. Caius scolds Quickly, angry since she had told him she could convince Anne to marry him. Quickly insists that Anne does love him, and that Slender means nothing to her. Caius departs for court, and Quickly comments to herself that she knows Anne’s mind. She doubts that Anne loves either man.
Master Fenton enters to ask Quickly about Anne. Quickly swears to him that Anne loves him, and she says they spoke of him at length. Fenton says he’ll visit her that day and departs. Quickly reiterates that she knows Anne well and is sure she doesn’t love Fenton either.
Analysis
As act 1 continues, the plot quickly thickens when Falstaff, who is always embroiled in money troubles, schemes to seduce Mistress Ford and Mistress Page in an effort to get at their husbands’ money. Although we’ve only met these women briefly back in scene 1, Falstaff’s scheme gives the audience our first insight into the two women who represent the titular “merry wives.” Both women apparently hold positions of power in their respective households, where they each regulate the domestic economy. But his plot both to seduce and bamboozle them immediately runs into a snag when his own henchmen refuse to help him achieve his unworthy goals. Instead, they will amuse themselves by informing Ford and Page of Falstaff’s plan to seduce their wives—an act that will surely add comic complications that humiliate their ridiculous master.
The final scene of act 1 adds yet further complication. This scene serves in part to introduce two more figures, each of whom is ridiculous in their own way. First, there is Mistress Quickly, a well-meaning woman whose speech is peppered with malapropisms and mispronunciations. Then there is Caius, the foreign doctor whose mix of French and heavily accented English presents a comic counterpoint to the Welsh accent of Sir Hugh Evans. Shakespeare draws out this counterpoint through the conflict that arises over the wooing of Anne Page. Caius wants to court this woman for himself, and he’s furious to find that Evans is attempting to woo her on Slender’s behalf. The ensuing conflict between these two men—and their warring accents—is certain to amuse. However, the complication doesn’t end with their rivalry, for there is a third suitor whom we learn is seeking Anne’s hand: a gentleman by the name of Fenton. As each of the men turn against each other in pursuit of love, Mistress Quickly assumes the role of gatekeeper. She claims to know Anne’s heart, and as such she may be the one best poised to facilitate a winning engagement.
