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Summary
Evans wanders through the fields with Simple, looking for Caius but unable to find him, thanks to Simple’s misdirection. He sends Simple off to find Caius and sits down to read his book of poems and be melancholy. Simple reappears and leads Evans toward Shallow, Slender, and Page. Shallow says that Caius is nearby, and Evans responds by insulting the doctor’s knowledge.
The Host enters with Caius, and Evans and Caius face off. Shallow and Page disarm the two men. Under their breath, Evans and Caius discuss their suspicions that the others led them on to fight just to make fun of them. They agree the Host has plotted against them. Then the Host speaks, claiming that he doesn’t want to lose his doctor or his clergyman, so he urges them to make peace. The spectators exit, leaving Caius and Evans alone to plot revenge against the Host.
In the street, Ford meets Mistress Page, who is accompanied by Falstaff’s servant, Robin. She says that she is on her way to see Mistress Ford, and she departs. Ford comments that Page is a fool to think that his wife is honest, since she’s now on her way to his wife’s house with a messenger from Falstaff. Meanwhile, the clock strikes ten, and Ford prepares to trap Falstaff.
Page, Shallow, Slender, the Host, Evans, and Caius enter. Ford invites them all to come to his house. The group has been discussing a match between Slender and Anne Page. Page tells Slender that he supports him but that his wife supports Caius. The Host asks about Fenton, and Page says he doesn’t approve of him as a husband for Anne. Ford again invites the men to dine at his house, and they join him.
Mistresses Ford and Page prepare for Falstaff’s arrival. They order two of Ford’s servants to be ready with a large laundry basket, which they will carry to the Thames and throw in the water. Falstaff’s boy-servant announces his arrival, and Mistress Page hides. Falstaff enters. He tells Mistress Ford that he wishes her husband were dead so he could marry her and make her a lady. She says that she would make a plain lady, but he compliments her. He says that he doesn’t have the skill with words that young wooers do, but he declares his love.
A servant announces Mistress Page at the door. Falstaff hides, and Mistress Page rushes in with news that her husband is coming with officers of Windsor to search for a gentleman Page believes is in his house, at Mistress Ford’s invitation. Mistress Ford says that no gentleman is present, and Mistress Page insists that she’d be in trouble if there were. So, Mistress Ford admits that a man is indeed in her house, and she says she must find a way to hide him quickly. Mistress Page suggests they hide him in the laundry basket and have servants carry the basket out.
Falstaff emerges and says he’ll consent to be smuggled out. Mistress Page pretends to be surprised to see him, and she asks him if he wrote love letters to her recently. He whispers that he loves her then climbs into the basket. Mistresses Ford and Page hide him by piling dirty clothes on top, and they order two servants to carry the basket away. They are poised to leave when Ford, Page, Caius, and Evans arrive.
Ford enters, intending to catch Falstaff. The servants depart with the basket. He and the other men look around the house but don’t find anyone. Mistress Ford and Page find that they don’t know whom they enjoy fooling more, Falstaff or Ford. The Mistresses agree that Ford seemed sure that Falstaff would be there and that his jealousy is especially acute. They plan to play more tricks on Falstaff to draw out the root of Ford’s jealous behavior.
The men return from their search. Mistress Page says that Ford wrongs Mistress Ford to distrust her. Evans and Caius agree that Mistress Ford seems to be honest. Page suggests that the men go hunting together the next day, and Caius and Evans reaffirm their plot against the Host.
Analysis
The opening scenes of act 3 introduce a new alliance and strengthen an existing one, both of which are built around revenge. The new alliance arises between Evans and Caius, who find common ground in their foreignness. As the Host of the Garter and his companions usher these men together and summarily disarm them, Evans and Caius come to suspect that the real spectacle their audience has come for isn’t physical but verbal violence. The Host suggests as much when he announces: “Let them keep their limbs whole and hack our English” (3.1.76–77). Evans and Caius give them some satisfaction, cursing each other with absurd obscenities while also quietly making a pact of vengeance. Meanwhile, in another part of Windsor, the alliance between the Mistresses Ford and Page is moving from plan to execution. The women have concocted a plot to dispense with Falstaff, luring him into a laundry basket just as Mistress Ford’s husband comes home and having him taken and dumped in the river by servants. As they execute this plan, the women grow even closer as they realize their plan is also having an effect on Mister Ford.
And indeed, the curious situation Ford finds himself in deeply agitates his already acute sense of jealousy. As he prepares to catch his wife in an adulterous act, Ford allows himself to feel an elevated sense of self-righteousness. After encountering Mistress Page with Falstaff’s servant, Ford indulges in a long diatribe where he implicitly congratulates himself on his own shrewdness by insisting that Page is wrong to trust his wife: “Has Page any brains? Hath he any eyes? Hath he any thinking? . . . He pieces out his wife’s inclination. He gives her folly motion and advantage” (3.2.27–33). Of course, we in the audience know that Ford continues to be mistaken, which makes his amplified self-righteousness that much more alarming and hilarious. His attitude also sets him up for great comic embarrassment when he gathers a group of men together to witness what he believes will be an undeniable confirmation of his suspicions. Essentially, he gathers an audience to witness his own humiliation as he breaks into his own house and finds nothing out of the ordinary. This situation will no doubt lead to even greater agitation—and, indeed, comic possibility.
