This play is set in Windsor, England during the late sixteenth century (_Shmoop_). According to CliffNotes, Merry Wives of Windsor is dependent “on lightning-quick timing between the actor and the carefully choreographed actions.” The play consists of two major plotlines involving multiple characters. Firstly, there is the conflict between Mistress Ford, Mistress Page, and Sir John Falstaff. It is this plotline that eerily resembles a modern sitcom as Sir John Falstaff plans to woo two Merry Wives in an attempt to cheat Page and Ford out of their husband’s money. The two Merry Wives soon discover Sir John Falstaff’s true intentions and plan to using Falstaff’s own plan against himself. The plot subsequently becomes mishmash as the husband’s attempt to test their wives loyalty by paying Falstaff to woo the women. In the end, Falstaff is submitted into a final act of humiliation as the Merry Wives pull a final prank on Falstaff. Secondly, there is the conflict between Slender, Doctor, Caius, Fenton, and Anne Page. This plotline consists of Mistress Page’s daughter, Anne Page, as she struggles to deal with the various suitors attempting to woo her. It is revealed towards the end that the Anne Page the suitor were attempting to woo was actually a fake and that the real Anne Page went off to marry Fenton. This marriage occurred during the events and confusion of the other plotline involved the Merry Wives and Falstaff.
