DRAMATIS PERSONÆ SIR JOHN FALSTAFF. FENTON, a gentleman. SHALLOW, a country justice. SLENDER, Cousin to Shallow. FORD, PAGE, two gentlemen dwelling at Windsor. BARDOLPH, PISTOL, NYM, sharpers attending on Falstaff. ROBIN, page to Falstaff. SIMPLE, servant to Slender. RUGBY, servant to Doctor Caius. MISTRESS FORD. MISTRESS PAGE. ANNE PAGE, her daughter. MISTRESS QUICKLY, servant to Doctor Caius. Servants to Page, Ford, etc. SCENE: Windsor, and the neighbourhood. DURATION OF TIME The confusion of time, due apparently to compression, is discussed in the Introduction. Mr. Daniel proposes the following arrangement as 'in accordance with the obvious intention of the author' : Day 1. I. 1.-4. 2. II. 1.-3., III. 1.-4., and the Quickly portion of 5. The Ford portion of III. 5., IV., V. 3. INTRODUCTION Literary Texts. THE earliest text of the Merry Wives is a Quarto (Q1) Early bearing the following title :-'A | Most pleasaunt and History.excellent conceited Comedie, of Syr Iohn Falstaffe, and the merrie Wiues of Windsor. | Entermixed with Sundrie variable and pleasing humors, of Syr Hugh | the Welch Knight, Iustice Shallow, and his | wise cousin M. Slender. With the swaggering vaine of Auncient Pistoll, and Corporall Nym. By William Shakespeare. | As it hath bene divers times Acted by the right Honorable | my Lord Chamberlaine's Seruants. Both before her Maiestie, and elsewhere. London. | Printed by T. C. for Arthur Iohnson, and are to be sold at his shop in Powles Churchyard. . .' On 18th January 1602 the play had been entered on the Stationers' Register by John Busby, a notorious pirate. He shortly after transferred it to Johnson. Johnson reprinted it with slight alterations in 1619 (Q2). Four years later a widely different version of the play appeared in the Folio, and this was substantially reprinted in a third Quarto, 1630. The precise relation between the two versions cannot even yet be held to be completely determined, but the area of controversy is now comparatively narrow. It may be held to be made out (1) that the Quarto version, which is about half the DRAMATIS PERSONÆ SIR JOHN FALSTAFF. FENTON, a gentleman. SHALLOW, a country justice. FORD, } two gentlemen dwelling at Windsor. PISTOL, NYM, sharpers attending on Falstaff. ROBIN, page to Falstaff. SIMPLE, servant to Slender. RUGBY, servant to Doctor Caius. MISTRESS FORD. MISTRESS PAGE. ANNE PAGE, her daughter. MISTRESS QUICKLY, servant to Doctor Caius. Servants to Page, Ford, etc. SCENE: Windsor, and the neighbourhood. DURATION OF TIME The confusion of time, due apparently to compression, is discussed in the Introduction. Mr. Daniel proposes the following arrangement as 'in accordance with the obvious intention of the author' : Day 1. I. 1.-4. 2. II. 1.-3., III. 1.-4., and the Quickly portion of 5. The Ford portion of III. 5., IV., V. 3. INTRODUCTION Literary THE earliest text of the Merry Wives is a Quarto (Q1) Early bearing the following title :-'A | Most pleasaunt and History.excellent conceited Comedie, of Syr John Falstaffe, Texts. and the merrie Wiues of Windsor. | Entermixed with Sundrie variable and pleasing humors, of Syr Hugh | the Welch Knight, Iustice Shallow, and his | wise cousin M. Slender. | With the swaggering vaine of Auncient | Pistoll, and Corporall Nym. | By William Shakespeare. As it hath bene divers times Acted by the right Honorable | my Lord Chamberlaine's Seruants. Both before her | Maiestie, and elsewhere. | London. | Printed by T. C. for Arthur Iohnson, and are to be sold at | his shop in Powles Churchyard. . ? .' On 18th January 1602 the play had been entered on the Stationers' Register by John Busby, a notorious pirate. He shortly after transferred it to Johnson. Johnson reprinted it with slight alterations in 1619 (Q2). Four years later a widely different version of the play appeared in the Folio, and this was substantially reprinted in a third Quarto, 1630. The precise relation between the two versions cannot even yet be held to be completely determined, but the area of controversy is now comparatively narrow. It may be held to be made out (1) that the Quarto version, which is about half the DRAMATIS PERSONE SIR JOHN FALSTAFF. FENTON, a gentleman. SHALLOW, a country justice. FORD, } PAGE, two gentlemen dwelling at Windsor. BARDOLPH, PISTOL, NYM, sharpers attending on Falstaff. ROBIN, page to Falstaff. SIMPLE, servant to Slender. RUGBY, servant to Doctor Caius. MISTRESS FORD. MISTRESS PAGE. ANNE PAGE, her daughter. MISTRESS QUICKLY, servant to Doctor Caius. Servants to Page, Ford, etc. SCENE: Windsor, and the neighbourhood. DURATION OF TIME The confusion of time, due apparently to compression, is discussed in the Introduction. Mr. Daniel proposes the following arrangement as 'in accordance with the obvious intention of the author' : Day 1. I. 1.-4. 2. II. 1.-3., III. 1.-4., and the Quickly portion of 5. 3. The Ford portion of III. 5., IV., V. |