THE STORY OF ACT II

THE MERRY WIVES AND FORD LAY PLOTS

In Act II a third under-intrigue that of Ford with Falstaffe is added
to the two before introduced.

Show how the Merry Wives reveal their separate personalities in their
reception of the duplicate letters, and their plot to dupe Falstaffe.

Contrast their two husbands as their natures and marital relations are
shown by their different manner of taking the information given them
by Nym and Pistol. Ford, considered as Shakespeare's first study of
jealousy. How does he compare with Leontes?

How does Ford assist in the plot of the Play?

What pertinence to Ford's jealousy is there in the allusion to Queen
Elizabeth's Sonnet? (II, ii, 199-200).

The Sources of the Merry Wives' intrigue and what Shakespeare has done
with them. (See "Sources," First Folio Edition). How is the Duel scene
related to the underplot?

What characters belong in common to plot and counterplot?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION