Master Doctor, my daughter is in green. When you see your time, take
her by the hand, away with her to the deanery, and dispatch it quickly.
Go before into the park. We two must go together.
Master Doctor, my daughter is in green. When you see your time, take her by the hand, away with her to the deanery, and dispatch it quickly. Go before into the park. We two must go together.
master doctor, my daughter is in green. when you see your time, take her by the hand, away with her to the deanery, and dispatch it quickly. go before into the park. we two must go together.
master doctor, my daughter is in green. when you s
I know vat I have to do. Adieu.
I know vat I have to do. Adieu.
i know vat i have to do. adieu.
i know vat i have to do. adieu.
Fare you well, sir.
Fare you well, sir.
fare you well, sir.
fare you well, sir.
Mistress Page's couplet — 'Against such lewdsters and their lechery, / Those that betray them do no treachery' — is Shakespeare articulating the moral case for female agency. Falstaff represents a threat that no legal system can address: a man who uses charm and economic power to prey on women, who would happily destroy marriages if given the chance. The women don't have legal recourse, so they create their own justice. By making this moral argument explicit, Shakespeare validates their plot. The revenge isn't petty; it's targeted at an actual predator.
Where is Nan now, and her troop of fairies, and the Welsh devil Hugh?
Where is Nan now, and her troop of fairies, and the Welsh devil Hugh?
where is nan now, and her troop of fairies, and the welsh devil hugh?
where is nan now, and her troop of fairies, and th
They are all couched in a pit hard by Herne’s oak, with obscured
lights, which, at the very instant of Falstaff’s and our meeting, they
will at once display to the night.
They are all couched in a pit hard by Herne’s oak, with obscured lights, which, at the very instant of Falstaff’s and our meeting, they will at once display to the night.
they are all couched in a pit hard by herne’s oak, with obscured lights, which, at the very instant of falstaff’s and our meeting, they will at once display to the night.
they are all couched in a pit hard by herne’s oak,
5-3 is ostensibly about humiliating Falstaff, but it's really about the three suitors for Anne Page — none of whom will get her because she has her own choice. Caius is being sent to grab a girl in green, but that girl might not be Anne. Slender has his password system. Fenton has something neither of the others has: Anne's love and her active participation. The women's trap for Falstaff is also, incidentally, the mechanism that frees Anne from unwanted marriages.
That cannot choose but amaze him.
That cannot choose but amaze him.
that cannot choose but amaze him.
that cannot choose but amaze him.
If he be not amazed, he will be mocked; if he be amazed, he will every
way be mocked.
If he be not amazed, he will be mocked; if he be amazed, he will every way be mocked.
if he be not amazed, he will be mocked; if he be amazed, he will every way be mocked.
if he be not amazed, he will be mocked; if he be a
We’ll betray him finely.
We’ll betray him finely.
we’ll betray him finely.
we’ll betray him finely.
Against such lewdsters and their lechery,
Those that betray them do no treachery.
Against such lewdsters and their lechery, Those that betray them do no treachery.
against such lewdsters and their lechery, those that betray them do no treachery.
against such lewdsters and their lechery, those th
The hour draws on. To the oak, to the oak!
The hour draws on. To the oak, to the oak!
the hour draws on. to the oak, to the oak!
the hour draws on. to the oak, to the oak!
The Reckoning
The women's final coordination scene. Everything is locked in place: Caius knows to grab the girl in green, the fairies are in the pit with hidden lights, Falstaff is positioned to meet them at midnight. Mistress Page's passing comment about accepting heartbreak over scolding reveals the play's deeper stakes — these women have had to tolerate male insecurity and jealousy as the cost of marriage. Their revenge on Falstaff is righteous precisely because he represents the ultimate expression of that threat: a man who would seduce wives and destroy families for his own pleasure.
If this happened today…
Two wives doing final logistics on an elaborate prank to catch the guy who's been sexually harassing them, while one woman worries her own husband will be more upset about their daughter's future than about the success of their trap.