The fat knight Falstaff is one of Shakespeare's most famous characters. As a figure who indulges excessively in the pleasures of life and is completely devoid of any moral considerations, he stands out in the play Henry IV. With The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare created a turbulent comedy in which Falstaff - supposedly at the request of the queen - appears again, this time as a lover. Here, he is ridiculed as a deceived fraud and unsuccessful seducer. However, he also loses some of his original dramatic grandeur in the process. The Merry Wives, with their penchant for farce, are undoubtedly among Shakespeare's lightest works. Critics have variously criticized the superficiality of the piece, but the author unleashes an unprecedented display of linguistic blunders here, whose wit shapes the narrative.