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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 July 2009
How popular was The Merry Wives of Windsor in the eighteenth century? Because records show that the original, unadapted version of the play was performed a substantial number of times, scholars have usually assumed that it was both a critical and theatrical success during this period. This opinion is, however, based on an incomplete picture of the play's stage history, and it does not take into account the importance of casting to a play's popularity. A review of commentaries and theatrical records indicates that we should alter our view of the comedy's place in the eighteenth-century repertory. The play was not, overall, as popular as has long been believed, and it owed much of its vogue to James Quin in the role of Falstaff.
1 See, for example, Roberts, Jeanne Addison, Shakespeare's English Comedy: The Merry Wives of Windsor in Context (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1979), xi, 62–65, 66, 85–88Google Scholar; Van Santvoord, George, ed., The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Yale Shakespeare (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1922), 123–124Google Scholar; Nicoll, Allardyce, A History of English Drama, 1660–1900, rev. edition, 6 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952–1959), 2:140Google Scholar; and Scouten, Arthur H., “The Increase in Popularity of Shakespeare's Plays in the Eighteenth Century: A Caveat for Interpreters of Stage History,” Shakespeare Quarterly 7 (1956): 193, 196CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Although Scouten lists the play among those “in stock” before 1717, The Merry Wives was not performed for fourteen years between 1706 and 1719.
2 Compare this figure to the records of other comedies: The Tempest (186 performances), The Taming of the Shrew (124), The Merchant of Venice (115), and Measure for Measure (69). The numbers come from Hogan, Charles Beecher, Shakespeare in the Theatre, 1701–1800, 2 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1952, 1957), 1:406Google Scholar. The London Stage 1660–1800, ed. Van Lennep, William, Avery, Emmett L., Scouten, Arthur H., Stone, George Winchester Jr., and Hogan, Charles Beecher, 5 pts. (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968) differs from Hogan in the followingGoogle Scholar: for The Merry Wives, it lists a performance at Richmond on 8 July 1731 and gives The Conscious Lovers instead of Merry Wives on 1 February 1737. For The Tempest, it gives 188 performances, for The Merchant of Venice, 119, and for The Taming of the Shrew, 120.
3 Sawyer, Paul, “The Popularity of Shakespeare's Plays 1720–21 through 1732–33,” Shakespeare Quarterly 29 (1978): 427–430CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
4 The Merry Wives was not performed in the seasons of 1751–52, 1772–73 to 1776–77, 1791–92 to 1794–95, 1798–99, and 1799–1800.
5 The Merchant of Venice was not performed in 1762–63, 1765–66, 1790–91, and 1793–94. The Taming of the Shrew did not appear in 1750–51, 1751–52, 1752–53, and 1754–55. As You Like It was not staged in the seasons of 1764–65 and 1766–67.
6 The London Stage differs from Hogan in the following totals: The Taming of the Shrew (237), As You Like It (177), Cymbeline (174), and The Tempest (169).
7 Rowe, Nicholas, “Some Account of the Life, etc., of Mr. William Shakespear”(1709), in Eighteenth Century Essays on Shakespeare, ed. Smith, D. Nichol (1903; reprint, New York: Russell and Russell, 1962), 11Google Scholar.
8 Pope, Alexander, ed., The Works of Shakespeare, 6 vols. (London: Jacob Tonson, 1725), 1:233Google Scholar.
9 Gildon, Charles, The Post-Man Robb'd of his Mail or toe Packet broke open (1719; reprint, New York: Garland Press, 1972), 112Google Scholar.
10 Griffith, Mrs., The Morality of Shakespeare's Drama Illustrated, Eighteenth Century Shakespeare no. 14 (1775; reprint, New York: Augustus M. Kelley Publishers, 1971), 127Google Scholar.
11 According to The London Stage, The Merry Wives was initially in the repertory of the King's Company, by whom performances are recorded in 1660, 1661, 1667, 1669, and 1675. By 1700 the play was in the repertories of both companies, as the cast list from the performance held at court on 24 April 1704 suggests. See Dowries, John, Roscius Anglicanus, ed. Milhous, Judith and Hume, Robert D. (London: Society for Theatre Research, 1987), 25, 97 note, 98, and 111Google Scholar.
12 Dennis, John, The Comical Gallant: Or the Amours of Sir John Falstaffe. A Comedy (1702; reprint, London: Cornmarket Press, 1969), Epistle DedicatoryGoogle Scholar.
13 Johnson, Samuel and Steevcns, George, The Plays of William Shakespeare, 10 vols., 3rd ed. (London: Bathhurst et al., 1785), 1:404–405Google Scholar.
14 Addison, Joseph and Steele, Richard, The Spectator, ed. Bond, Donald F., 5 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965), 1:75, 203–204; 3:291Google Scholar.
15 Morris, Corbyn, An Essay Towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, Humour, Raillery, Satire, and Ridicule. To Which is Added, an Analysis of the Characters of an Humourist, Sir John Falstaff, Sir Roger De Coverly, and Don Quixote (1744; reprint, Los Angeles: Augustan Reprint Society, 1947), xxviiiGoogle Scholar.
16 Morgann, Maurice, Essay on the Dramatic Character of Sir John Falstaff, ed. Gill, W. A. (1777; reprint, Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1970)Google Scholar; Richardson, William, Essays on Shakespeare's Dramatic Character of Sir John Falstaff, and on his Imitation of Female Characters (London: J. Murray, 1789), 18–19Google Scholar.
17 Rowe, 10–11. For similar comments see Dennis, Epistle Dedicatory; Addison and Steele, 1:204; Upton, John, Critical Observations on Shakespeare, 2nd ed. (1748; reprint, New York: AMS Press, 1973), 90–91Google Scholar; Johnson, 5:647–48; and Davies, Thomas, Dramatic Miscellanies, 3 vols. (London: T. Davies, 1784), 1:202–203Google Scholar.
18 Montagu, Elizabeth R., An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakespear, Compared with the Greek and French Dramatic Poets (London: Dodsley et al., 1769), 106–107Google Scholar.
19 Rowe, Montagu, and Upton share this view.
20 Davies, 1:248–49; Johnson, 1:404; Morris, xxviii.
21 The performance was done by the Patent Company, so that Betterton did not play the part. Estcourt, later their Falstaff, was not imported from Ireland until 1704. John Genest speculates that the actor may have been Powell, but he clearly has no factual basis for this assumption, because he says, “it is to be regretted that this play is printed without the names of the performers—Powell was probably Falstaffe.” See Some Account of the English Stage, from the Restoration in 1660 to 1830, 10 vols. (Bath: H. E. Carrington, 1832), 2:250Google Scholar.
22 For an account of this performance, see Anon., A Comparison Between the Two Stages (1702), ed. Wells, Staring B. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1942), 97Google Scholar.
23 The London Stage records 368 performances for I Henry IV, including the following: 9 January 1700 (LIF), 10 October 1720 (Southward), 27 June 1734 (Richmond), and 7 and 22 August 1781 (Haymarket).
24 No performances have been found for the seasons from 1700–01 through 1703–04, but the records for this period are very sketchy. In the second half of the century, the play did not appear in the following seasons: 1753–54, 1766–67 to 1768–69, 1770–71 to 1772–73, 1792–93 to 1794–95, and 1798–99.
25 Highfill, Philip H. Jr.Burnim, Kalman A., and Langhans, Edward A., A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800, 16 vots, in progress (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1973-), 2:408–412Google Scholar.
26 The Life of Mr. James Quin, Comedian (London: S. Bladon, 1766), 21–23Google Scholar.
27 For other accounts of the 1720 revival and Quin's success as Falstaff, see Davies, 1:247–50 and the Biographical Dictionary, 12:236–37. I wish to thank the authors of the Biographical Dictionary for permitting me to see a preliminary draft of the Quin entry.
28 According to the performance records in The London Stage, Quin is listed as Falstaff in The Merry Wives 101 times. For 19 other performances, no cast was listed, but The London Stage refers the reader to previous lists with Quin in the Falstaff role. Although no cast is listed for 33 other performances at Lincoln's Inn Fields, Quin almost certainly played the part, since he was a part of the company and “owned” the role. The following actors also played the part from 1720 to 1751: W. Giffard at Goodman's Fields in 1730, 1731, and 1735 (8 performances); Hulett at Goodman's Fields in 1732, 1733, and 1734 (4 performances); Delane at Covent Garden in 1736 and 1737 and at Drury Lane in 1743 (4 performances); Stephens at Covent Garden in 1739–42 (11 performances); Paget at Goodman's Fields in 1740 and 1741 and at the New Wells in 1747 (6 performances); Dance at the New Wells on 28 March 1745; Bridgewater at Covent Garden in 1746 and 1748 (2 performances); Bridges at Covent Garden on 12 January 1748; and Berry at Drury Lane in 1750 (1 performance). From 1751 to 1756 Berry appeared as Falstaff seven more times at Drury Lane.
29 Foote, Samuel, The Roman and English Comedy Consider'd and Compar'd (London: T. Waller, 1747), 41Google Scholar.
30 For a full account of the artistic representations, see Mander, Raymond and Mitchenson, Joe, “The China Statuettes of Quin as Falstaff,” Theatre Notebook 12 (1958): 54–58Google Scholar. See also the Biographical Dictionary 12:240–242Google Scholar.
