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Which have solicited- the rest is silence. Dies.

Hor. Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!

[March within.]

Why does the drum come hither?

Enter Fortinbras and English Ambassadors, with Drum,

Colours, and Attendants.

Fort. Where is this sight?

Hor. What is it you will see?

If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search.

Fort. This quarry cries on havoc. O proud Death,

What feast is toward in thine eternal cell

That thou so many princes at a shot

So bloodily hast struck.

Ambassador. The sight is dismal;

And our affairs from England come too late.

The ears are senseless that should give us bearing

To tell him his commandment is fulfill'd

That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

Where should We have our thanks?

Hor. Not from his mouth,

Had it th' ability of life to thank you.

He never gave commandment for their death.

But since, so jump upon this bloody question,

You from the Polack wars, and you from England,

Are here arriv'd, give order that these bodies

High on a stage be placed to the view;

And let me speak to the yet unknowing world

How these things came about. So shall You hear

Of carnal, bloody and unnatural acts;

Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters;

Of deaths put on by cunning and forc'd cause;

And, in this upshot, purposes mistook

Fall'n on th' inventors' heads. All this can I

Truly deliver.

Fort. Let us haste to hear it,

And call the noblest to the audience.

For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune.

I have some rights of memory in this kingdom

Which now, to claim my vantage doth invite me.

Hor. Of that I shall have also cause to speak,

And from his mouth whose voice will draw on more.

But let this same be presently perform'd,

Even while men's minds are wild, lest more mischance

On plots and errors happen.

Fort. Let four captains

Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage;

For he was likely, had he been put on,

To have prov'd most royally; and for his passage

The soldiers' music and the rites of war

Speak loudly for him.

Take up the bodies. Such a sight as this

Becomes the field but here shows much amiss.

Go, bid the soldiers shoot.

Exeunt marching; after the which a peal of ordnance are shot off.

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

This comedy boasts the distinction of being the only played solely sourced by Shakespeare. Believed to have been written prior to 1597, it features the bard’s popular character the stout knight Sir John Falstaff, and The Merry Wives of Windsor is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan life. It is believed that Elizabeth I herself requested Shakespeare to write another play featuring Falstaff and this hilarious comedy is the result of that request.

‘Falstaff and Mistress Quickly’ by Francis Philip Stephanoff, 1840

The 1602 Quarto version title page

CONTENTS

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

ACT I. SCENE 1.

SCENE 2.

SCENE 3.

SCENE 4.

ACT II. SCENE 1.

SCENE 2.

SCENE 3.

ACT III SCENE 1.

SCENE 2.

SCENE 3.

SCENE 4.

SCENE 5.

ACT IV. SCENE I.

SCENE 2.

SCENE 3.

SCENE 4

SCENE 5.

SCENE 6.

ACT V. SCENE 1.

SCENE 2.

SCENE 3.

SCENE 4.

SCENE 5.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

SIR JOHN FALSTAFF

FENTON, a young gentleman

SHALLOW, a country justice

SLENDER, cousin to Shallow

Gentlemen of Windsor

FORD

PAGE

WILLIAM PAGE, a boy, son to Page

SIR HUGH EVANS, a Welsh parson

DOCTOR CAIUS, a French physician

HOST of the Garter Inn

Followers of Falstaff

BARDOLPH

PISTOL

NYM

ROBIN, page to Falstaff

SIMPLE, servant to Slender

RUGBY, servant to Doctor Caius

MISTRESS FORD

MISTRESS PAGE

MISTRESS ANNE PAGE, her daughter

MISTRESS QUICKLY, servant to Doctor Caius

SERVANTS to Page, Ford, etc.

SCENE: Windsor, and the neighbourhood

ACT I. SCENE 1.

Windsor. Before PAGE'S house

Enter JUSTICE SHALLOW, SLENDER, and SIR HUGH EVANS

SHALLOW.

Sir Hugh, persuade me not; I will make a Star

Chamber matter of it; if he were twenty Sir John Falstaffs,

he shall not abuse Robert