The Moor of Seville (Tragedy)
The Duchess's Dilemma, or The Venetian Vexation (Comedy)
A Midwinter's Masque (Comedy)
King Arthur's Fall (Tragedy)
Henry the Sixth, Part Four (History)
The Merchant of London's Choice (Comedy)
The Windsor Wives' Revenge (Comedy - in this response)
Writing in the Shakespearean style is an extensive creative process, and producing all twenty plays as requested is not feasible within this format.
To address your request to "continue," I can provide the first act of an eighth play, The Windsor Wives' Revenge, a comedy from the original list, inspired by Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.
The Windsor Wives' Revenge: ACT I
Dramatis Personae
SIR JOHN FALSTAFF: A roguish and down-at-heel knight.
SCENE II. A room in Master Page's house.
Enter MISTRESS PAGE, with a letter in her hand.
MISTRESS PAGE
"Thine own true knight, thine own sweet John Falstaff."
The fat rogue! He sends the same letter to me
As he did to my neighbour, Mistress Ford!
The very words are mirrored, save the name.
A plot to steal our virtue and our gold!
The villain thinks us simple Windsor wives,
To be so easily won.
Enter MISTRESS FORD, also with a letter.
MISTRESS FORD
O, my dear friend, such impudence was never seen!
Read this!
MISTRESS PAGE
I have received the very same! He seeks
To make a fool of us, a single jest
For his base companions.
MISTRESS FORD
We shall turn the jest upon his own fat head!
We are not to be played with like two simple maids.
We'll make him rue the day he set his eyes on Windsor wives.
MISTRESS PAGE
A fine revenge! We'll use his lust against him,
Lead him a merry dance, and leave him cold
And publicly shamed. We must consult anon
And lay our trap.
Exeunt, laughing.
SCENE III. A street in Windsor.
Enter MASTER FORD, MASTER PAGE, PISTOL, and NYM.
FORD
My wife is honest, I know it in my heart.
But that same Falstaff is a wicked rogue.
These men, his followers, have told me all!
He means to court my wife, to cuckold me!
PAGE
Nonsense, Master Ford, your jealousy blinds you.
My wife received a letter too, a general jest.
Falstaff is but a fool, a braggart knight.
FORD
A fool with dangerous intent! I shall disguise myself,
Go to Falstaff, and see if he will boast
Of his foul deeds. I shall know the truth,
And if my wife is false, I'll make a public shame of her!
PAGE
Do as you will, but I believe my wife
To be as pure as the driven snow of Windsor.
FORD
(Aside)
The cuckold has no eyes to see his horns
'Til they are grown too high to pass the door.
I'll find the truth, or die in the attempt!
Exeunt separately
MASTER FORD: A jealous gentleman of Windsor.
MASTER PAGE: Another gentleman of Windsor.
MISTRESS FORD: Ford's witty wife.
MISTRESS PAGE: Page's witty wife.
PISTOL and NYM: Falstaff's dishonest followers.
ACT I
SCENE I. A street in Windsor.
Enter SIR JOHN FALSTAFF, PISTOL, and NYM.
FALSTAFF
My revenue is the very leanest thing in Christendom.
The King hath forgotten me. I must find a means
To line my pockets, or I shall starve.
PISTOL
Hark, Sir John. There are rich wives in Windsor.
NYM
Mistress Page and Mistress Ford. Their husbands are fools.
FALSTAFF
Indeed? Wives of wealth, and husbands of no wit?
The very game I seek! My letters shall fly like arrows
To both these ladies. I have a courtly hand,
A way with words, a certain charm that women love.
I shall woo them both at once, and make their gold my own!
PISTOL
You cannot woo two at once, Sir John!
It is a double-dealing part that fits my own genius.
FALSTAFF
Begone, you rogues! You have no style, no grace.
My plan is set. I shall be rich again!
Go, bear my letters, one to Mistress Ford,
The other to Mistress Page. Hie thee!
Exeunt PISTOL and NYM, grudgingly.
SCENE II. A room in Master Page's house.
Enter MISTRESS PAGE, with a letter in her hand.
MISTRESS PAGE
"Thine own true knight, thine own sweet John Falstaff."
The fat rogue! He sends the same letter to me
As he did to my neighbour, Mistress Ford!
The very words are mirrored, save the name.
A plot to steal our virtue and our gold!
The villain thinks us simple Windsor wives,
To be so easily won.
Enter MISTRESS FORD, also with a letter.
MISTRESS FORD
O, my dear friend, such impudence was never seen!
Read this!
MISTRESS PAGE
I have received the very same! He seeks
To make a fool of us, a single jest
For his base companions.
MISTRESS FORD
We shall turn the jest upon his own fat head!
We are not to be played with like two simple maids.
We'll make him rue the day he set his eyes on Windsor wives.
MISTRESS PAGE
A fine revenge! We'll use his lust against him,
Lead him a merry dance, and leave him cold
And publicly shamed. We must consult anon
And lay our trap.
Exeunt, laughing.
SCENE III. A street in Windsor.
Enter MASTER FORD, MASTER PAGE, PISTOL, and NYM.
FORD
My wife is honest, I know it in my heart.
But that same Falstaff is a wicked rogue.
These men, his followers, have told me all!
He means to court my wife, to cuckold me!
PAGE
Nonsense, Master Ford, your jealousy blinds you.
My wife received a letter too, a general jest.
Falstaff is but a fool, a braggart knight.
FORD
A fool with dangerous intent! I shall disguise myself,
Go to Falstaff, and see if he will boast
Of his foul deeds. I shall know the truth,
And if my wife is false, I'll make a public shame of her!
PAGE
Do as you will, but I believe my wife
To be as pure as the driven snow of Windsor.
FORD
(Aside)
The cuckold has no eyes to see his horns
'Til they are grown too high to pass the door.
I'll find the truth, or die in the attempt!
Exeunt separately.
The Windsor Wives' Revenge: ACT II
ACT II
SCENE I. A room in Master Ford's house.
Enter MISTRESS FORD and MISTRESS PAGE.
MISTRESS FORD
He will be here anon, Sir John Falstaff,
The fat knight, to steal my honesty and gold!
I sent him word that my husband, Master Ford,
Would be away from home 'twixt ten and eleven.
MISTRESS PAGE
An hour of perfect opportunity for the rogue.
My husband, Page, is calm, but your lord, Ford,
Is a very furnace of jealousy and rage.
MISTRESS FORD
We'll use his jealousy to our advantage, too.
He comes disguised as one Master Brook,
To sound out Falstaff's plan. O, what a tangled web!
Enter a SERVANT.
SERVANT
Mistress, Sir John Falstaff waits below.
MISTRESS FORD
Send him up. Now is the masque of mockery begun!
You hide, my friend, and watch the fool's descent.
Exit MISTRESS PAGE behind a screen.
Enter SIR JOHN FALSTAFF.
FALSTAFF
Sweet Mistress Ford, my heart is in your keeping!
My life, my fortune, all I have, is yours!
Your beauty hath bewitched this aging knight.
MISTRESS FORD
Sir John, you jest. My husband is a jealous man.
FALSTAFF
Fear not the cuckold! He is a simple beast.
I'll woo you, win you, and away we'll go,
With all his wealth in tow!
(A loud knocking at the door.)
SERVANT
Mistress! Your husband is returned! In a great rage!
He says a rogue is here to cuckold him!
MISTRESS FORD
Alack the day! Sir John, where shall you hide?
He'll murder us both!
FALSTAFF
The basket! The laundry basket!
He tries to squeeze into a large laundry basket, covered in dirty linen.
Enter MASTER FORD (disguised as Master Brook), MASTER page and servants.
FORD
Where is the villain? Where is the rogue who soils my name?
Search the house! Search every room!
MISTRESS FORD
My lord, what is this madness? There is no man here!
Only a basket of dirty laundry for the wash.
PAGE
Good Ford, your jealousy is your own worst enemy.
FORD
(Rummaging through the room)
I know he's here! That villain Brook told me all!
Search the house! The servants are in on it!
(The servants, as instructed by the wives, take the basket and carry it out of the house.)
FORD
They've taken the laundry. The rogue is gone.
I am a cuckold, and a laughing stock!
Exit FORD in a fury.
ACT III
SCENE I. A street near the River Thames.
Enter MISTRESS FORD and MISTRESS PAGE.
MISTRESS FORD
They threw him in the Thames, the dirty rogue!
The water-rats did nibble at his flesh,
And he was half-drowned when they pulled him out!
MISTRESS PAGE
A fine revenge! But we are not yet done.
He means to try again, the shameless knight.
He sent a message he would meet you once more,
When Master Ford is from the house, at twelve.
MISTRESS FORD
The fool! He thinks that I would be so bold
To risk a second chance! We'll make him rue
His villainy once more. We'll dress him as a woman,
A witch, a fairy, anything to shame him!
Enter MASTER FORD (disguised as Brook) with PISTOL and NYM, who are now his spies.
FORD
He was not in the house, a clever rogue!
My wife is innocent, but he is quick!
The servants are in on it.
PISTOL
He will be back, my lord. He fears no river.
FORD
Then I shall catch him in the act, and all of Windsor
Shall see my shame and his vile punishment!
SCENE II. A room
SCENE II. A room in Master Ford's house.
Enter SIR JOHN FALSTAFF, dripping wet and shivering.
FALSTAFF
The rogues! They drowned me in a smelly basket!
The wives are honest, I am a fool.
But Mistress Ford hath sent another note,
Another chance! I am a man of honour,
I must redeem my name and win the gold!
Enter MISTRESS FORD and MISTRESS PAGE.
MISTRESS FORD
Sir John, you are returned! My husband comes!
Quick, we have no basket, you must hide!
FALSTAFF
Hide where?
MISTRESS FORD
We have no choice! You must disguise yourself
As my aunt, the fat woman of Brentford!
Put on this gown, this hat, be quick, be quick!
(They dress him in a ridiculous woman's outfit.)
Enter MASTER FORD, MASTER PAGE, PISTOL, NYM, and townsfolk.
FORD
Where is the rogue? I know he's here!
MISTRESS FORD
My lord, only my aunt is here, the woman
Of Brentford, come to visit her poor niece.
FORD
The witch of Brentford! I hate that woman!
Out of my house, you hag! Out, out, I say!
He beats Falstaff (disguised as the aunt) out of the house.
FALSTAFF
O, I am beaten! A woman of Brentford, am I?
A cuckold's rage has made a fool of me!
Exit FALSTAFF, wailing.
No comments:
Post a Comment