Act III Scene 2
Ford encounters Mrs. Page with Falstaff’s page, Robin, which leads Ford to jump to conclusions and mock the absent Page for his stupidity in not suspecting his wife. He vows that he will torture his wife, expose Mrs. Page and show what a fool Page is. He resolves to go to his own house when he knows Falstaff will be there with his wife.

Page, Shallow, Slender, Host, Evans and Caius enter. They are on their way to dine with Anne Page. Shallow and Slender hope to have an answer that day as to whether Slender will be able to marry Anne. Page supports his suit, but Mrs. Page prefers Caius. Host mentions Fenton, but Page says that Fenton is from too high a social class to be suitable for his daughter.

Ford invites them all to his house to witness a monster (that is, Falstaff).

Analysis
Caius’s remark to Page that Mistress Quickly has told him that Anne loves him shows that Quickly has been working behind the scenes to encourage her clients, even if that means completely disregarding the truth.

Page’s complete rejection of Fenton, in spite of the Host’s extravagant praise of the young man, comes down, as does so much in this play, to a matter of money. Page says Fenton is too worldly wise and keeps company with a higher level of society than would be suitable for the middle-class Anne, but this is really only a smokescreen. His real complaint seems to be that Fenton, although of a higher social class, has no money, and Page is determined that Fenton is not going to repair his fortune’s at Page’s expense: “no, he shall not knit a knot in his fortunes with the finger of my substance.” Money rules!

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