The Queen's English Why Should I Care

Why Should I Care?

In this play, mastery of the English language is a matter of national pride. No big surprise there, right? After all, Shakespeare is the guy responsible for putting English on the map. (No offense, Chaucer.) That's why The Merry Wives of Windsor is choc-full of the kind of clever wordplay, innuendo, and snazzy banter that celebrates the potential of the English language.

At the same time, the play also goes out of its way to mock characters (especially foreigners and members of the lower class) for butchering the Queen's English. At the end of the day, Shakespeare wants to show us that English defines England.