The Difference Between Two Marriages

Through the first two acts of Merry Wives of Windsor, it is obvious that Shakespeare is comparing two, differing marriages.  Ford is extremely distrusting of his wife, Mistress Ford, and assumes the worst when he hears of Falstaff’s deception to seduce her.  He disguises himself in hopes of gaining further information of what’s truly happening “behind his back” (though no infidelity is actually occurring).  On the other hand, we have Page and his wife, Mistress Page, who is quite complacent in his stance that Falstaff has little of a chance of seducing his own wife.  He’s trusting and assures himself that nothing will occur between Mistress Page and Falstaff.  He even goes on to talk about how he would let his wife go if Falstaff successfully seduced her.  The difference between the two marriages is stark and truly shows what it means to have a trusting relationship opposed to one filled with paranoia and deception.  Mistress Ford speaks about doing anything to fool Falstaff as long as her honor is intact (IE staying faithful to her husband).  She is unwilling to cheat on a man that she loves yet he is unwilling to accept that for fear of being hurt himself.  Ford’s problem with jealously demonstrates how a perfectly good marriage can be rattled with paranoia and that to truly last together, a relationship needs to be built on solid groundwork of trust.  While Ford schemes to figured out what is “truly” happening, Page sits contently, knowing that his wife is as faithful as ever.  Shakespeare compares the inter-workings of two, completely different types of marriages: one filled with drama and confusion, the other filled with happiness and trust.