At Ford’s house Mistress Ford is preparing for her secret rendezvous with Sir John Falstaff. Of course, she is actually preparing to get her revenge against the fat knight. Mistress Page is with her. Mistress Ford instructs her two serving men, John and Robert, to stay nearby. When she calls them, they are to take the buck-basket (a laundry basket) outside, carry it down to a meadow called Datchet Mead, and empty the contents into a muddy ditch along the Thames River.
Robin, the servant boy employed by Falstaff but who is now secretly working for Mistress Page, enters and informs the wives that Falstaff has arrived. Mistress Page appreciates Robin’s help and promises the boy a new suit of clothes: “This secrecy of thine shall be a tailor to thee” (25-26). In other words, Mistress Page will pay a tailor to make new clothes for him.
As Mistress Page exits, Mistress Ford refers to Falstaff as a “gross watery pumpkin” and declares, “We’ll teach him to know turtles from jays” (34). Jay birds, notably the blue jay, are bright, colorful birds. Mistress Ford uses the word as a metaphor for prostitutes or whores, who might wear bright, flashy clothing to attract their customers. Turtles refers to turtledoves. The turtledove is a bird that is reputed to remain faithful to one mate for its entire life. Thus, Mistress Ford uses the turtledove as a metaphor for the faithful wife.
The main plot of the play revolves around the