Go your ways, and ask of Doctor Caius’ house which is the way. And
there dwells one Mistress Quickly, which is in the manner of his nurse,
or his dry nurse, or his cook, or his laundry, his washer and his
wringer.
Go your ways, and ask of Doctor Caius’ house which is the way. And there dwells one Mistress Quickly, which is in the manner of his nurse, or his dry nurse, or his cook, or his laundry, his washer and his wringer.
go your ways, and ask of doctor caius’ house which is the way. and there dwells one mistress quickly, which is in the manner of his nurse, or his dry nurse, or his cook, or his laundry, his washer and his wringer.
go your ways, and ask of doctor caius’ house which
Elizabethan courtship ran on intermediaries. Direct declarations of love between social equals were considered forward and slightly embarrassing — you sent a letter, had it delivered by a trusted servant, and awaited word back through the same channel. Mistress Quickly makes a living (and a comedy) of being everyone's go-between simultaneously. The comedy of Merry Wives depends on the audience understanding that this network of proxies means nobody actually knows what anyone else is doing — Quickly can tell each party something slightly different, and nobody compares notes. Except for Mistresses Ford and Page, who immediately compare notes.
Well, sir.
Well, sir.
well, sir.
well, sir.
Nay, it is petter yet. Give her this letter. For it is a ’oman that
altogether’s acquaintance with Mistress Anne Page; and the letter is to
desire and require her to solicit your master’s desires to Mistress
Anne Page. I pray you be gone. I will make an end of my dinner; there’s
pippins and cheese to come.
No, it is better yet. Give her this letter. For it is a ’oman that altogether’s acquaintance with Mistress Anne Page; and the letter is to desire and require her to solicit your master’s desires to Mistress Anne Page. I pray you be gone. I will make an end of my dinner; there’s pippins and cheese to come.
no, it is better yet. give her this letter. for it is a ’oman that altogether’s acquaintance with mistress anne page; and the letter is to desire and require her to solicit your master’s desires to mistress anne page. i pray you be gone. i will make an end of my dinner; there’s pippins and cheese to come.
no, it is better yet. give her this letter. for it
The Reckoning
A tiny scene — barely sixty words of dialogue — that sets up the chain of messengers and go-betweens that will drive the play's comedy. Evans is running Slender's romantic campaign through a proxy who is going to another proxy, which tells you everything about how romantic this courtship is. What the scene establishes is that everyone in Windsor is connected to everyone else through Mistress Quickly.
If this happened today…
A manager who doesn't want to write a reference letter himself has his assistant hand-deliver a note to someone else's assistant asking them to put in a good word with HR. The efficiency gains are unclear.