The Merry Wives of Windsor: Dr. Caius, Simple and Dame Quickly

American artists, actors, and writers during the nineteenth century were still heavily influenced by English literature, and Shakespeare’s plays enjoyed many revivals. In this painting, Robert W. Weir illustrated a moment in The Merry Wives of Windsor when a character finds his rival’s servant in his closet. Weir gave the two men comical expressions of horror to emphasize the slapstick nature of the scene.