unable to fool anyone in the town. When the jealous character Ford hears that Falstaff may be attempting to seduce Mistress Ford, the husband disguises himself and assumes the name of Brooke. Falstaff blatantly brags to Ford/Brooke of his designs; and Ford, quite naturally, is disgusted by Falstaff’s admissions of guilt:
What a damned Epicurean rascal is this! My heart is ready to crack with impatience. (II, ii: 86-87)
A similar shock and disgust is expressed by both Mistress Page and Mistress Ford when they receive their “love letters” from Falstaff. Mistress Page expresses her initial repugnance in a strong tone of moral outrage:
What a Herod of Jewry is this! O wicked, wicked world. One that is well-nigh worn to pieces with age to show himself a young gallant! What an unweighed behavior hath this Flemish drunkard picked – with the devil’s name! – out of my conversation that he dares in this manner assay me? (II, i: 20- 25)
The reactions of both Ford and Mistress Page are not unlike that of Lovell when he hears Overreach’s admission of unscrupulous business practices. The buffoon in both cases is morally degenerate and an upset to the social order of the town.
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