The complexity of Falstaff’s buffoon characteristics as they are mingled with the types of Jester and Impostor has caused a mixed reaction among audiences and critics alike. Many critics just want to eliminate the character of Falstaff as he appears in the comedy:
We can understand the nature and the history of the criticism on The Merry Wives as a series of attempts to come to terms with the disturbing response that the buffoon, and the punishment he requests, evokes. Critics are unanimous in their annoyance at Falstaff’s buffoonery. (Freedman 220)
Yet other critics recognize that Shakespeare’s comedy is intended as light and amusing and are able to disregard the inconsistencies that the Falstaff of the three plays and enjoy Falstaff the clown for the comic antics that would probably amuse the Windsor Falstaff’s detractors had Shakespeare not used the name of Falstaff for his buffoon:
[In Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff] is loveable because of his ability to rebound from every fall, his unquenchable spirits, and his fascination with himself, his accomplishments, and his physical advantages: only rarely does he loose his vitality. (Videbaek 166)
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