Part 1. The Garter Inn. Sir John Falstaff is writing letters at his desk when Doctor Caius bursts in, accusing Falstaff of breaking into his house and abusing his servants. Then he accuses Falstaff’s cronies, Bardolfo and Pistola, of getting him drunk and picking his pockets. Pistola threatens the Doctor, and Falstaff tells him now would be a good time to leave.

Falstaff complains that Bardolfo and Pistola have emptied his coffers. He has a plan to court the wives of two wealthy merchants, Mrs. Alice Ford and Mrs. Meg Page, who he believes hold the purse-strings of their respective households. Having written identical love letters to both, he gives one each to Bardolfo and to Pistola to deliver. They refuse. Bardolfo claims his honor forbids him. Falstaff sends a page off with the letters and lectures the two men on the subject of honor.

Part 2. The gardens of Ford’s house. Meg Page and Mistress Quickly meet Alice Ford and her daughter Nannetta coming out of the garden. Meg and Alice are amazed to discover they have received identical love letters from Sir John Falstaff. They resolve to avenge themselves publicly–and merrily.

Ford, Nannetta’s father, goes walking with Caius. Caius is betrothed to Nannetta, but she is in love with young Fenton. Meanwhile, Bardolfo and Pistola betray their master by telling Ford that Falstaff is after his wife.

The women come back to begin plotting. Everyone leaves except Fenton and Nannetta, who seize the moment for a kiss. The men reappear; they and the women make their respective plans.

Part 1. The Garter Inn. Bardolfo and Pistola, feigning contrition, introduce Mistress Quickly. She pays her respects to Sir John and reports on Alice Ford, whose husband is always gone from two to three o’clock. Meg Page, she says, will be harder to seduce since her husband is nearly always home.

Ford, disguised as Master Fontana (a.k.a. Brook in Shakespeare) arrives to visit Falstaff, with a jingling purse in hand. He professes a passion for Alice Ford, but doubts his potential success with her. If she could fall first for the more experienced Falstaff, perhaps she could then fall for him. Falstaff accepts the commission, assuring Brook that he will soon be in her arms.

Part 2. A room in Ford’s house. Alice, Meg and Quickly prepare the reception Sir John deserves. When Nannetta doesn’t join in the women’s laughter, it is revealed that her father plans to marry her off to the old pedant Doctor Caius, while it is Fenton she loves. Alice tells her daughter not to worry. A large laundry basket is brought in, full of dirty linen. The women assume their places to keep watch for Falstaff’s arrival. Sir John enters, bent on seduction. Soon Quickly enters, announcing a distraught Meg, who says she has seen a furious Ford roaming in search of his wife. Falstaff is hidden behind a screen. Ford, Fenton, Caius and others burst in. Ford dumps out the basket’s contents, suspecting Falstaff is hiding in there. The men search the house. Meg, feigning shock at Falstaff’s presence, helps Alice and Quickly conceal him (barely) in the basket. Suddenly, Ford re-enters and knocks down the screen, only to find Nannetta and Fenton, who have used the time to their own sweet advantage. Frenetic Ford rushes out and Alice orders the basket to be lifted and dumped out the window into the brook below. When the search party enters yet again, Alice laughingly leads her husband to the window to see his “rival” spluttering downstream.

Part 1. The Garter Inn. Love loves mystery … Falstaff is recovering with a glass of hot wine. Quickly brings him a letter from Alice inviting him to appear at the Great (haunted) Oak of Herne at midnight, disguised as the Black Hunter of Herne. He sputters his frustration at the day’s events, but soon he reads with growing interest. Alice, Meg, Nannetta, Ford, Caius and Fenton, who have all been spying on him, disperse to prepare their costumes – but not before Quickly overhears Ford telling Caius to dress as a monk so that Ford can find him and Nannetta to marry them during the revels. Quickly hurries to warn Nannetta and Alice.

Part 2. Herne’s Oak, Windsor Park. Midnight. Fenton sings of his love. Nannetta arrives. Alice and Quickly tell Fenton to disguise himself as a monk. Falstaff approaches, shivering in his cloak and sporting enormous antlers. Alice runs to him and tells him Meg is following her. Meg’s voice is heard saying she’s being followed by witches. Falstaff hears fairy-songs and throws himself to the ground, knowing the sight of the spirit world can mean death. Nannetta enters as the Fairy Queen, leading a troupe of children dressed as imps, nymphs and sprites. They cry out to discover a mortal on their grounds and they set to kicking and punching him. During the roughhousing, Bardolfo loses his mask and Falstaff recognizes him and realizes he is the object of a grand joke. Ford asks him who’s wearing the horns now. Quickly takes Bardolfo aside to cover him in a woman’s gown and veil. Everyone unmasks, and Ford calls for the nuptials to begin. Alice brings another masked and veiled couple before him and asks for a double wedding. After he has blessed both pairs, it is revealed that he has married Fenton to Nannetta and Doctor Caius to Bardolfo. Falstaff asks Ford who’s the dupe now. Nannetta asks her father’s forgiveness. Ford gives her his blessing and invites everyone to supper. Falstaff leads a merry fugue: “All the world’s a joke, and only the jolly are wise.”