The first characters we meet are Sir Hugh Evans, Master Slender, and Justice Shallow. They are deep in discussion about Sir John Falstaff, and why Shallow is angry with him. Their discussion is quickly abandoned when a young woman by the name of Anne Page enters. Shallow fancies his hand at matchmaking and would rather like to see his friend Slender marry Anne. At Master Page's door, they confront Falstaff before entering the house, but Slender hangs back, hoping to talk to Anne.
At the Garter Inn, Falstaff and his friends talk over his plan to seduce both Mistress Page and Mistress Fort. Both women wear the pants in the household and control the purse-strings as well. Falstaff believes that by seducing the women he will convince them to give him their husbands' money. He writes love letters to both women but both refuse his advances, deciding instead to teach him a lesson by telling their husbands of his plans.
Meanwhile, back at Mistress Quickly's house, another plan is being hatched. Mistress Quickly agrees to sing Slender's praises to Anne Page. However, another plan is stymied when Dr Caius enters and overhears this.He writes an angry letter to Sir Hugh Evans and holds him accountable for encouraging Slender's crush on Anne. Typical of the time, he challenges Slender to a dual. Later, when Fenton joins Mistress Quickly, he confesses that he, too, is in love with Anne, and wants to know if she has told Anne about his feelings as well.
Anne has received a letter from Falstaff and is rather annoyed that he has tried to seduce her. She would like to avenge this insult but cannot think of a suitable way in which to do so. When she and Mistress Ford compare letters they discover that they are identical. They decide that they will appear to respond favorably to his advances, and encourage him until he is properly humiliated and ruined.
The husbands have also found out about Falstaff's plans and the letters he has written. Page does not believe that his wife will fall for Falstaff's nonsense but Ford is not so confident and gives into his jealousy, convincing himself that she will dishonor him.
The news of the duel between Caius and Evans is brought by Shallow and the Host of the Garter Inn. Page decides to watch. Ford decides that this is a good time for subterfuge and convinces the Host to introduce him to Falstaff whilst Ford himself will be wearing a disguise. He will then be able to learn how far Falstaff has taken his plans and what, if any, response he has received from the women.
Back at the Garter Inn, Mistress Quickly brings a message from the Mistresses Ford and Page for Falstaff. She tells him that Ford will be out the following morning and she will therefore be alone; she expects a visit from Falstaff. Mistress Page has not yet come up with a plan to entice her husband out of the house and so she will make arrangements to meet Falstaff at a later date. Ford is announced as "Brooke" and tells Falstaff that he is in love with Mistress Ford but that she has always turned him away because she is in love with her husband and will not do anything to dishonor him. He asks Falstaff to seduce her, thus destroying her honor, so that she will no longer be able to use this as a reason to rebuff him. Falstaff tells him that he already has a tryst planned with Mistress Ford the following morning. Once alone, Ford curses his wife for being prepared to cheat on him and declares to himself that Page is a fool to trust his own wife so blindly.
As Evans and Caius get ready to duel, the other men take their swords away. Evans and Caius talk together, realizing that the Host of the inn has hoodwinked them into making fools out of themselves because he likes neither the Welsh (Evans) or the French (Caius). They decide that instead of duelling they will work together to get their revenge on the Host.
As the other men leave the Inn, they talk also about Anne's potential suitors. Page likes Slender, but his wife prefers Caius. He dismisses Fenton although the other men consider this a good match. Ford invites the other men back to his house so that they can catch Falstaff in the act of seducing his wife.
Falstaff is at the Ford home but hides when he hears Mistress Ford announced. She speaks loudly of her husband's imminent arrival and of his suspicion that she is cheating with Falstaff. Falstaff asks for help in escaping and he hides in a laundry basket. As Mistress Ford's men are carrying out the heavy laundry basket, Ford and his friends arrive at home. Ford can't find Falstaff anywhere and the Mistresses are even more delighted in the success of their plan; apparently they convinced both Falstaff and Ford of his wife's falling for the seduction. In order to try to convince Ford to be a less jealous person they decide to humiliate Falstaff a little more.
Fenton, dismissed so quickly in conversation by Page, manages to speak with Anne. He tells her that her father does not like him because he believes that all Fenton is interested in is the family money, since he is an aristocrat by birth, but poor financially. Fenton admits that at first, Page was right, but since he has come to know Anne his feelings for her have grown and he really is genuinely in love with her. As he confesses this, Shallow, Slender, and Quickly enter and Quickly draws Fenton away so that his friend can spend some time with Anne. Slender, however, is typically tongue-tied and makes a fool of himself when he tries to talk to her. Fenton asks Quickly to try to convince Anne that he is the best suitor and Quickly later realizes that Anne seems to like Fenton far more than she does the other two men who are campaigning to win her hand.
At the Garter Inn, Falstaff arrives soaking wet having been thrown into the river with the laundry from the basket he was hiding in. Quickly brings him a second invitation from Mistress Ford and again Ford, disguised as "Brooke," comes over to Falstaff to inquire how his tryst went. He is honest about it and tells him exactly how it ended, but adds that he is going to visit again that very night. In a repeat of the previous attempt, as soon as Falstaff arrives at the house, Mistress Page enters shortly after to warn Mistress Ford of her husband's impending return. How on earth will they hide Falstaff this time? Falstaff refuses to go into the laundry basket again but agrees to dress in the clothes belonging to Mistress Ford's servant's fat old aunt. When Ford arrives home he chases the disguised Falstaff and beats him because he hates the fat old aunt. Mistresses Ford and Page are highly delighted with the outcome of their plan and decide to reveal to their husbands what they have done.
Ford apologizes to his wife for being so jealous. He promises that he will trust her more and never suspect her again. They decide that it would be far more fun to work together and humiliate Falstaff publicly. They plan that Mistress Ford will invite him to meet her at a wood that is alleged to be haunted. They will dress up their children as ghosts and ghouls so that Falstaff is scared, and his terror will embarrass him especially when it is revealed that he has been frightened of children dressed up in costumes. Then having caught him red handed trying to meet secretly with Mistress Ford, they will tell everyone in town the entire story.
Fenton tells the Host of the Garter Inn about the note he has received from Anne. She tells him about her parents' plan for Falstaff, and also that they each want to take advantage of the ensuing chaos and have their daughter "elope" with their own favored suitor. Each has told her to where a specific outfit so that the suitor will know how to find her. However, she has her own deception in mind; she intends to elope and marry Fenton. Fenton asks the Host to help him find a pastor who will marry them that night.
Falstaff arrives in the haunted woods. The children are all disguised and are lying in wait for him. Ford and Page are also waiting with their friends so that they can watch the humiliation. Mistress Ford and Mistress Page both approach Falstaff, who is delighted that both women have come to meet with him. They hear a suspicious noise and both women flee, apparently frightened. Suddenly Falstaff finds himself surrounded by ghosts and ghouls and dancing elves. He is terrified. Mistress Quickly is disguised as the Faerie Queen and she suggests to them that they should try to burn the human they have encountered. If he doesn't burn then he is proven to be pure of heart. They burn Falstaff with candles, pinching and burning him. When they eventually leave, Page and Ford enter, and Falstaff realizes that he has been fooled. Evans tells Falstaff that he should immediately stop trying to seduce married women.
Everyone wonders where Anne has got to. Slender arrives in a state of panic because in the confusion he eloped with a young boy dressed in Anne's clothing. Caius is furious because he has done the same thing. Anne then joins them, with Fenton. Fenton scolds Anne's parents for wanting her to marry men whom she did not love. He and Anne have been in love for quite some time and thanks to the confusion of the evening they have been able to elope, unseen, and get married.
Ford announces that love has triumphed, and Anne's parents realize they were wrong to have ignored their daughter's wishes. Falstaff is pleased too, because their plan to humiliate him was slightly derailed by Anne and Fenton's marriage. Everyone leaves to celebrate the marriage, inviting Falstaff to join with them.
