These sallies of wit were meant rather to "tickle the ears of the groundlings" than as just subjects for criticism by later scholars.

We know that old jokes, bad puns, and innuendoes are needed on the stage at the present day.

Shakspeare used them for the same ephemeral purpose then; and had he sent down corrected versions to posterity, they would have been purged of these.
INFLUENCE OF ELIZABETH .-- Enough has been said to show in what manner Shakspeare represents his age, and indeed many former periods of English history.

There are numerous passages which display the influence of Elizabeth.

It was at her request that he wrote the _Merry Wives of Windsor_, in which Falstaff is depicted as a lover: the play of Henry VIII., criticizing the queen's father, was not produced until after her death.