# Master Slender — The Merry Wives of Windsor character guide

> Master Slender in The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Slender, young Master Slender, gentle Master Slender

**First appearance:** 0002-act-i-scene-i

## Snapshot

A nervous, well-connected simpleton trotted out as a suitor for Anne Page, whose fortune he can recite but whose person he can barely address.

## Who they are

Slender arrives in Windsor trailing his cousin Justice Shallow and parson Evans, a gentleman by pedigree and inheritance if not by wit or nerve. He wants Anne Page mostly because the adults around him have decided her seven hundred pounds make her worth wanting, and his courtship consists of stammered nothings and borrowed opinions. His ineptitude matters because it exposes how the marriage market treats a daughter as a transaction, and because his blundering pursuit helps clear the field for a suitor who actually loves her.

## In the story

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_merry_wives_of_windsor_se/chapters/act-i-scene-i)

Awkwardly courts Anne Page, showing reluctance and lack of confidence.

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_merry_wives_of_windsor_se/chapters/act-i-scene-ii)

Referred to as the master whose desires are to be solicited to Anne Page.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_merry_wives_of_windsor_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-iii)

Present with the group, briefly greeting Doctor Caius.

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_merry_wives_of_windsor_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-ii)

Hopes to win Anne Page's hand; declines Ford's invitation.

### [Scene IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_merry_wives_of_windsor_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-iv)

Awkwardly courts Anne Page under pressure from his uncle Shallow and Page.

### [Scene VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_merry_wives_of_windsor_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-vi)

Mentioned as the suitor favored by Anne's father for a forced marriage at Eton.

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_merry_wives_of_windsor_se/chapters/act-v-scene-ii)

Reveals the secret code with Anne Page: he will wear white and say 'mum,' she will reply 'budget.'

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_merry_wives_of_windsor_se/characters/master_slender
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_merry_wives_of_windsor_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_merry_wives_of_windsor_se/characters