ON THE QUESTION OF THE HEROES OF THE FIRST QUARTO AND THE FIRST FOLIO OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S DRAMA “THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR”
The article discusses William Shakespeare’s comedy “The Merry Wives of Windsor”, its two editions (versions from the first quarto and from the first folio). The first version of the text is usually referred to as “bad” versions, since it is noticeably shorter and less perfect both from a stylistic and conceptual point of view. There are many versions of the origin of this text. For example, some scientists believe that the text was recorded from memory either by an actor who participated in the performance, or by a certain reporter. Others believe that different editions of the comedy are different stages of work on the text. The researcher takes the second point of view. In the course of the study, the author considers a problem of linguistic personalities of the characters of quarto and folio, using the example of one hero - Fenton. The paper shows the methods of linguopoetics in use and compares his remarks in quarto and folio, reveals what other characters say about him and how true it is. The paper answers a question why the language personality of the hero changes in the second edition and for what purpose Shakespeare rewrote some of his character’s lines.