When composers turn plays into operas they usually have to make some changes in the drama to make it suitable to be sung. Verdi had already turned two other Shakespeare plays into opera: "Otello" and "Macbeth". When he composed these he worked with librettists to create something as close to Shakespeare’s plays as possible, but when writing "Falstaff" he took more freedom. The character of Falstaff is very close to the way he is shown in Shakespeare’s "Henry IV" plays, rather than the Falstaff of "The Merry Wives of Windsor".