Characters of Shakespear's Plays Merry Wives of Windsor". The bulk of Hazlitt's commentary on the two history plays is devoted to Falstaff, whom he considers to be "perhaps the most substantial comic character ever invented". Falstaff had been of interest to Shakespearean commentators for years. Forty years earlier, a full-length book had appeared, "An Essay on the Dramatic Character of Sir John Falstaff" (1777), by Maurice Morgann, often taken as the beginning of that school of Shakespearean criticism which considers the characters of Shakespeare's plays as though they were real people. Hazlitt, who seems to have had little acquaintance with Morgann's work, is careful
Gustavo III (Verdi) the opera. Basing it as he did on the skeleton score of "Una vendetta", Verdi transformed the setting and characters' names to fit the requirements. The score's text required modification to agree with "Ballo" and not "Una vendetta", orchestration was completed, and musical changes and adjustments were made. Significant changes in the music occurred after 11 September and are also detailed by Gossett. The first performance of the new opera was presented on 17 February 1859. By about 1870, after "Ballo" had become successful and when Italian unification removed much of regional censorship, Verdi could probably have returned the opera