Essay on Falstaff in Henry IV Part I -- Henry IV Henry V Essays

The Character of Falstaff in Henry IV fortune I In Henry IV Part I, Shakespeare presents a gathering of traditional heroes. Hotspurs laudable valor, King Henrys military reign, and Hals princely transformation echo the socially extolled values of the Elizabethean male. m ageinging themselves after societal standards, these flat characters contrast Sir John Falstaffs round, game individual(prenominal)ity. Through Falstaffs unorthodox behavior and flagrant disregard for cultural traditions, Shakespeare advocates ones personal values above societys. Extolled as the essence of Shakespeares dramatic art (Bloom 299) and ridiculed as the symbol of lunacy and vice, the character of Sir John Falstaff, a loquacious knight, elicits a dichotomy in spite of appearance the Shakespearean critical community. This controversy originates in the rendition of Shakespeares objective in creating Sir John Falstaff. Literary critics such as John capital of Delaware Wilson and Edgar Stoll espouse that Shakespeare created Falstaff to serve as Hals attendant spirit...typifying Vanity in every sense of the word (Wilson 17). These anti-Falstaff carpers claim that the theme of Henry IV Part I, being a morality play, is the growing-up of a madcap prince into the noble-minded king (Wilson 22). If this were the case then Falstaff, a besotted and disgusting old wretch (Shaw qtd. in Goddard 71), represents an obstacle that Hal must overcome to tranform into a imperial king. Asserting that Hal associates Falstaff...with the devil (Wilson 20), being the antithesis of heroism and virtue, Falstaff symbolizes...the feasting and good revolutionise for which Eastcheap stood, and reflects...the shifts, subterfuges, and shady tricks that decayed gentleman and soldiers were put to if they wi... ...is rivals Hal gives up any personal freedom he might have displayed in order to succeed in his fathers footsteps. Falstaff survives, not only years, but by centuries as well. Lauded, ridiculed, and analyzed Falstaff surpasses death by continuously published literary criticism and interpretation. No other Shakespearean character is as studied, examined, or investigated. Fascinating to spectators, Falstaff is a character that will follow the audience out of the theatre. work CitedHazlitt, William. Hazlitts Works. 8 vols. Ed. W. Carew Hazlitt. London George Bell, 1905.Hazlitt, William. Hazlitts Criticism of Shakespeare A Selection. Ed. R. S.White. New York Edwin Mellen, 1996Becker Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare The fraud of the Human. New York Riverhead Books, 1998BradleyDesaiMorgannShawStollWilsonGoddart