Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Sir John Falstaff’s Influence on Prince Hal in I Henry IV In Shakespearean histories, there is always one individual

who influences the major character and considerably advances the plot. In

I Henry IV by William Shakespeare, Falstaff is such a character. Sir John

Falstaff is perhaps the most complex comic character ever invented. He carries

a dignified presence in the mind’s eye; and in him, we recognize our

internal admiration and jealousy of the rebellious dual personality that

we all secretly wish for. The multi-faceted Falstaff, in comic revolt against

law and order, in his role as father figure to Prince Hal, and ultimately,

in his natural ability to discern and adapt to any situation, emerges as

the most complex and paradoxical character in drama.

Frequently, in literature, the sun represents royalty,

or in this case the king, who strives to uphold law and order. Rhetorically,

the moon, symbolizes instability, not only because it does not remain the

same size to one’s eyes as time passes, but because it reigns the ebb

and flow of the tides. Therefore, as a knight guided by moonlight, Falstaff

is a dissenter against law and order. This conclusion finds support in his

witty tautologies and epithets. Falstaff is invariably aware that Hal will

one day become king, and when that happens, robbers will be honored in England

by “Let[ting] us be indulgence Diana’s foresters, gentlemen of

the shade, monions of the moon; and let[ting] men say we be men of good

government, being governed as the sea is, by our novle and chaste mistress

the moon, under whose countenance we steal” (I, ii, 25-30). Falstaff’s

final dismissal of law and order culminates with a comic plea to the prince,

urging him to have nothing to do with “old father antic the law? Do

not thou, when thou art King, hang a thief” (I, ii, 62-63). We see a

similar epithet in the next act, “send him packing” (II, iv, 301),

in which Falstaff again denounces responsibility, law, and order. Despite

his lack of care for order and responsibility, the rebel dormant in readers

applauds Falstaff’s defiance of the establishment of his defense. Falstaff

seems to appeal to the average reader, for he relates to them, just as a

twentieth-century American would relate to —————. With this in

mind, when examining Hal’s one line response after Falstaff said,

“Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world,” the prince says: “I

do, I will.” Therefore, playing the role of king in this spontaneous exchange,

the prince embraces law and order, because he has the consecrated obligation

to fulfill, one that affects the lives of all Englishmen.

The relationship between Falstaff and Prince Hal is an

unusual one. The two frequently exchange spontaneous, good-natured insults

and the reader comes to see that in reality, they are not unfitting for each

other. Prince Hal is Falstaff’s surrogate son; and for the fractious

Prince himself, Falstaff is a second father, a parent he neither fears nor

respectshas . He is one on whom he executes all his whims, even persuading

Falstaff to emulate a parental role, while he kneels at Hal’s feet and

pretends to listen to his reprimands. In looking at the following passage,

we see Hal’s description of Falstaff as a gluttonous derelict who has

feels no sense of responsibility for either himself or others.

Thou art so fat-witted with drinking

of old

sack, and unbuttoning thee after

supper, and sleep-

ing upon benches after noon, that

thou hast forgotten

to demand that truly which thou

wouldst truly know.

What a devil hast thou to do with

the time of the

day? (I, ii, 2-7)

Time, a symbol of the ordered life, could not concern a man who spends his

days drinking sack, eating, sleeping, and frequenting brothels.

Finally, Falstaff’s natural ability to perceive or

know how to react in a situation is ultimately, what makes this character

so complex. Wit is often an insubstantial substitute for pleasurable sensation;

emanating from trivial spite at the cost of others. Falstaff’s wit emerges

from a copiousness of good humor and good nature. He would not be in character,

if he were not so fat as he is; for there is the greatest awe in his imagination

and the pampered self- of his physical appetites. Shakespeare represents

Falstaff as a liar, a braggart, a coward, a glutton, etc., and yet he is

not offensive, but delightful; for he is all these as much to amuse others

as to gratify himself. As such, Falstaff uses his wit to redeem himself from

embarrassing or complex situations and is always successful in doing such.

The audience virtually forgets the conflict because they are so enamored

with his wit. Fundamentally, he is an actor in himself almost as much as

upon the stage, and we refuse to object to the character of Falstaff in a

moral point of view. The unrestrained indulgence of his own ease, appetites,

and convenience, has neither malice nor hypocrisy in it. We only consider

the number of witticisms in which he puts in conflicts, and do not trouble

ourselves about the consequences resulting from them, for no mischievous

consequences ever result.

The secret of Falstaff’s wit is for the most part

a masterly presence of mind, an absolute self-possession, which nothing can

disturb. His retorts are instinctive suggestions of his self-love; inherent

evasions of all that threatens to interrupt the career of his triumphant

joviality and self-absorption. His natural aversion to every unpleasant thought

or circumstance, of itself makes light of objections, and provokes the most

exorbitant and lewd answers in his own mind. His indifference to truth does

not hinder his reputation, and the more unexpected his contrivances are,

the happier he seems to be rid of them, the anticipation of their effect

acting as a stimulus to the liveliness of his character. His wit is contagious

and those around him tend to emulate his extraordinary talent for his ingenuity.

Falstaff ultimately trains Hal and molds his reputation

such that he undoubtedly becomes the most beloved king of that era. Hal’s

popularity enables him to consolidate power and unite the country against

the older aristocracy. Hal is a man of the people through theft, wit, and

exposure in the streets of London. Through Falstaff’s friendship, Prince

Hal rises from the gutter and overcomes familial oppression to become a hero

who absorbs the spirit of London.