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

The Character of Falstaff in hydrogen IV Part I In Henry IV Part I, Shakespeare presents a collection of traditional heroes. Hotspurs laudable valor, King Henrys militaristic reign, and Hals princely transformation echo the socially extolled value of the Elizabethean male. Molding themselves after societal standards, these flat characters contrast Sir magic Falstaffs round, spirited personality. Through Falstaffs unorthodox behavior and flagrant edit for cultural traditions, Shakespeare advocates ones personal values above target of magnitudes. Extolled as the essence of Shakespeares dramatic art (Bloom 299) and ridiculed as the symbolisation of self-indulgence and vice, the character of Sir John Falstaff, a loquacious knight, elicits a duality within the Shakespearean critical community. This controversy originates in the rendition of Shakespeares intention in creating Sir John Falstaff. Literary critics such as John Dover Wilson and Edgar Stoll espouse that Shakespeare crea ted Falstaff to serve as Hals attendant spirit...typifying dresser 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 swashbuckler prince into the ideal king (Wilson 22). If this were the case then Falstaff, a besotted and rebarbative old wretch (Shaw qtd. in Goddard 71), represents an obstacle that Hal must overcome to tranform into a regal king. Asserting that Hal associates Falstaff...with the devil (Wilson 20), being the antithesis of heroism and virtue, Falstaff symbolizes...the feasting and right cheer 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 each personal freedom he might have displayed in order to follow in his fathers footsteps. Falstaff survives, not only years, just now through centuries as well. Lauded, ridiculed, and analyzed Falsta ff surpasses death by continuously produce 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 proscribed of the theatre. Works 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. bare-ass York Edwin Mellen, 1996Becker Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare The Invention of the Human. New York Riverhead Books, 1998BradleyDesaiMorgannShawStollWilsonGoddart