Shakespeare’s ‘fat rogue’ Sir John Falstaff is perhaps the greatest of his comic creations. He is also a character steeped in significance: an anarchic ‘lord of misrule’ from folk tradition, a figure from carnival, a type of human appetite unmodified by reason or by duty, an image of the English people seen in opposition to their rulers, a Freudian id without a superego. Liar, drunkard, cheat, coward, thief and lecher, he is also intensely loveable.
He features in the richest of Shakespeare’s political plays, the two parts of King Henry IV, where he is seen as the antithesis of the King and the playfellow of Prince Hal, the King’s errant son. As Hal’s friend, he unknowingly plays his part in the moulding of a national hero. When Hal becomes King Henry V, soon to be the victor of Agincourt, Falstaff dies and his death is reported near the start of the play King Henry V. Legend has it that Queen Elizabeth was so disappointed at the loss of Falstaff that she asked Shakespeare to write a play about the fat rogue in love. That play, the light comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor, will be touched on in a coda to the course.
In a course of five days there will not be enough time to study every aspect of the plays in which Falstaff appears. We shall concentrate on the Falstaff scenes. But for that very reason, those taking the course must be very familiar indeed with all aspects of the two Henry IV plays, because Falstaff derives his value and significance from the plays as wholes and in relation to the other characters. Wonderful characters: Hal, Mistress Quickly, Hotspur, Justice Shallow, Doll Tearsheet – all of them unforgettable. So those taking this course must read the plays thoroughly and well before arriving in Cambridge.
Extracts from performances on DVD will be used to illustrate the course, particularly sections from the Orson Welles film Chimes at Midnight.
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