Falstaff (81)

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"Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world."

The following books will introduce you to Sir John Falstaff, who said these words in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I, Act II, scene iv.

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• Shakespeare, William [all Folger Shakespeare Library paperbacks]
  • History of Henry IV, Part I. Washington Square Press, 1994.
    • Antics of Falstaff with Prince Hal in Eastcheap eventually give way to the need to battle the rebel Hotspur. Falstaff's action on the field leads to his proverb, "the better part of valour is discretion" (Act V, scene iv).
  • History of Henry IV, Part II. Pocket Books, 1991.
    • Falstaff is left on his own while Prince Hal must adjust to his new situation as his father, the king, falls ill and dies. As Henry V, Hal abandons his old and faithful friend, Sir John.
  • Life of Henry V. Washington Square Press, 1995.
    • Broken-hearted from the new king's rejection, Falstaff dies.
  • Merry Wives of Windsor. Pocket Books, 1988.
    • In more carefree days, Falstaff got himself into some embarrassing romantic mix-ups with Mistresses Page and Ford. This play was reputed to be Shakespeare's answer to Queen Elizabeth I's desire to see "Sir John in love."
      
• Bloom, Harold (Ed.). Falstaff (Major Literary Characters). Chelsea House, 1992.
  • Extracts and essays representing the best of Falstaff criticism.
    
• Bevington, David (Ed.). Henry the Fourth, Parts I and II: Critical Essays. New York: Garland, 1986.
  • Some of the commentators are Samuel Johnson, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, A. C. Bradley ("The Rejection of Falstaff"), Mark Van Doren, John Dover Wilson ("The Falstaff Myth"), W. H. Auden ("The Prince's Dog"), and Arthur Colby Sprague ("Gadshill Revisited").
    
• Roberts, Jeanne Addison. Shakespeare's English Comedy: The Merry Wives of Windsor in Context. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1979.
  • Reaction to and significance of the "Windsor Falstaff."
    
• Marshall, Roderick. Falstaff: The Archetypal Myth. Longmead, England: Element Books, 1989.
  • Fascinating study of Falstaff as a type, the "tutor-buffoon," with roots in seasonal festivals like the English Mummer's play. Marshall also finds echoes of this type in Santa Claus, Silenos, Ganesha, and many other mythic figures worldwide.
    
• Lyons, Bridget Gellert and Welles, Orson. Chimes at Midnight: Orson Welles, Director (Rutgers Films in Print; V. 11). Rutgers University Press, 1989.
  • Paperback text for Welles' recently restored film in which he directed and starred as a corpulent and convincing Falstaff. Welles' adaptation combines episodes from the history plays with the Windsor comedy.
    
• Hepokoski, James A. Giuseppe Verdi, Falstaff (Cambridge Opera Handbook). Cambridge University Press, 1984.
  • Verdi's opera focuses primarily on The Merry Wives of Windsor, although Boito's text also draws on the two Henry IV plays.

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