The prince, obviously being in a position of responsibility finds Falstaff delightful, and perhaps wishes he too could live something like Falstaff. The prince convenes with Falstaff and his other friends; if you can call them that, down at the local tavern. The prince does not perhaps think of them as his friends, more as acquaintances because he needs an escape from the reality of being the son of a king. It is quite possible he is merely using them. The prince is always insulting Falstaff, which once again suggests he is merely entertainment to the prince. When talking to Falstaff, the prince says, “What the devil hast thou to do with the time of day?” the prince finds him delightful and I think is jealous of his lack of responsibility.
We can see that Falstaff comes across as somewhat selfish, he asks the prince if he can be a judge when he becomes king, but the prince tells him no, and says that he will be the hangman. Falstaff believes that being friends with the prince will attain him some sort of exemption from prosecution should he ever get caught. Falstaff says to the prince, “But I prithee sweet wag, shall there be gallows standing in England when thou art king?” (Act one, Scene 2 Line 50) Falstaff’s complete ignorance of what the prince tries to imply makes him attractive on stage as he is rather innocent thinking that just because he is friends with the price he will be exempt from prosecution.
In Act 2 Scene 2, Shakespeare allows Falstaff to become more of a loveable rogue rather than a petty criminal. He lets him gain the audiences sympathy when the other thieves steal and hide his horse. He says, “I am accursed to rob in that thieves company; the rascal hath removed my horse, and tied him I know not where. If I travel but four foot by the squier further afoot, I shall break my wind.” Falstaff says that if he has to walk any further instead of riding his horse then he will be winded, or out of breath if you will. These actions help purvey the audience into pitying Falstaff for his overweight condition and his lack of fitness.
Falstaff robs some travellers with 3 other thieves, only to find himself confronted by two new thieves, who happen to be the prince and Poins in disguise. They want to rob him as a joke, to teach him a lesson. He tries to reason with them saying, “come my masters, let us share, and then to horse before day. An the prince and Poins be not two arrant cowards, there’s no equity stirring; there’s no more valour in that Poins that a wild duck.” (Act 2 Scene 2 Line 87) Falstaff is epitomised here as a struggling wreck, he tries to keep it together and bargain with the thieves, but eh fails, only to receive two blows and then he runs away. The prince says at the end of the scene, “were’t not for laughing, I should pity him.” Poins replies. “how the rogue roared!”. They continue to mock Falstaff even in his absence, and just used and abused him for their own greed.
Old, fat, lazy, selfish, dishonest, corrupt, thieving, manipulative, boastful, and lecherous, just a few words to describe , despite his many negative qualities, perhaps the most popular of all of Shakespeare’s comic characters. Though he is technically a knight, Falstaff’s lifestyle clearly renders him unsuited with the ideals of courtly chivalry that one typically associates with knighthood. For instance, Falstaff is willing to commit robbery for the money and entertainment of it. As Falstaff himself notes at some length, honor is useless to him, “Can honour set-to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. . . . What is honour? A word” (Scene 5 Act 1 Lines 130–133). He perceives honor as a mere word, an abstract concept that has no relevance to practical matters. Nevertheless, though Falstaff mocks honor by linking it to violence, to which it is intimately connected throughout the play, he remains endearing and likable to Shakespeare’s audiences. Two reasons that Falstaff retains this esteem are that he plays his scoundrel’s role with such gusto and that he never enjoys enough success to become a real villain; even his highway robbery ends in humiliation for him.
Falstaff seems to scorn morality largely because he has such a hearty appetite for life and finds the niceties of courtesy and honor useless when there are jokes to be told and feasts to be eaten. Largely a man of words, Falstaff has earned the appreciation of some Shakespearean scholars because of the self-creation he achieves through language. Falstaff is constantly creating a myth of himself, and this myth defines his identity even when it is visibly revealed to be false. A master of punning and wordplay, Falstaff provides most of the comedy in the play. He redeems himself largely through his real fondness for , whom, despite everything, he seems to regard as a real friend. This affection makes Harry’s decision, foreshadowed in 1 Henry IV, to abandon Falstaff when he becomes king in 2 Henry IV seem all the more harsh.
Falstaff seems to be blessed with the innate ability to speak as both a commoner, and as a more royal, or a more noble man. He can adapt himself well to the situation which entertains the audience because one minute he is a beer swilling, common slob and the next a somewhat upstanding, cultured man, he says, “A goodly portly man I’ faith, and a corpulent, of a cheerful look, a pleasing eye and a most noble carriage, and as I think, his age some fifty, or by ‘r lady inclining to three score; and now I remember me, his name is Falstaff….” To this Prince Hal replies, “dost thou speak like a king? Do thou stand for me, and I’ll play my father.” Falstaff likes to pretend that he to could be a noble, as he is a knight, although he does not quite fit the criteria for one. He somewhat deludes himself, and tries to imagine how he would be as a magistrate for the young prince when he becomes king, but obviously his dreams are quashed by the quite necessary ridiculing Prince and his companions. It is true however that Falstaff gives as good as he gets.
Falstaff is quite a simple character to understand, he wants to be a noble, and occasionally thinks he is. Unfortunately he is fat, drinks too much, is very loud and generally quite a misconceived chap. He means well when he lies, and tries to for instance make the prince and his peers like him by pretending he himself killed Hotspur, although what really happened was he passed out, Hal killed him then Falstaff simply claimed he had killed him. He is clever in his mischievous ways, but unfortunately lacks the intelligence nor the proper planning to ever get away with anything he tries to pull, like when he tries to convince Hal and Poins that several men attacked him, when it was actually just two (Hal and Poins!) “But if I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of radish; if there where not two or three and fifty upon poor old jack, then I am no two-legged creature.” (Act 2 Scene 4 Line168)
