Falstaff's Influence on Prince Hal in I Henry IV

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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

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