The character of Falstaff sheds light on the contradiction between Henry’s actions and his views and values about honour and leadership. As Lollard Knight creating himself in language, he plays a subversive role. He undermines the patriarchal royal order.
The role of thief and similarities with King Henry
- As a thief, the “king of the tavern world” Falstaff sheds light on the King’s illegitimacy; he is shamefully subversive; an inappropriate knight, willing to commit robbery for money and entertainment.
- Falstaff is deserted by his friends just before the robbery, just as King Henry has been deserted by his former allies.
- (literary device: he plays the role of king during the play ex-tempore, giving advice to Hal; he uses haphazard props etc. ; “Thy state is taken for a joined-stool, they golden sceptre for a leaden dagger, and thy precious rich crown for a pitiful bald crown”. )
- Playing the King, Hal reprimands Falstaff, just as the King of England has a negative attitude towards the Percys.
However:
- Falstaff’s claims that a thief can be honourable to his vocation if he practices it well; so too perhaps Henry believes he can justify the rebellion/ usurpation if he rules well.
- An “honest” thief: Falstaff is honest to his true nature, he acknowledges lying and ‘taking purse’ are his vocations and claims that’ tis no sin for a man to labor in his own vocation.’
The role of language in creating an image: leadership and lessons for Hal
- As a surrogate father and avuncular figure, Falstaff becomes a teacher to Hal inducting him into the world of the commoners.
- Play on words: Falstaff is the master of the pun and double entendres etc… It is therefore difficult to fix Falstaff to one meaning; his identity shifts and changes; his delight in punning also reflects his subversive role in the play; it is by nature always double; as a Lollard knight he undermines the regal, patriarchal, social system.
- Hal learns the language of the tavern world, fraternizes with the commoners and practices the common touch;
- Falstaff also acts as a reminder of the world that Hal must reject. play extempore/I do I will.
The role of honour and courage
Whilst King Henry extols the courage manifested by Hotspur, and praises him as the ‘theme of honor’s tongue’, Falstaff questions its usefulness. His concept of honour challenges the social, patriarchal and royal order.
- Honour is a “useless” and empty word; it has no practical purpose. This seems to be evident with the deaths at Shrewsbury;
- the king’s use of ‘counterfeit’ images during the battle of Shrewsbury is juxtaposed with Hotspur’s declaration to his soldiers ‘die all, die merrily’.
Subversion: a parody on honour
- He also makes a mockery of the military offensive by gathering a bunch of ragamuffins and enabling wealthier citizens to purchase forfeits. All the while, he is prepared to sacrifice the welfare of such ragamuffins and appeals to Hal to help him ensure his own survival.
- he holds the view that seeking honour are only “paying [death] before his day.”
- He says that “honour pricks me on,” parroting the party line; but he then discredits it and complains that it is useless. It is of no use neither to the living nor to the dead. When he stumbles across the body of Sir Walter Blunt (slain, ironically, because he is thought to be King Henry), his immediate comment is: “Sir Walter Blunt. There’s honour for you. Here’s no vanity” (V.iii.32–33).
The ‘true” and ‘honest’ thief:
In rejecting honour, which gives rise to the notion of counterfeit, Falstaff is the larger than life bodily presence. “I am no counterfeit – I am no double man : a big man with a larger than life presence on stage. he is an old fat criminal who loves to drink sack, eat and while away the day. (time is inconsequential to him)
- There is an aspect of Falstaff’s character that he is truly himself: Falstaff implies that because he is not a “double man”; he is a genuine thief and because he lacks honour then he is truly himself and not playing a role for another.
- He values fidelity in another: “a plague upon it when thieves cannot be true one to another”
The other characters (who are also to differing degrees honourable) could be seen as alternating double figures and counterfeits:
- Hal – his critical soliloquy; he could be seen as as double man; a counterfeit who relies on the double image of a wayward son/fool as a tool of redemption
- King Henry – he cultivates an image of royalty and distance/strength (celestial imagery); therefore a “double man”; as appropriate, he “dressed” himself in humility (likewise Hal later dresses himself in humility on the battlefield)
- Criticism of Hotspur: honour is useless – honour creates an image for another; reputation; conceals his reckless streak.
Does his focus on survival and self render him a coward?
- Gads Hill robbery – a humiliating defeat for Falstaff; he manufactures a story about his cowardice: he is often sleeping behind the arras (encounter with the sheriff) (“the two buckram me become eleven”. )
- Fakes death at the Battle of Shrewsbury ; – recruits the cheapest, sickest men whom he damns “food for powder, food for powder (4.2.58)
- he appears opportunistic; exploiting his relationship with the future king and seeking to extract promises: (play extempore)
- Whilst his preoccupation with self-preservation suggests a cowardly streak, one could also argue that he is no more cowardly than King Henry who also uses imitation men (Sir William Blunt) to foil the rebels. (Certainly, this is a common royal tactic; however, it can also be argued that the use of counterfeit is also associated with deception and dishonour. After all King Henry’s dishonour with regards to the rebels has precipitated the crisis in the first place.)
- (Also compare with Hotspur’s reckless pursuit of honour.)
- Steals honour from Hotspur
Or he is just honest about his dishonest intentions: is the coward an image of self created in language (the stories at Gads Hill robbery)
- Justifies and rationalizes:
- Justifies: He is honest about his dishonest intentions…
- True to his constant desire to invent himself in words.. creates the story about himself – which also creates an image…
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