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Shakespeare & Beyond

Fat rogue, pampered glutton: Two Falstaffian context clues

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From Q0 of 1 Henry IV.
From Q0 of 1 Henry IV.

emma poltrack

has a PhD in English and Comparative Literature Studies (with a focus on contemporary Shakespearean performance) from University of Warwick. She earned her MA in Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon and the Cultural History of Renaissance England at The Shakespeare Institute. — View all posts by emma poltrack

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One very important indicator that perhaps the 2 Henry IV inclusion of the character name Old. instead of Falst. was intentional can be found in the very language of the following text: “the disease of not listening, the maladie of not marking”. The author is sarcastically protesting his having to deviate from an accurate historical rendering in his play to please a Lord: “Very wel my lord, very wel, rather and’t please you”. This was possibly no accident when you put the two together. The speech from Falstaff right before this is also suggestive: “It hath it originall from much griefe, from study and perturbation”, as if to suggest that it is based on an historical record that is disturbing.

David Ewald — April 26, 2020