Falstaff
“Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world,” (2.4.497-498) is Sir John Falstaff’s plea to Prince Hal and is the view of nearly every reader who partakes in William Shakespeare’s, Henry IV. At first the reader may view Falstaff as only a drunken, belligerent, thief, but as the play progresses one can see that he is no mere foil. Sir John Falstaff is a very complex character that the reader admires because he is comic and dramatic with a great ability to avoid trouble and negative judgment through his words and actions. Falstaff is considered to be one of the greatest and most powerful characters in English literature because although he is misbehaving and has many amiss characteristics, he admits his faults and makes light of them, allows readers to relate and live vicariously through him, and has a distinct and yet very interesting opinion of honor which greatly contrasts with the other characters’ view of it. At the first glimpse of Falstaff the reader sees that he is a criminal and a poor example of a human being. He steals, drinks, lies, is a womanizer, and is very obese yet he admits to these characteristics and turns his faults into something humorous, which serves in winning over the reader’s opinion of hi
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Sir John, John Falstaff, Hal Falstaff, Hal Percy, Henry IV, Overall Falstaff, sir john, Queen England, Quickly Falstaff, , Prince Hal, john falstaff, sir john falstaff, live vicariously, english literature, characters english literature, characters english,
Approximate Word count = 998
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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