Falstaff's soliloquy in Act 5 Scene 1 (lines 127 ff) questions the value of honor. Falstaff is a man who takes no risks, and the mere idea of throwing one's life away for this abstract thing men call honor seems ridiculous to him. He begins by remarking to himself about how absolutely unnecessary it would be to go to one's death before their time. He uses the metaphor of owing money to make a comparison between paying bills and death. He simply cannot understand why one would be willing to pay such a debt before it is owed-he himself is "loath to pay"(5.1.127) such a thing as his li

Falstaff wonders what good honor will do him. It may indeed "prick [him] off"(5.1.130) like being selected for death from a list by a pin-and that will be the end of him. He now begins a multitude of questions and answers, which clarify his views on the virtue of honor. He establishes that honor can lead to the "grief of a wound"(5.1.132), but cannot heal them because "honor hath no skill in surgery"(5.1.133). Falstaff is no interested in anything that risks personal comfort, and as for honor, he only cares about what it can do for him. He eventually establishes that honor is but "a word"(5.1.134), and in that word nothing but "air-a trim reckoning"(5.1.135). He is interested in tangible things and not in a concept such as honor, concluding that it is useless: "Therefore I'll none of it"(5.1.140). Falstaff's resolution that "honor is a mere scutcheon"(5.1.140) hints at his cynical view. He closes with the statement that the soliloquy he just gave is his 'catechism'. This suggests that the purpose of his religion is to avoid honor, and to continually question its value. This soliloquy is an ironic contrast with how Hal regards honor.

fe to what he views as a worthless and empty cause. He personifies death in his metaphors, sayin

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Approximate Word count = 840
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)