Soldan High School - Scrip Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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-v- - .. -J :afar .17 ,- Y -- Y . ' :+A 4-1-S-.. Falstaff: Slialqespearefs Greatest Humorous Character N Shakespeare's play, Henry the Fourth, the chief justice says to Sir john Falstaff, Thou art a great fool. The If chief justice is right, but Falstaff is more than that. Any one of Shakespeare's readers will say, Falstaff, thou art 1 the greatest fool ! Why was Falstaff a great fool? He was morally de- linquent, having for his favorite pastimes lying, drinking, and robbing. And yet we are all delighted with the old man. It is not that we ap- prove of his moral character, but that we appreciate his ingenuity and brilliance of wit. Shakespeare did not give Falstaff a part in his play as a moral exampleg he is there to amuse the audience-a part he plays admirably. And he does not try to amuse us by merely saying funny things and acting in a comical way as did many of the fools of litera- ture. Fa1staff's humor appeals to us in a different way, his wit is not soon forgotten as are the actions and sayings of many fools of which we read. A genius, and only a great genius, could do the things that Fal- staff did-he was no ordinary man. If Falstaff never said a word, he would serve the purpose for which he was placed in the play-that of amusing us-by walking across the stage, so funny was his appearance. He is such a fat man that one can not look at him without laughing. It has been said that his jokes come from the quantity of Hesh through which they make their way, as he shakes his fat sides with laughter, or 1ards the lean earth as he walks. The First time that We meet Falstaff he is planning to rob some pil- grims. If We are shocked at his doing such a thing we soon admire the old knight because of his vivid imagination and his clever handling of a diilicult situation. After he and his companions had committed the theft, Prince Hal and Poins, disguised as robbers, very easily took the money from them. When Falstaff meets the Prince, he tells a great story about a large band of men wresting the treasure from them after a long and fierce struggle. Then when Hal makes it known that he and Poins were that great company, the quick-witted old man is not the least disturbed. He very quickly remarks that instinct kept him from harming the Prince. And this was not done because he feared the Prince's teasing. He no doubt knew that Hal would see through the ruse. But the old knight did this because, for him, telling such tales was amusement. Some one has said that Falstaff is an artist making the impossible ap- pear probable by his skill in argument, and like all true astists, he de- lights in his Work. 114

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nw. ' Ax- W' :' ' 3' ' ' If , . ,,4, V , , -,gi .v Y Q.,-iff 1.,-Q., In every court of every king their types may be found. Hamlet de- scribes them as Usponges that soak up the King's rewards and authori- ties. Then there is Horatio, whose fidelity to Hamlet forms an ideal friendship. Never does he betray the confidence of his friend. True in all trials, he is the only one upon whom Hamlet can rely. . In Hamlet is depicted a great deed laid upon a soul unequal to the performance of it. He is the type of man whose intellectual powers completely overbalance his powers of action. He had dedicated his life to the avenging of his father's murder. V But when the opportunity for doing this is given to him, he can not carry out his purpose. His inner spirit tells him to wait until a more favorable opportunity is given. He is incapable of quick, decisive action, but he does not know how to remedy his defect. Thus, one of the greatest of Shakespeare's 'charac- ters is of vacillating disposition, weighing now this, now that, in his mind until he almost loses sight of his already blunted purpose. Shakespeare, in his historical plays, has brought on the stage vari- ous kings of England, showing why they failed or why they succeeded. King john failed through cowardiceg Henry VI. because of a weak and yielding dispositiong Henry IV. had not failed, but his success was hampered by his craft and suspicion. Henry V. cannot be considered as a truly great character. His chief appeal is to the patriotism and the love of conquest inherent in every heart. When Shakespeare placed this popular hero on the stage, it was one of those lucky strokes that a poet in touch with the people can always be depended on to make. We ought not to leaveout the two Portias, Rosalind, Beatrice, Ophelia and an infinite number of others, each of whom typiiies some trait of human nature. But to describe all is impossible. Their char- acters are as varied as human nature itself. For Shakespeare no more invented men than he invented plots. He adopted those whom he found among his neighbors and associates. No real character is ever conjured up from the imagination. Such a char- acter has to be taken from life. Probably Shakespeare had a living rep- resentative for nearly every character he drew. A word or an incident would often unfold to him the whole soul of a man. Shakespeare showed him as he saw him. He knew how he would think, act, and talk on given occasions, and painted him accord- ingly. The greatest of dramatists, Shakespeare contributed to the drama nothing but himself, his power of holding the mirror up to nature and recording the impressions made therein. Q -Ruth Campbell. 113

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- - - -fx iii A -J A T '17 - ' - A ' His lack of fear is shown in a very convincing way. When some of the oflicials came to arrest him for the theft, he falls asleep in his hiding place. Could anyone now say that he possessed fear? Perhaps it was his assurance that he could escape punishment that permitted him to be so at ease at such a time. Certainly, he never was in so tight a place but that he could find a way out. At another time when the chief justice came to arrest him, Falstaff handled the situation beautifully. The justice appeared unexpectedly, but that didn't bother the knight. He quickly told the boy to tell the justice that he was deaf, and, owing to this feigned deafness, he acts as though he can hear very little of what the officer says. He catches a word now and then, and immediately goes into a long parley on a subject suggested by that word. The justice tries to inform Falstaff that his recent military achieve- ments were not of sufficient weight to overbalance his past wrong- doings. At mention of the war, the guilty one seems very solicitous about the king, for whom he had fought, and he goes into detail, describ- ing a malady from which the king suffered. The official sees that he can accomplish nothing, so he leaves without broaching the subject of Fal- staff's arrest. When we learn that Falstaff is soon to leadia band of men to battle, one is struck with the absurdity of the ideag yet there is no general on the field prouder of his achievements than is Sir John. After the battle, he takes a great delight in boasting of his heroism and valor, claiming that it was he who killed Hotspur, the enemy of the king. Yet, this is done to amuse his listeners more than to gain praise. He is not ignor- ant of the fact that they all know Prince Hal fatally wounded Percy, and that Falstaff merely stabbed him when he was dying. His con- tempt for glory is shown on the battle field when Falstaff forgets the fighting that is all about him, and pulls out his bottle. To him glory is of little consequence, compared with his beloved sack. When the old king dies and Prince Hal becomes Henry the Fifth, realizing the responsibility and gravity of his oflice, he casts off his old habits and companions. And Falstaff is left to die a lonely, neglected man. The greatest test of our fondness for the old man is our emotion at his death scene. Ordinarily we would not be disturbed in the least to see a man with so many moral deficiencies die. But Falstaff's death Wrenches our hearts. We realize that he was no ordinary man, and we feel the bitterness and loneliness of his death very keenly. When he dies, Dame Quickly, the hostess of the tavern where Falstaff spent most of his time, is the only one who tries to make his last moment pleasant. A few of his friends come after he is dead and express some words meant to be kind, but the words seem harsh to us. Then they go their care- l15 .