Falstaff and Doll Tearsheet

Henry IV, Part Two

William Shakespearec. 1597
Influence14th pct
Popularity22nd pct
Shakespeare

Read this if you…

  • want all the Falstaff plays (this is 2nd best)
  • are invested in the plot of Henry IV (or want the prequel to Henry V)

Skip this if you…

  • aren't willing to go slow, read notes, look up analyses of famous passages (only way to "get" shakespeare)
  • foolishly think shakespeare is overrated
  • don't care about shakespeare's best prose that much (I personally don't, i like his verse way better)

The Groblé Take

This one was pretty weak for me, and confusing what happened. That was hilarious that Shakespeare put epilogue in apologizing for it not being that good, I appreciated that. Uneasy lie the head that wears the crown is an all time line though

Connections

The lineage through Henry IV, Part Two

Built Onwhat came beforeHenry IV, Part TwoThe Gospels

  • The Gospels by Matthew. Henry IV, Part Two built on it. - Falstaff's wit is soaked in scripture — his glutton-in-hell taunts are lifted straight from Luke's parable of Dives and Lazarus, and they land sharper when you know the source - Hal's turn from tavern reprobate to king is the Prodigal Son retold; *The Gospels* supplied the template for the redemption Shakespeare dramatizes - Read the parables first and the play's spiritual machinery clicks into place
See the full map
Gallery

Depicted in Art

The frail recruit Wart shoulders a musket while Bardolph and Falstaff drill him in front of an amused Justice Shallow on a country lane.

John Cawse, 1827

The newly crowned Henry V, in coronation robes, turns away from the kneeling Falstaff with the line 'I know thee not, old man' as Pistol and Bardolph look on.

Robert Smirke, 1795

Doll Tearsheet and Falstaff sit close together in the tavern as Mistress Quickly fusses behind them and Hal and Poins eavesdrop from a doorway.

Thomas Stothard

Detail of Doll Tearsheet seated on Falstaff's knee, laughing as he drinks, from Grützner's tavern composition.

Eduard von Grützner

Doll Tearsheet sits on Falstaff's knee in the Boar's Head Tavern as Prince Hal and Poins, disguised as drawers, watch from behind.

William Satchwell Leney, 1795

Pistol bursts into Shallow's orchard waving his hat as Falstaff rises from the table, realizing his prince is now king and his fortune made.

John Cawse, 1820

Editions

Recommended Editions

#1Top Pick$9.99$9.31

Folger Shakespeare Library

2004

Folger's the readable one. Text on one page, notes on the facing page, written in plain English instead of textbook-speak. Catches every word and reference you'd otherwise google, without breaking the scene to do it.

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Notable Quotes

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

Henry IV, Henry IV Part 2
All 14 quotes, with sources →
Adaptations

Screen & Stage

Posters via The Movie Database (TMDB)

AcclaimPraised by 6 notable voices
  • John Goodman, actor, Roseanne / The Big Lebowski, 1952–: "My favorite role was Falstaff at the Old Globe in San Diego. I was too young to completely appreciate it, but it felt good."
  • Samuel Johnson, critic & lexicographer, 1709–1784: "Perhaps no authour has ever in two plays afforded so much delight."
  • Orson Welles, filmmaker & actor, 1915–1985: "Falstaff is the greatest conception of a good man, the most completely good man in all drama."
  • Queen Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533–1603: By the oldest tradition, Elizabeth so loved Falstaff in the Henry IV plays that she had Shakespeare bring him back, in love — yielding The Merry Wives of Windsor.
  • Giuseppe Verdi, composer, Falstaff / Otello / Macbeth, 1813–1901: Verdi reread both parts of Henry IV before composing his Falstaff, wanting not the mere buffoon of The Merry Wives but the fuller, inexhaustible Falstaff of the histories.
  • Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of Humanities, Yale, 1930–2019: "Falstaff and Hamlet, together, are the fullest representations of human possibility in Shakespeare."

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