Jack Falstaff Analysis

Falstaff: Why We Love Plump Jack
In William Shakespeare’s play Henry IV Part One, Sir John Falstaff is a fat, drunken, middle aged man with a lousy sense of honor. He becomes somewhat of a surrogate father to Prince Hal, all the while teaching the young prince his ways of partying and drinking through whatever life brings him, which does not earn him any respect along the way. Along with the immense time that the two spend together, Falstaff’s influence on Prince Hal wreaks all sorts of havoc on Hal’s relationship with his actual father, King Henry IV, leading the king to find a surrogate son himself. On top of all of this, Falstaff is very different from any of the other characters in Henry’s world, who care about honor and their public personas. Though Falstaff seems like an absolute mess, he is one of the most popular characters that Shakespeare has ever created. His appeal comes because he is a contrasting character to all of the others and is also more than just comedic relief to the audience: he comes across as a genuinely good man and, on top of that, Falstaff is relatable in the sense that he represents the good, the bad, the lazy, and more in
He creates a needed contrast from the other, more chivalrous characters in the play. He makes the reader laugh with his drunk, dishonorable lifestyle. He comes across as a good-natured man in the way that he makes Hal’s storyline more plausible. He really is essential to the storyline, though it may not originally seem so. Most of all, he represents the reader. There is some toned-down percentage of Falstaff in everyone, whether it be in his wit or his dishonesty or his laziness or his desire to find the easiest and most fun path out of life’s challenges. In the words of Falstaff himself, it if one was to “Banish plump Jack, [they would] banish all the world”