Falstaff facts for kids

This page is about the Shakespearean character. For the opera by Verdi see Falstaff (opera)

Adolf Schrödter: Falstaff and his page

Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare. In two of the Henry IV plays, he is a friend of Prince Hal, the man who becomes King Henry V.

Falstaff is very fat. He thinks he is very important and is always boasting. He is also a coward. Falstaff makes Prince Hal get into trouble. When Hal becomes king Falstaff is rejected.

Falstaff is a comic figure, but Shakespeare makes him say some things which tell us a lot about human nature. For example: before a battle in Henry IV he explains that his cowardice is actually common sense, because honour in battle is not really worth anything. Honour would not stop other people saying he was a coward and it would not help him if he got injured.

Falstaff also appears in The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Shakespeare’s character inspired several musicians to compose music about him. Carl Otto Nicolai wrote an opera called Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (1849). Verdi’s wrote an opera Falstaff based on the same play. It is often thought to be Verdi’s greatest opera. Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote an opera called Sir John in Love, (1924–1928). Elgar wrote a brilliant piece for orchestra called “Falstaff” which he called: “a symphonic study”.

It is likely that Shakespeare based the character of Falstaff on a real person. Many ideas have been discussed but no one can be sure who Shakespeare may have had in mind.

Images for kids

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  Mistress Page and Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor, staged by Pacific Repertory Theatre at the Golden Bough Playhouse in Carmel, CA, in 1999

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  An 1829 watercolor by Johann Heinrich Ramberg of Act II, Scene iv: Falstaff enacts the part of the king.

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  Falstaff with Doll Tearsheet in the Boar's Head tavern, illustration to Act 2, Scene 4 of the play by Eduard von Grützner

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  Falstaff rebuked, Robert Smirke, c. 1795

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  Falstaff at Herne's Oak, from "The Merry Wives of Windsor," Act V, Scene v, James Stephanoff, 1832

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  Eduard von Grützner: Falstaff mit großer Weinkanne und Becher (1896) (Falstaff with big wine jar and cup, 1896)

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  Falstaff, part of Ronald Gower's Shakespeare memorial in Stratford-upon-Avon

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  Stephen Kemble, "the best Sir John Falstaff which the British stage ever saw."

See also

In Spanish: Falstaff para niños