It
seems to me to be possible for a good reader to notice not only
Shakespeare's lapses and faults in the drawing of this character, but
also to make a very fair guess at his heightening touches, and so arrive
at last at the humorous old lewdster who furnished the living model for
the inimitable portrait. The first scene in which Falstaff appears
talking with Prince Henry will supply examples to illustrate my meaning.
Falstaff's very first speech after he asks Hal the time of day gives us
the key; he ends it with:
"And I pr'ythee, sweet wag, when thou art king,--as,
God save thy grace--majesty, I should say, for grace
thou wilt have none,--"
Here he is interrupted and breaks off, but a minute or two later he
comes back again to his argument, and curiously enough uses exactly the
same words:
"But, I pr'ythee, sweet wag, shall there be gallows
standing in England when thou art king? and resolution
thus fobbed as it is with the rusty curb of old father
Antick, the law?"
Now, this question and the hope it expresses that justice would be put
to shame in England on Prince Henry's accession to the throne is taken
from a speech of the Prince in the old play, "The Famous Victories of
Henry the Fifth.
Pages:
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221