THE CHARACTER OF SIR JOHN FALSTAFF, AS ORIGINALLY EXHIBITED BY SHAKESPEARE IN THE TWO PARTS OF KING HENRY IV. BY JAMES ORCHARD HALLIWELL, Esq., F.R.S., HON. M.R.I.A., F.S.A., F.R.A.S., ETC. ETC. ETC. "In spite of faction this would favour get; LONDON: WILLIAM PICKERING, CHANCERY LANE. 1841. THE object of the following pages is to endeavour to place in a clearer light a question which has been frequently discussed, but still left in considerable obscurity. In the earlier ages of Shakespearian criticism, it appears to have been taken for granted that the character of Falstaff was intended to represent a person equally historical with the other dramatis persona; and the absurd notion that its prototype was Sir John Fastolf appears to be hardly yet exploded. In the present tract I have endeavoured to establish what appears to me an important fact connected with this subject, and I have fortunately been enabled to illustrate it with several documents and passages from rare books, which have escaped the researches of former critics. I have taken the opportunity of publishing a few notes relating to Shakespeare, but not immediately connected with the subject of this essay. 35, Alfred-place, London, Eve of St. Michael, 1841. |