John Falstaff
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A fat, vainglorious, cowardly, jolly knight. The character was invented by William Shakespeare for his plays Henry IV (parts 1 and 2) and also appeared in The Merry Wives of Windsor. By extension, Falstaffian means corpulent and jolly.
Appearances
He appears in the following plays:
His death is mentioned in Henry V but he has no lines, nor is it directed that he appear on stage. However, many stage and film adaptations have seen it necessary to include Falstaff for the insight he provides into King Henry V's character. The most notable examples in cinema are Laurence Olivier's 1944 version and Kenneth Branagh's 1989 film, both of which draw additional material from the Henry IV plays.
There are several works about Falstaff, inspired by Shakespeare's plays:
- Orson Welles's Chimes at Midnight (1966) compiles the two Henry IV plays into a single, condensed storyline, while adding a handful of scenes from Richard II and Henry V. The movie, also known as Falstaff, features Welles himself in the title role.
- Falstaff (1893), Giuseppe Verdi's last opera, with a libretto by Arrigo Boito. It is mostly based upon The Merry Wives of Windsor.
- Falstaff (1799), Antonio Salieri's opera, with a libretto by Carlo Prospers Defranchesi, which is also based upon The Merry Wives of Windsor.
- Falstaff (1913), a "symphonic study" by Elgar, which is a sympathetic and programmatic musical portrait.
- Falstaff, a Hungarian TV movie based on Henry IV, part 1 and Henry IV, part 2, prepared by László Vámos and Péter Müller
- Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (1849) by Carl Otto Nicolai, based upon The Merry Wives of Windsor.
- Sir John in Love, 1924–1928, an opera by composer Ralph Vaughan Williams
- The opera Plump Jack (1984) by Gordon Getty.
- The novel Falstaff by Robert Nye.
See also
See also
