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“Directors, actors, playgoers, readers need to understand that Falstaff, most magnificent of wits, is tragicomic…he is not one of the fools of time. [It has been] said that love was the wisdom of fools, and the folly of the wise. I cannot think of a better description of my hero, Sir John Falstaff.”
The above is stated in the prelude of this passionate book by Harold Bloom (born 1930). He is Professor of Humanities at Yale University. Bloom is also a prolific author of more than forty books. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters as well as the recipient of many awards and honorary degrees.
Falstaff is not just a character, he can be thought of as a phenomenon. As he himself boasted, he’s witty not only in himself but is the cause of wit in others. He’s been the inspiration for songs, paintings, operas, and even beer.
Actors made their careers playing him, and he’s the only character to appear in three Shakespeare plays—once, if legend is correct, by royal request. (The plays are the histories “Henry IV” Parts 1 & 2, known as the Henriad, and the comedy “The Merry Wives of Windsor”; he is mentioned in the history play “Henry V.”) Falstaff is so inimitable that his name has become an adjective “Falstaffian,” meaning “characteristic of or resembling Falstaff, a fat, jovial, humorous knight.”
An opportunistic schemer, giving the illusion of a sad old clown, a corruptor of youth, and a philosopher, Falstaff has seduced the greatest actors: it was Orson Welles’ life’s ambition to play him (his ambition is realized in the unforgettable movie “Chimes at Midnight”), and the role capped Ralph Richardson’s career (see Richardson in character above on this book’s front cover.)
This book seems to be an explanation of why Falstaff matters to Bloom and why Falstaff is one of literatures greatest forces. It is these two strands of argument that permeate this book and are never separated.
I feel that perhaps Bloom let his passion in some places in this book take over his critical thinking. For example, he intuits that a few sonnets were actually about Falstaff. As well, he sees Falstaff in other non-Shakespearean works. I found some of what he said to be a great stretch in reasoning.
However, Bloom uses quotations extensively, mainly from what he calls the “Falstaffiad” (the Henriad and Henry V Act 2 scene 3) for his absorbing analysis. As well, I enjoyed witnessing his ever-present passion for his hero even if it did run amok sometimes.
Finally, Bloom tells is, “Unfortunately, he [Shakespeare] also composed ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor,’ a ghastly comedy that is an unacceptable travesty of Falstaff.” That’s it! I was left hanging as he never did tell us why this play, sometimes called an “Elizabethan I Love Lucy” is “ghastly” and an “unacceptable travesty of Falstaff.”
In conclusion, this book is perhaps Harold Bloom’s last love letter to his hero, that “huge hill of flesh” Sir John Falstaff AKA “Sir John Sack—and Sugar.” (Sack, Falstaff’s beverage of choice, has become synonymous with the character.)
(2017; acknowledgements; author’s note; 21 chapters; main narrative 160 pages; about the author)
<<Stephen PLETKO, London, Ontario, Canada>>
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- Reviewed in Canada on November 12, 2017
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- Anirvan DasguptaReviewed in India on April 7, 2018
This is a good read. Saying that
Verified Purchase - C.C.Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2017
The Light and the Grave
Verified Purchase - Mr. N. A. BellReviewed in the United Kingdom on April 13, 2019
You can’t not read this text.
Verified Purchase - AntonioReviewed in Australia on October 13, 2022
Interesting
Verified Purchase - Sidrah BokhariReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2017
Five Stars
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