Falstaff, Prince Henry and Poins at the Boar's Head Tavern (engraved by Robert Thew)

King Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespearec. 1596
Influence22nd pct
Popularity24th pct
Shakespeare

Read this if you…

  • want Falstaff's best play
  • want some of Shakespeare's best prose (though I think his verse is way better, so idc about his prose)
  • want a top 3 Shakespeare History play

Skip this if you…

  • aren't willing to go slow, read notes, look up analyses of famous passages (only way to "get" shakespeare)
  • foolishly think shakespeare is overrated

The Groblé Take

Falstaff is an awesome character, but overall the storyline didn’t really grab me. Falstaff was the only character I was really interested in. Hotspur was alright

Connections

The lineage through King Henry IV, Part 1

Built Onwhat came beforeKing Henry IV, Part…The Gospels

  • The Gospels by Matthew. King Henry IV, Part 1 built on it. - Prince Hal is the Prodigal Son in a tavern — knowing Luke 15 first tells you exactly where his slumming is headed - Falstaff name-checks the Gospels constantly: soldiers 'as ragged as Lazarus' (Dives and Lazarus, Luke 16), 'tattered prodigals' down to husks (Luke 15) - Shakespeare's audience heard the parables under every scene; the redemption arc is the parable of the wayward son, scaled up to a crown
See the full map
Gallery

Depicted in Art

The Boar's Head Tavern in Eastcheap; a corpulent Falstaff gesticulates as he tells his fabricated story of the Gadshill robbery while Prince Hal and Poins look on, amused.

Robert Smirke, 1796

Falstaff, sword drawn for emphasis, recounts his wildly inflated version of the Gadshill robbery to Prince Hal and Poins at the tavern.

Thomas Stothard, 1827

The frail recruit Wart shoulders a musket while Bardolph and Falstaff drill him in front of an amused Justice Shallow on a country lane.

John Cawse, 1827

Compositional drawing of Falstaff holding court at the Boar's Head Tavern in Eastcheap, surrounded by his hangers-on.

Robert Smirke, 1807

Costumed actors Dowton (as Falstaff, drinking) and Smith (as red-nosed Bardolph) caught in a moment of stage business.

George Clint, 1815

A theatrical group portrait — Falstaff at center, mid-boast, with Prince Hal and Poins ready to spring the trap of their counter-narrative.

George Clint, 1833

Falstaff points and laughs at Bardolph's famously inflamed red nose, comparing it to a death's-head or a hellfire-warning lamp.

John Cawse

Editions

Recommended Editions

#1Top Pick$9.99$9.31

Folger Shakespeare Library

2004

Folger's the readable one. Text on one page, notes on the facing page, written in plain English instead of textbook-speak. Catches every word and reference you'd otherwise Google, without breaking the scene to do it.

Buy on Bookshop

Please support us by purchasing through these links, at no extra cost to you!

Notable Quotes

The better part of valour is discretion.

Falstaff, Henry IV, Part 1
Adaptations

Screen & Stage

Posters via The Movie Database (TMDB)

AcclaimPraised by 6 notable voices
  • Queen Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533–1603: So delighted by Falstaff in Henry IV that she commanded a play showing him in love — by tradition the origin of The Merry Wives of Windsor.
  • Samuel Johnson, critic & lexicographer, 1709–1784: "Falstaff, unimitated, unimitable Falstaff, how shall I describe thee? Thou compound of sense and vice."
  • Orson Welles, filmmaker & actor, 1915–1985: "Falstaff is the greatest conception of a good man, the most completely good man in all drama."
  • Giuseppe Verdi, composer, Falstaff / Otello / Macbeth, 1813–1901: "My Falstaff is not merely the buffoon of The Merry Wives of Windsor, but also the Falstaff of the two parts of Henry IV."
  • John Goodman, actor, Roseanne / The Big Lebowski, 1952–: "My favorite role was Falstaff at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. I was too young to completely appreciate it, but it felt good."
  • Harold Bloom, literary critic, Yale, 1930–2019: "Falstaff is the mortal god of my imaginings."

More by William Shakespeare

  1. 11A Midsummer Night’s Dream~1595William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·118 pagesInfluence24Popularity81ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  2. 13Hamlet~1600William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·218 pagesInfluence98Popularity96ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  3. 20Othello~1603William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·189 pagesInfluence88Popularity76ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  4. 23King Lear~1605William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·187 pagesInfluence95Popularity72ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  5. 26Macbeth~1606William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·122 pagesInfluence94Popularity87ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  6. 42Richard II~1595William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·160 pagesInfluence22Popularity24ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  7. 43Twelfth Night~1601William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·142 pagesInfluence20Popularity60ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  8. 52Romeo and Juliet~1595William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·175 pagesInfluence88Popularity99ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  9. 54The Tempest~1611William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·119 pagesInfluence87Popularity62ShakespeareRomanceEnglish
  10. 59Love's Labour's Lost~1594William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·153 pagesInfluence8Popularity18ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  11. 69All's Well That Ends Well~1604William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·164 pagesInfluence15Popularity18ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  12. 72Much Ado About Nothing~1598William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·151 pagesInfluence18Popularity60ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  13. 77Julius Caesar~1599William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·141 pagesInfluence21Popularity61ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  14. 78King Henry IV, Part 1~1596William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·176 pagesInfluence22Popularity24ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  15. 80The Merchant of Venice~1596William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·152 pagesInfluence20Popularity60ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  16. 81Measure for Measure~1604William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·156 pagesInfluence18Popularity18ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  17. 94As You Like It~1599William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·155 pagesInfluence19Popularity58ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  18. 112Antony and Cleopatra~1606William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·178 pagesInfluence20Popularity32ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  19. 120Richard III~1593William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·209 pagesInfluence22Popularity58ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  20. 129Henry V~1599William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·187 pagesInfluence23Popularity50ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  21. 137The Winter's Tale~1610William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·178 pagesInfluence16Popularity16ShakespeareRomanceEnglish
  22. 138The Taming of the Shrew~1591William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·150 pagesInfluence16Popularity59ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  23. 142Troilus and Cressida~1602William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·186 pagesInfluence18Popularity17ShakespeareSatireEnglish
  24. 150The Comedy of Errors~1594William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·105 pagesInfluence16Popularity20ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  25. 152Coriolanus~1608William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·197 pagesInfluence17Popularity32ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  26. 156King John~1596William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·148 pagesInfluence14Popularity22ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  27. 163Timon of Athens~1606William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·130 pagesInfluence10Popularity14ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  28. 173The Two Gentlemen of Verona~1590William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·122 pagesInfluence8Popularity19ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  29. 174Henry IV, Part Two~1597William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·183 pagesInfluence14Popularity22ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  30. 176Titus Andronicus~1592William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·148 pagesInfluence12Popularity14ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  31. 178The Merry Wives of Windsor~1597William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·156 pagesInfluence12Popularity20ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  32. 179Cymbeline~1610William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·197 pagesInfluence11Popularity16ShakespeareRomanceEnglish
  33. 180Pericles~1607William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·132 pagesInfluence10Popularity16ShakespeareRomanceEnglish
  34. 181The Two Noble Kinsmen~1613William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·181 pagesInfluence9Popularity15ShakespeareRomanceEnglish
  35. 188Henry VI, Part 1~1592William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·154 pagesInfluence14Popularity22ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  36. 189King Henry VI, Part 2~1591William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·182 pagesInfluence13Popularity21ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  37. 190King Henry VI, Part 3~1591William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·174 pagesInfluence12Popularity20ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  38. 199Henry VIII~1613William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·176 pagesInfluence10Popularity23ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  39. Shakespeare's Sonnets1609William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·121 pagesInfluence—Popularity—PoetsLyricEnglish