The two Henry IV plays, described as the twin summits of Shakespeare's achievement, feature the unlikely friendship of Prince Hal and Falstaff. This book further analyzes their relationship. Past performances and criticism have often presented Falstaff, arguably the world's greatest comic character, as too much of a clown. Shakespeare works from different moral centres to give each main character his due. Though Falstaff is rejected by Prince Hal as Henry V, his voice, representing Eastcheap's seamier, more human side of existence, cannot ultimately be denied. After his death, the Hostess of the tavern in Eastcheap associates Falstaff, one of the City's own, with Britain's legendary past.
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Product Details
Dimensions: 148 x 212mm
Publication Date: 17 Sep 2024
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Publication City/Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
ISBN13: 9781036409661
About John Hardy
John Hardy completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford UK after being elected a Prize Fellow of Magdalen College in Oxford. A Queensland Rhodes Scholar he retired from Bond University (Australia) as Emeritus Professor where he had been Professor of Humanities and Foundation Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Previously he had been Assistant Professor of English at the University of Toronto Canada and held chairs at the University of New England Australia and the Australian National University. During the 1980s he was Secretary of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He has contributed to or edited more than a dozen books including three major works of literary criticism: Reinterpretations: Essays on Poems by Milton Pope and Johnson; Jane Austen's Heroines: Intimacy in Human Relationships; and Shakespeare's Great Tragedies: Experiencing their Impact.