Shakespeare

The Rejection of Falstaff 145forty he had sunk into the mode of life we witness in the plays. Yet, even as wesee him there, he remains a person of consideration in the army. Twelve captainshurry about London searching for him. He is present at the Council of War inthe King’s tent at Shrewsbury, where the only other persons are the King, thetwo princes, a nobleman and Sir Walter Blunt. The messenger who brings thefalse report of the battle to Northumberland mentions, as one of the importantincidents, the death of Sir John Falstaff. Colvile, expressly described as a famousrebel, surrenders to him as soon as he hears his name. And if his own wish thathis name were not so terrible to the enemy, and his own boast of his Europeanreputation, are not evidence of the first rank, they must not be entirely ignoredin presence of these other facts. What do these facts mean? Does Shakespeareput them all in with no purpose at all, or in defiance of his own intentions? It isnot credible.And when, in the second place, we look at Falstaff ’s actions, what do wefind? He boldly confronted Colvile, he was quite ready to fight with him,however pleased that Colvile, like a kind fellow, gave himself away. When he sawHenry and Hotspur fighting, Falstaff, instead of making off in a panic, stayed totake his chance if Hotspur should be the victor. He led his hundred and fiftyragamuffins where they were peppered, he did not send them. To draw uponPistol and force him downstairs and wound him in the shoulder was no great feat,perhaps, but the stock coward would have shrunk from it. When the Sheriff cameto the inn to arrest him for an offence whose penalty was death, Falstaff, who washidden behind the arras, did not stand there quaking for fear, he immediately fellasleep and snored. When he stood in the battle reflecting on what would happenif the weight of his paunch should be increased by that of a bullet, he cannot havebeen in a tremor of craven fear. He never shows such fear; and surely the manwho, in danger of his life, and with no one by to hear him, meditates thus: ‘I likenot such grinning honour as Sir Walter hath. Give me life: which if I can save,so; if not, honour comes unlooked-for, and there’s an end,’ is not what wecommonly call a coward.‘Well,’ it will be answered, ‘but he ran away on Gadshill; and whenDouglas attacked him he fell down and shammed dead.’ Yes, I am thankful to say,he did. For of course he did not want to be dead. He wanted to live and be merry.And as he had reduced the idea of honour ad absurdum, had scarcely any selfrespect,and only a respect for reputation as a means of life, naturally he avoideddeath when he could do so without a ruinous loss of reputation, and (observe)with the satisfaction of playing a colossal practical joke. For that after all was hisfirst object. If his one thought had been to avoid death he would not have facedDouglas at all, but would have run away as fast as his legs could carry him; andunless Douglas had been one of those exceptional Scotchmen who have no senseof humour, he would never have thought of pursuing so ridiculous an object asFalstaff running. So that, as Mr. Swinburne remarks, Poins is right when he thusdistinguishes Falstaff from his companions in robbery: ‘For two of them, I know