Falstaff’s Space: The Tavern as Pastoral

Abstract

When I first saw Henry IV, Part One, I found the Falstaff scenes entrancing and longed only for their renewal. The Court and political scenes I found rather tedious, and waited impatiently for Falstaff to come back. Thus my experience of the production was an alternation corresponding to the scenic pattern: the scenes in which Falstaff appeared, which were wholly delightful, and those in which the King and the rebels debated the future of the land, which I sat through with an indifference bordering on boredom. Later in my theatre-going experience I sought earnestly to modify this pattern of response, and looked for dramatic interest and political depth in the non-Falstaff scenes, qualities which the actors habitually failed to impart. Later still I came to the conclusion that my original responses were perfectly sound: the naive reaction is the correct one. As so often, of course.