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- Title
Shakespeare's Falstaff: 'The cause that wit is in other men.'
- Authors
Levenson, Jill L.
- Abstract
A literary criticism is presented with information on the fictitious character "Falstaff" created by English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare. Shakespeare created this complex and subversive Falstaff from a variety of sources. Shakespeare found models in Latin comedy, the miles gloriosus (or braggart soldier) and the witty parasite. And he found at least one model in history: Falstaff was originally named Oldcastle, referring to a Lollard leader martyred during the reign of Henry V. Sir John Oldcastle had already been dramatized in an earlier play, "The Famous Victories of Henry V."
- Subjects
CRITICISM; FALSTAFF, John, Sir (Fictional character); SHAKESPEARE, William, 1564-1616; HENRY IV (Play : Shakespeare); WIT &; humor; LATIN drama; DRAMATISTS
- Publication
University of Toronto Quarterly, 2005, Vol 74, Issue 2, p722
- ISSN
0042-0247
- Publication type
Literary Criticism
- DOI
10.1353/utq.2005.0254