The mood of the play is mixed, blending lighthearted comedy with much darker themes and emotions more often associated with tragedy. The play’s contradictory mood is in many ways summarized by Sir John Falstaff, one of Shakespeare’s most famous and complex characters.
Falstaff's exaggerated stories, quick wit, bawdy humor, and humorous escapades provide comic relief amid the political machinations and conflicts of the play. Falstaff even comments directly upon his own clown-like role, as well as his desire to make others laugh. After spending an evening with the absurd Justice Shallow, Falstaff eagerly looks forward to recounting the story to Prince Harry:
I will
devise matter enough out of this Shallow to keep
Prince Harry in continual laughter the wearing out
of six fashions, which is four terms, or two actions,
and he shall laugh without intervallums [...]
O, you shall see him laugh till
his face be like a wet cloak ill laid up.
Falstaff predicts that Harry will be kept in “continual laughter” for several seasons, noting that he will “devise” or make up certain details and elements to make the story even funnier. However, Falstaff is sadly wrong in his prediction. When he next sees the soon-to-be King of England, Harry rejects him cruelly:
I know thee not, old man. Fall to thy prayers.
How ill white hairs becomes a fool and jester.
The time for comedy, Harry suggests, is over, and his coronation puts a swift end to any laughter in the play, as Falstaff is banished from the royal court. This juxtaposition of Falstaff's comedic moments with the serious demands of kingship highlights the play's ability to seamlessly shift between moods, and the irreconcilability of merriment and power.
The mood of the play is mixed, blending lighthearted comedy with much darker themes and emotions more often associated with tragedy. The play’s contradictory mood is in many ways summarized by Sir John Falstaff, one of Shakespeare’s most famous and complex characters.
Falstaff's exaggerated stories, quick wit, bawdy humor, and humorous escapades provide comic relief amid the political machinations and conflicts of the play. Falstaff even comments directly upon his own clown-like role, as well as his desire to make others laugh. After spending an evening with the absurd Justice Shallow, Falstaff eagerly looks forward to recounting the story to Prince Harry:
I will
devise matter enough out of this Shallow to keep
Prince Harry in continual laughter the wearing out
of six fashions, which is four terms, or two actions,
and he shall laugh without intervallums [...]
O, you shall see him laugh till
his face be like a wet cloak ill laid up.
Falstaff predicts that Harry will be kept in “continual laughter” for several seasons, noting that he will “devise” or make up certain details and elements to make the story even funnier. However, Falstaff is sadly wrong in his prediction. When he next sees the soon-to-be King of England, Harry rejects him cruelly:
I know thee not, old man. Fall to thy prayers.
How ill white hairs becomes a fool and jester.
The time for comedy, Harry suggests, is over, and his coronation puts a swift end to any laughter in the play, as Falstaff is banished from the royal court. This juxtaposition of Falstaff's comedic moments with the serious demands of kingship highlights the play's ability to seamlessly shift between moods, and the irreconcilability of merriment and power.
