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Cave painting of a male and female deer c.13000 BC Font de Gaume, France / The Bridgeman Art Library
The same scene which first introduced Falstaff to London audiences in the spring or summer of 1596 concludes with Hal telling us in a soliloquy that he is using Falstaff and his cronies in Eastcheap to set in relief his own greater glory. He will, he promises us, indulge their riotous behaviour for a limited period, and in this he will imitate the sun: his loutish companions may temporarily hide his royal luminosity the way ‘the base contagious clouds’ sometimes shroud the sun in foul mists, but in the end he will dramatically emerge as a reformed character to the general consternation of all. Shakespeare is keen to let his audience know early on in Henry IV Part 1 that the royal nature of the Prince of Wales will not be contaminated by Falstaff. He wants us
to enjoy the comedy and farce generated from Falstaff’s intimacy with the future king. Both the Henry IV plays contain low–life tavern scenes set in Eastcheap. These rank among the most powerful passages of English dramatic prose, but the very presence of such unbridled anarchy close to Westminster sounds a warning bell; and the implications of it are spelt out when in Henry IV Part 1 Falstaff assumes the role of king and father in a mock interrogation of Hal. Civil strife is a major issue in the Henry IV plays, and this is powerfully echoed in the father–son relationships in the plays. The fact, moreover, that England is at war with itself is relentlessly seen in the Henry IV plays as a consequence of Bolingbroke’s deposing the rightful, albeit ineffectual king, Richard II. This act of usurpation resonates throughout the four