Falstaff and King Henry: Similar Characters Throughout the play Henry IV:Part I,there are many similarities Two that seem particularly alike are Falstaff and KingHenry. Their common traits are demonstrated by Shakespeare in many subtleand not-so-subtle ways. While Falstaff seems to be able to accept himselffor what he is, the King appears to be tied up in his image as a greatruler, and thus will never admit to being anything less than great. The characters of Falstaff and the King at first seem to bediametrically opposed opposites in terms of personality, yet they sharemany common traits. Falstaff is a thief; he admits to being a robber ofpurses, and, in fact, is pursued by the Sheriff at one point. The king isalso a thief; instead of robbing purses from travellers, he stole an entireempire from Richard II, whom he also had murdered. In their ways of dealingwith people, especially under uncomfortable circumstances, the two alsobehave in like ways. It is well known that Falstaff often works his wayout of unpleasant situations using only his wit. The King is continuouslymodifying his behavior to suit the occasion, such as when he is dealingwith Hotspur and the opposing Vassals and when he deals with Hal at theroyal court. Both Falstaff and the King live,to a great extent, by thesharpness of their minds: Falstaff as a criminal, and the King as apolitician. Another similar facet of these two characters is their view ofbravery. Both the King and Falstaff subscribe to the theory that it isbetter to avoid danger and thus avoid the possibility of harm than to takerisks. Falstaff does this on several occasions,such as when he played deadduring the battle to avoid injury. At this same battle, the King employedsimilar tactics, when he had many of his men disguised to look like him andthus him hard to find. It is in these ways that Falstaff and the King arealike; it would appear that their only real differences are in how they seethemselv...
