Falstaff

You may be looking for Lord Falstaff.

Falstaff was a character in at least two plays by William Shakespeare, (PROSE: The Chase ^[+]Loading...["The Chase (novelisation)"]) including The Merry Wives of Windsor. (PROSE: Apocrypha Bipedium ^[+]Loading...["Apocrypha Bipedium (short story)"])

The character was based upon Sir John Oldcastle. (TV: The Chase ^[+]Loading...["The Chase (TV story)"], PROSE: The Chase ^[+]Loading...["The Chase (novelisation)"]) Following Falstaff's appearance in Shakespeare's latest play up to that point, (PROSE: The Chase ^[+]Loading...["The Chase (novelisation)"]) Queen Elizabeth I summoned Shakespeare to court to confirm this fact because the character had caused concern to Oldcastle, with Francis Bacon observing "it was so obviously he". (TV: The Chase ^[+]Loading...["The Chase (TV story)"]) After Shakespeare admitted the connection, Elizabeth was not offended as Shakespeare had feared, instead telling him to pay the matter no further thought (TV: The Chase ^[+]Loading...["The Chase (TV story)"], PROSE: The Chase ^[+]Loading...["The Chase (novelisation)"]) and that she found it "very amusing". She expressed that it was "a pity" he had no plans to write a further play featuring Falstaff (TV: The Chase ^[+]Loading...["The Chase (TV story)"]) but then declared that she had an "excellent" idea of the subject for Shakespeare's next play, (PROSE: The Chase ^[+]Loading...["The Chase (novelisation)"]) stating he would write of "Falstaff in love". (TV: The Chase ^[+]Loading...["The Chase (TV story)"], PROSE: The Chase ^[+]Loading...["The Chase (novelisation)"]) This constituted his commission to write the play which would become The Merry Wives of Windsor. (PROSE: Apocrypha Bipedium ^[+]Loading...["Apocrypha Bipedium (short story)"])

Behind the scenes

In the real world, Falstaff was central to three Shakespearean plays, both parts of Henry IV and The Merry Wives of Windsor. The play in which Falstaff appears prior to the events of The Chase ^[+]Loading...["The Chase (TV story)"] is not named in any source but is identifiable due to the historical legend that states Elizabeth I requested a romantic Falstaff play after watching Henry IV, Part 1.