Sir John Falstaff

E62917

Shakespearean character comic character fictional character knight

Sir John Falstaff is a famously comic, roguish knight from Shakespeare’s history plays, known for his wit, cowardice, and love of drink and mischief.

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Observed surface forms (4)

Surface form	Occurrences
Falstaff	1
Falstaff’s gang	1
Poins	1
Sir John Falstaff attempts to court two married women for financial gain and is repeatedly humiliated when they outwit him.	1

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Shakespearean character ⓘ comic character ⓘ fictional character ⓘ knight ⓘ
adaptedIn	opera Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi ⓘ opera Falstaff by Ralph Vaughan Williams ⓘ
appearsIn	Henry IV, Part 1 ⓘ Henry IV, Part 2 ⓘ Henry V (play) ⓘ surface form: Henry V The Merry Wives of Windsor ⓘ
associatedWith	Prince Hal ⓘ
characterTrait	boastful ⓘ cowardly ⓘ drunken ⓘ gluttonous ⓘ mischievous ⓘ witty ⓘ
characterType	comic rogue ⓘ cowardly braggart ⓘ
creator	William Shakespeare ⓘ
diesOffstageIn	1 Henry IV ⓘ surface form: Henry V
firstAppearance	Henry IV, Part 1 ⓘ
frequents	Boar’s Head Tavern ⓘ
friendOf	Prince Hal ⓘ
gender	male ⓘ
historicalPeriod	early 15th century ⓘ late 14th century ⓘ
influenced	the stock character of the fat, boastful soldier ⓘ
inspiredBy	Sir John Oldcastle (name only, disputed) ⓘ
literaryFunction	comic relief ⓘ satire of chivalry ⓘ
literaryStatus	one of Shakespeare’s most famous comic characters ⓘ
nationality	English ⓘ
notableScene	Gadshill robbery ⓘ Henry IV, Part 1 ⓘ surface form: play extempore scene in Henry IV, Part 1 rejection scene in Henry IV, Part 2 ⓘ
occupation	knight ⓘ soldier ⓘ
rejectedBy	King Henry V ⓘ
setting	England ⓘ
socialClass	gentry ⓘ
theme	aging ⓘ cowardice ⓘ drunkenness ⓘ friendship ⓘ honor ⓘ social satire ⓘ

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Bardolph → associatedWith → Sir John Falstaff ⓘ

Peto → associatedWith → Sir John Falstaff ⓘ

The Boar’s Head Tavern, Eastcheap → associatedWithCharacter → Sir John Falstaff ⓘ

this entity surface form: Poins

The Merry Wives of Windsor → featuresCharacter → Sir John Falstaff ⓘ

Eastcheap, London → fictionalAssociation → Sir John Falstaff ⓘ

Henry IV, Part 1 → mainCharacter → Sir John Falstaff ⓘ

The Merry Wives of Windsor → mainCharacter → Sir John Falstaff ⓘ

Peto → partOf → Sir John Falstaff ⓘ

this entity surface form: Falstaff’s gang

The Merry Wives of Windsor → plotSummary → Sir John Falstaff ⓘ

this entity surface form: Sir John Falstaff attempts to court two married women for financial gain and is repeatedly humiliated when they outwit him.

Henry V (1989 film) → portraysFictionalCharacter → Sir John Falstaff ⓘ

this entity surface form: Falstaff

Henry IV, Part 2 → principalCharacter → Sir John Falstaff ⓘ

Mistress Quickly → relationshipWith → Sir John Falstaff ⓘ