Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character in five plays by William Shakespeare, while Henry V succeeded Sir John Falstaff upon death of Sir John Falstaff, both John Falstaff and Henry V appears in drama of Henry V. In which, both two are representative of typical character by Shakespeare [1].
John Falstaff is the greatest comic creation by all Shakespeare’s English literatures. The character of John Falstaff is most attractive character in these plays. Falstaff’s role model by Shakespeare was almost as famous as Hamlet in Britain more than 400 years ago. Falstaff's role model has similarities and differences with Falstaffian background [2]. Its comic evil image has magic change in historical drama. In all parts of the world, as long as this body is on stage, it brings in audience playful, overjoyed experiences. There is magical power of plays by Shakespeare, this sir John Falstaff as lovely comic character was not a copy of predecessors, it was original created by Shakespeare. For mass audience, Falstaff uses realism technique to create this funny evil monster with a clear self-awareness [2]. The image of Falstaff was both familiar figure but also a stranger. This character goes beyond irony and it became a rich and unpredictable art genre. Falstaff is a self-entertaining player or a self-artist as Hegel said. His charm lies in his confident personality and never-ending desire to survive. As He said in drama: I am a long-bright candle on a carnival night.
With the decline of John Falstaff, Henry V as the subsequent play killed John Falstaff. Henry V is typical monarch character in Shakespeare's mind regardless his political idea and historical consciousness. Henry V is one of three Shakespeare's most important plays of national history. The story is made based on "British History" by British chronicler Holinshed [2].
Henry V in drama is about fierce struggle between the king and feudal lords of the rebellion and territory development. Therefore, most people views that "Henry V" is "blessing of an ideal king by Shakespeare. It demonstrates that Shakespeare's firm standing on the side of idealistic feudal ideals and political correctness [3]. Both Henry IV and Henry V elaborated the character of monarch Henry V, Henry V was born royalty royal, rational management, courageous, super human military talent, and extraordinary political mind. His cunning, cruel, deceitful, even brutal style is used in purpose of bringing peace to the country. Henry V’s nature was un-questionable for protecting national interest, but he is not a rational monarch which Shakespeare had affirmed and placed his hopes on. However, Shakespeare has assigned Henry V an ideal monarch. He is a magnificent and wise emperor in drama.
Henry V has largely abandoned Falstaff's role model, showed the cruel and cruel nature of feudal rulers [1]. Henry V features at cruel and ruthless, in contrast, Falstaff features at his rebelliousness without any renaissance spirit.
In conclusion, through contrast and compare King Henry V and Falstaff, Henry V advocates war, and Falstaff advocates peace in their mind, both are typical character in chronicle plays by Shakespeare.
Reference:
[1]Coursen, H.R. Shakespeare in Production [M].Athens: Ohio University Press, 2016
[2]Dawson, Anthony. Henry V.‖ Watching Shakespeare. St. Martin‘s [J] 2014(3):115-128.
[3]Malladi, Chaitanya. Shakespeare’s crafting of the Ideal King in Henry V. [M] USA: California Institute of Technology, 2016