Hazlitt on English Literature: An Introduction to the Appreciation of LiteratureHazlitt, William
History
Hazlitt on English Literature: An Introduction to the Appreciation of Literature
Hazlitt, William
English literature -- History and criticism
_Falstaff._ Where thou wilt, lad, I'll make one; an I do not, call me
villain, and baffle me.
_P. Henry._ I see good amendment of life in thee, from praying to
purse-taking.
_Falstaff._ Why, Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal. 'Tis no sin for a man to
labour in his vocation."
Of the other prominent passages, his account of his pretended resistance
to the robbers, "who grew from four men in buckram into eleven" as the
imagination of his own valour increased with his relating it, his getting
off when the truth is discovered by pretending he knew the Prince, the
scene in which in the person of the old king he lectures the prince and
gives himself a good character, the soliloquy on honour, and description
of his new-raised recruits, his meeting with the chief justice, his abuse
of the Prince and Poins, who overhear him, to Doll Tearsheet, his
reconciliation with Mrs. Quickly who has arrested him for an old debt, and
whom he persuades to pawn her plate to lend him ten pounds more, and the
scenes with Shallow and Silence, are all inimitable. Of all of them, the
scene in which Falstaff plays the part, first, of the King, and then of
Prince Henry, is the one that has been the most often quoted. We must
quote it once more in illustration of our remarks.
"_Falstaff._ Harry, I do not only marvel where thou spendest thy
time, but also how thou art accompanied: for though the camomile, the
more it is trodden on, the faster it grows, yet youth, the more it is
wasted, the sooner it wears. That thou art my son, I have partly thy
mother's word, partly my own opinion; but chiefly, a villainous trick
of thine eye, and a foolish hanging of thy nether lip that doth
warrant me. If then thou be son to me, here lies the point;--Why,
being son to me, art thou so pointed at? Shall the blessed sun of
heaven prove a micher, and eat blackberries? A question not to be
ask'd. Shall the son of England prove a thief, and take purses? a
question to be ask'd. There is a thing, Harry, which thou hast often
heard of, and it is known to many in our land by the name of pitch:
this pitch, as ancient writers do report, doth defile; so doth the
company thou keepest: for, Harry, now I do not speak to thee in
drink, but in tears; not in pleasure, but in passion; not in words
only, but in woes also:--and yet there is a virtuous man, whom I have
often noted in thy company, but I know not his name.
_P. Henry._ What manner of man, an it like your majesty?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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