ABSTRACT
The Falstaff-Hal plot embodies a composite myth which had been centuries amaking, and was for the Elizabethans full of meaning that has largely disappeared. William Shakespeare's Henry IV is of a time-honoured theme, already familiar for decades, if not centuries, upon the English stage. Prince Hal is the prodigal, and his repentance is not only to be taken seriously, it is to be admired and commended. The prodigiously incarnate Riot, who fills the Boar's Head with his jollity, typifies much more, of course, than the pleasures of the table. In this play of the Prodigal Prince it is who should rightly exhibit moods of repentance. Yet Monsieur Remorse is a good puppet in the property-box of the old morality, and may be given excellent motions in the fingers of a skilful showman, who is laying himself out, in this play especially, to make fun of the old types.
