Falstaff's Role in Henry IV, Part One Henry IV, Part One, has always been one of the most popular of Shakespeare's plays, maybe because of Falstaff. Much of the early criticism I found concentrated on Falstaff and so will I. This may begin in the eighteenth century with Samuel Johnson. For Johnson, the Prince is a 'young man of great abilities and violent passions,' and Hotspur is a 'rugged soldier,' but 'Falstaff, unimitated, …showed first 75 words of 909 total…

…showed last 75 words of 909 total…as it contributes to Hal's maturing process, and it does. In conclusion, every age of man has and will continue to judge Falstaff's role based on the morals and the thinking of the day. His frivolity is necessary to make the play amusing and interesting enough to hold the reader's/viewer's attention. However, that Falstaff's scenes are needed should go without question leaving the critics and us only to debate his motivation and his tactics.