Chapter 7

"In truth I acknowledge an entire debt, not only of my best knowledge, but of all, yea of more than I know or can, to your bounteous Lordship, most noble, most virtuous, and most Honourable Earl of Southampton, in whose pay and patronage I have lived some years, to whom I owe and vow the years I have to live."

Further on in this dedication he refers to Southampton's study of Italian under his tuition as follows:

"I might make doubt least I or mine be not now of any further use to your self-sufficiencie, being at home so instructed in Italian as teaching or learning could supply that there seemed no need of travell, and now by travell so accomplished as what wants to perfection?"

All's Well that Ends Well, in its earlier form ofLoves Labour's Won, reflects the spirit and incidents of the Queen's progress to Tichfield House in September 1591; the widowedCountess of Rousillon personifies the widowed Countess of Southampton; the wise and courtly Lafeu the courtly Sir Thomas Heneage, who within three years married the Countess of Southampton. I have suggested that Bertram represented Southampton, and that his coolness towards Helena, and his proposed departure for the French Court, reflects Southampton's disinclination to the marriage with Elizabeth Vere, and the fact of his departure shortly afterwards for France. In Florio, who was at that time attached to the Earl of Southampton's establishment, and presumably was present upon the occasion of the progress to Tichfield, we have the prototype of Parolles, though much of the present characterisation of that person, while referring to the same original, undoubtedly pertains to a period of later time revision, which on good evidence I date in, or about, the autumn of 1598, at which period Shakespeare's earlier antipathy had grown by knowledge and experience into positive aversion.

In 1591 Southampton was still a ward in Chancery, and the management of his personal affairs and expenditures under the supervision of Lord Burghley, to whose granddaughter he was affianced. It is evident then that when Florio was retained in the capacity of tutor, or bear-leader, and with the intention of having him accompany the young Earl upon his continental travels, his selection for the post would be made by Burghley—Southampton's guardian—who in former years had patronised and befriended Florio's father.

In Lafeu's early distrust of Parolles' pretensions, and his eventual recognition of his cowardice and instability, I believe we have a reflection of the attitude of Sir Thomas Heneage towards Florio, and a suggestion of his disapprovalof Florio's intimacy with Southampton. This leads me to infer that though Lady Southampton and Heneage apparently acquiesced in, and approved of, Burghley's marital plans for Southampton, secretly they were not displeased at their miscarriage.

When Southampton first came to Court he was a fresh and unspoiled youth, with high ideals and utterly unacquainted with the ethical latitude and moral laxity of city and Court life. In bringing him to Court and the notice of the Queen, and at the same time endeavouring to unite his interests with his own by marriage with his granddaughter, Burghley hoped that—as in the case of his son-in-law, the Earl of Oxford, some years before—Southampton would become a Court favourite, and possibly supplant Essex in the Queen's favour, as the Earl of Oxford had for a while threatened to displace Leicester. The ingenuous frankness and independence of the young Earl, however, appeared likely to defeat the plans of the veteran politician. Burghley now resolved that he must broaden his protégé's knowledge of the world and adjust his ideals to Court life. He accordingly engaged the sophisticated and world-bitten Florio as his intellectual and moral mentor. I do not find any record of Southampton's departure for France immediately after the Cowdray progress, but it is apparent either that he accompanied the Earl of Essex upon that nobleman's return to his command in France after a short visit to England in October 1591, or that he followed shortly afterwards. Essex was recalled from France in January 1592 (new style), and on 2nd March of the same year we have a letter dated at Dieppe from Southampton to Essex in England, which shows that Southampton was with the army in France within a few months of the Cowdray progress.

Conceiving both Parolles and Falstaff to be caricatures of Florio I apprehend in the military functions of these characters a reflection of a probable quasi-military experience of their original during his connection with Southampton in the year 1592.

An English force held Dieppe for Henry IV. in March 1592, awaiting reinforcements from England to move against the army of the League, which was encamped near the town. If Southampton took Florio with him at this time it is quite likely that he had him appointed to a captaincy, though probably not to a command. Captain Roger Williams, a brave and capable Welsh officer (whom I have reason to believe was Shakespeare's original for the Welsh Captain Fluellen inHenry V.), joined the army at the end of this month, bringing with him six hundred men. In a letter to the Council, upon his departure from England, he writes sarcastically of the number and inefficiency of the captains being made. This letter is so characteristic of the man, and so reminiscent of blunt Fluellen, that I shall quote it in full.

"Moste Honorables, yesterdaie it was your Lordship's pleasure to shewe the roll of captaines by their names. More then half of them are knowen unto me sufficient to take charges; a greate number of others, besides the rest in that roll, although not knowen unto me, maie be as sufficient as the others, perhapps knowen unto menn of farr better judgment than myselfe. To saie truthe, no man ought to meddle further than his owne charge. Touching the three captaines that your Lordships appointed to go with me, I knowe Polate and Coverd, but not the thirde. There is one Captaine Polate, a Hampshire man, an honest gentleman, worthie of good charge. There is another not worthie to be a sergeant of a band, as Sir John Norrisknows, with many others; and I do heare by my Lord of Sussex it is he. Captain Coverd is worthie, but not comparable unto a dozen others that have no charge; but whatsoever your Lordships direct unto me, I muste accept, and will do my best endeavour to discharge my dutie towards the service comitted unto me. But be assured that the more new captaines that are made, the more will begg, I meane will trouble her Majestie after the warrs, unless the olde be provided for. I must confess I wrote effectual for one Captaine Smithe unto Sir Philipp Butler; two of the name Sir John Norris will confess to be well worthie to commande, at the least, three hundred men a-piece. He that I named, my desire is that he may be one of myne. I protest, on my poore credytt, I never delt with her Majestic concerning any of those captaines, nor anything that your Lordships spake yesterday before me; but true it is, I spake before the Earle of Essex and Sir John Norris, it was pittie that young captaines should be accepted and the old refused. True it is that I toulde them also that the lieutenants of the shire knew not those captaines so well as ourselves. On my creditt, my meaning was the deputies lieutenants, the which, as it was toulde me, had made all these captaines. My speeches are no lawe, nor scarce good judgment, for the warrs were unknowen to me 22 yeres agon. Notwithstanding, it shall satisfie me, that the greatest generalls in that time took me to be a souldier, for the which I will bring better proofs than any other of my qualitie shall deny. Humbly desiring your Lordships' accustomed good favor towards me, I reste to spend my life alwaies at her Majestie's pleasure, and at your Lordships' devotion. (27th March 1591.)"

Within a short period of the arrival of Sir Roger Williams he had dispersed the enemy and opened up the road to the suburbs of Paris; which city was then held by the combined forces of the League and the Spanish. I cannot learnwhether Southampton accompanied the troops in the proposed attack on Paris or continued his travels into the Netherlands and Spain. Some verses inWillobie his Avisasuggest such a tour at this time. He was back in England, however, by September 1592, when he accompanied the Queen and Court to Oxford. It is probable that Florio accompanied the Earl of Southampton upon this occasion, and that the nobleman's acquaintance with the mistress of the Crosse Inn, the beginning of which I date at this time, was due to his introduction. Florio lived for many years at Oxford and was undoubtedly familiar with its taverns and tavern keepers.[30]

In depicting Parolles as playing Pander for Bertram, and at the same time secretly pressing his own suit, I am convinced that Shakespeare caricatured Florio's relations with Southampton and the "dark lady." It is not unlikely that Florio is included by Roydon inWillobie his Avisaamong Avisa's numerous suitors.

The literary history ofAll's Well that Ends Well, aside from internal considerations, suggests that it was not composed originally for public performance, nor revised with the public in mind. It appeared in print for the first time in the Folio of 1623, and it is practically certain that no earlier edition was issued. If we except Meres' mention of the play,Love's Labour's Won, in 1598, the earliest reference we have toAll's Well that Ends Wellis that in the Stationers' Registers dated 8th November 1623, where it is recorded as a play not previously entered to other men.There is no record of its presentation during Shakespeare's lifetime.

Though the old play ofLove's Labour's Wonmentioned by Meres has been variously identified by critics, the consensus of judgment of the majority is in favour of its identification asAll's Well that Ends Well. In no other of Shakespeare's plays—even in instances where we have actual record of revision—can we so plainly recognise by internal evidence both the work of his "pupil" and of his master pen. As I have assigned the original composition of this play to the year 1592, regarding it as a reflection of the Queen's progress to Tichfield House and of the incidents of the Earl of Southampton's life at, and following, that period, so I infer and believe I can demonstrate that its revision reflects the same personal influences under new phases in later years.

In February 1598 the Earl of Southampton left England for the French Court with Sir Robert Cecil. He returned secretly in August and was married privately at Essex House to Elizabeth Vernon, whose condition had recently caused her dismissal from the Court. Southampton returned to France as secretly as he had come, but knowledge of his return and of his unauthorised marriage reaching the Queen, she issued an order for his immediate recall, and upon his return in November committed him, and even threatened to commit his wife (who was now a mother), to the Fleet. It is not unlikely that Florio accompanied Southampton to France upon this visit, and that much of Shakespeare's irritation at this time arose from Southampton's neglect or coolness, which he supposed to be due to Florio's increasing influence, to which Shakespeare also imputed much of the young Earl's ill-regulated manner of life at this period.

In the happy ending of Helena's troubles, and in Bertram's recognition of his moral responsibility and marital obligations, and also in the significant change of the title of this play fromLove's Labour's WontoAll's Well that Ends Well, we have Shakespeare's combined reproof and approval of Southampton's recent conduct towards Elizabeth Vernon, as well as a practical reflection of the actual facts in their case.

At about this time, in addition to the revision ofAll's Well that Ends Well, I date the first production, though not the original composition, ofTroilus and Cressida, and also the final revision ofLove's Labour's Lost. In this latter play the part taken by Armado was, I believe, enlarged and revised, as in the case of Parolles inAll's Well that Ends Well, to suit the incidents and characterisation to Shakespeare's developed knowledge of, and experience with, Florio. There are several small but significant links of description between the Parolles of 1598 and the enlarged Armado of the same date. Both of these characters are represented as braggart soldiers and also as linguists, which evidently reflect Florio's quasi-military connection with Southampton and his known proficiency in languages.

In ActIV.Scene iii. Parolles is referred to as "the manifold linguist and armipotent soldier." InLove's Labour's Lost, in ActI.Scene i., in lines that palpably belong to the play in its earliest form, Armado is described as "a man of fire-new words." He is also represented as a traveller from Spain. In ActV.Scene ii., in lines that pertain to the revision of 1598, he is made to take the soldier's part again, in giving him the character of Hector inThe Nine Worthies. In this character Armado is made to use the peculiar word "armipotent" twice. It is significant that this word is never usedby Shakespeare except in connection with Armado and Parolles. In giving Armado the character of Hector, I am convinced that Shakespeare again indicates Florio's military experience. In the lines which Armado recites in the character of Hector, Shakespeare intentionally makes his personal point at Florio more strongly indicative by alluding to the name Florio by the word "flower," in the interrupted line with which Hector ends his verses.

Arm.Peace!——"The armipotent Mars, of lances the almighty,Gave Hector a gift, the heir of Ilion;A man so breathed, that certain he would fight yeFrom morn till night, out of his pavilion.I am that flower,——"

He reinforces his indication by Dumain's and Longaville's interpolations—"That mint," "That columbine." Florio undoubtedly indicated this meaning to his own name in entitling his earliest publicationFirst Fruitesand a later publicationSecond Fruites. In a sonnet addressed to him by some friend of his who signs himself "Ignoto," his name is also referred to in this sense. In his Italian-English dictionary, published in 1598, he does not include the word Florio. In the edition of 1611, however, he includes it, but states that it means, "A kind of bird." In using the word "columbine" Shakespeare gives the double meaning of a flower and also a bird. Florio used a flower for his emblem, and had inscribed under his portrait in the 1611 edition of hisWorlde of Wordes:

"Floret adhuc et adhuc florebitFlorius haec specie floridus optat amans."

The frequent references to the characters of theIliadin this act and scene ofLove's Labour's Lostlink the periodof its insertion with the date of the original composition ofTroilus and Cressidain, or about, 1598, to which time I have also assigned the revision ofLove's Labour's WonintoAll's Well that Ends Well, and the development of Parolles into a misleader of youth.

Another phase of ActV.Scene ii. ofLove's Labour's Lostappears to be a reflection of an affair in the life of the individual whom Shakespeare has in mind in the delineation of the characters of Armado and Sir John Falstaff. Costard accuses Armado regarding his relations with Jaquenetta.

Cost.The party is gone, fellow Hector, she is gone; she is two months on her way.Arm.What meanest thou?Cost.Faith, unless you play the honest Trojan, the poor wench is cast away: she's quick; the child brags in her belly already: 'tis yours.Arm.Dost thou infamonize me among potentates?

Cost.The party is gone, fellow Hector, she is gone; she is two months on her way.

Arm.What meanest thou?

Cost.Faith, unless you play the honest Trojan, the poor wench is cast away: she's quick; the child brags in her belly already: 'tis yours.

Arm.Dost thou infamonize me among potentates?

Precisely similar conditions are shown to exist in the relations between Falstaff and Doll Tearsheet, in theSecond Part of Henry IV., in which play there are also allusions to the characters of theIliad, which link its composition with the same period asTroilus and Cressida; and an allusion toThe Nine Worthiesthat apparently link it in time with the final revision ofLove's Labour's Lostlate in 1598.

ACT V.Scene iv.EnterBeadlesdragging in HostessQuicklyandDoll Tearsheet.Host.No, thou arrant knave; I would to God that I might have thee hanged: thou hast drawn my shoulder out of joint.First Bead.The constables have delivered her over to me: and she shall have whipping-cheer enough I warrant her: there hath been a man or two lately killed about her.Dol.Nut-hook, nut-hook, you lie. Come on; I'll tell thee what, thou damned tripe-visaged rascal, and the child I now go with miscarry, thou wert better thou hadst struck thy mother, thou paper-faced villain.Host.O the Lord, that Sir John were come! he would make this a bloody day to somebody. But I pray God the fruit of her womb miscarry.

ACT V.Scene iv.

EnterBeadlesdragging in HostessQuicklyandDoll Tearsheet.

Host.No, thou arrant knave; I would to God that I might have thee hanged: thou hast drawn my shoulder out of joint.

First Bead.The constables have delivered her over to me: and she shall have whipping-cheer enough I warrant her: there hath been a man or two lately killed about her.

Dol.Nut-hook, nut-hook, you lie. Come on; I'll tell thee what, thou damned tripe-visaged rascal, and the child I now go with miscarry, thou wert better thou hadst struck thy mother, thou paper-faced villain.

Host.O the Lord, that Sir John were come! he would make this a bloody day to somebody. But I pray God the fruit of her womb miscarry.

The natural sequel to the conditions so plainly indicated in the passages quoted from the lately revisedLove's Labour's Lost, regarding Jaquenetta and Armado, and from the recently writtenHenry IV.in reference to Doll Tearsheet and Falstaff, is reported in due time in a postscript to a letter written by Elizabeth Vernon, now Lady Southampton, on 8th July 1599, to her husband, who was in Ireland with Essex. She writes from Chartley:

"All the nues I can send you that I thinke will make you mery is that I reade in a letter from London that Sir John Falstaff is by his Mistress Dame Pintpot made father of a godly millers thum a boye thats all heade and very litel body: but this is a secret."

Here we have record that Shakespeare's patron, and his patron's wife, knew that Falstaff had a living prototype who was numbered among their acquaintances. That the birth of this child was not in wedlock is suggested by the concluding words of the Countess's letter "but this is a secret."

The identification of Florio as the original caricatured as Parolles and Falstaff has never been anticipated, though some critics have noticed the basic resemblances between these two characters of Shakespeare's. Parolles has been called by Schlegel, "the little appendix to the great Falstaff."

A few slight links in the names of characters have led some commentators to date a revision ofAll's Well that Ends Wellat about the same time as that of the composition ofMeasure for MeasureandHamlet. While the links of subjective evidence I have adduced for one revision in, or about, the autumn of 1598, and at the same period as that of the composition of theSecond Part of Henry IV., of thefinal revision ofLove's Labour's Lost, and shortly after the production ofTroilus and Cressida, in 1598, are fairly conclusive, a consideration of the characterisation of Falstaff in theFirst Part of Henry IV.and of the evidence usually advanced for the date of the composition of this play will elucidate this idea.

TheFirst Part of Henry IV.in its present form belongs to a period shortly preceding the date of its entry in the Stationers' Registers, in February 1598. I am convinced that it was published at this time with Shakespeare's cognizance, and that he revised it with this intention in mind. All inference and evidence assign the composition of theSecond Part of Henry IV.to some part of the year 1598. It is unlikely, however, that it was included in Meres' mention ofHenry IV.in hisPalladis Tamia, which was entered on the Stationers' Registers in September of that year. If the link between Doll Tearsheet's condition and the similar affair reported in Lady Southampton's letter in July 1599 be connected in intention with the same conditions reflected in the case of Armado and Jaquenetta, its date of production is palpably indicated, as is also the final revision ofLove's Labour's Lostin about December 1598. Both of these plays were probably presented—theSecond Part of Henry IV.for the first time, andLove's Labour's Lostfor the first time in its final form—for the Christmas festivities at Court, in 1598. While the Quarto ofLove's Labours Lostis dated as published in 1598, there is no record of its intended publication in the Stationers' Registers. It must be remembered, however, that all publications issued previous to the 25th of March 1599 would be dated 1598.

A comparison of the two parts ofHenry IV.under the metrical test, while clearly showingPart I.as an earliercomposition, yet approximates their dates so closely in time as to suggest a comparatively recent and thorough revision of the earlier portion of the play in 1597 or 1598. It is plain, however, that Shakespeare'sHenry IV., Part I., held the boards in some form for several years before this date. The numerous contemporary references, under the name of Sir John Oldcastle, to the character now known as Falstaff, evidences on the part of the public such a settled familiarity with this same character, under the old name, as to suggest frequent presentations of Shakespeare's play in the earlier form. The Oldcastle ofThe Famous Victories of Henry V.has no connection whatever with the characterisation of Falstaff.

Though the metrical evidences of so early a date are now obscured by the drastic revision of the autumn of 1597, or spring of 1598, I am of the opinion thatHenry IV., Part I., as it was originally written, belongs to a period antedating the publication ofWillobie his Avisain 1594, and that it was composed late in 1593, or early in 1594. I am led to this conclusion by the underlying thread of subjective evidence linking the plays of this period with the affairs of Southampton and his connections. It is unlikely that Shakespeare would introduce that "sweet wench" my "Young Mistress of the Tavern" into a play after the publication of the scandal intended by Roydon in 1594, and probable that he altered the characterisation of the hostess to the old and widowed Mistress Quickly in theSecond Part of Henry IV.for this reason.

Believing thatLove's Labour's Won—i.e.All's Well that Ends Wellin its earlier form—reflects Southampton in the person of Bertram, and Florio as Parolles, I have suggested that the military capacity of the latter characterinfers a temporary military experience of Florio's in the year 1592. It is evident that most of the matter in this play following Act IV. Scene iii. belongs to the period of revision in 1598. In Act IV. Scene iii. we have what was apparently Parolles' final appearance in the old play of 1592; here he has been exposed, and his purpose in the play ended.

First Soldier.You are undone, Captain, all but your scarf; that has a knot on't yet.Parolles.Who cannot be crushed with a plot?First Soldier.If you could find out a country where women were that had received so much shame, you might begin an impudent nation. Fare ye well, Sir; I am for France too; we shall speak of you there.[Exit Soldiers.Parolles.Yet am I thankful: if my heart were great,'Twould burst at this. Captain, I'll be no more;But I will eat and drink, and sleep as softAs captain shall: simply the thing I amShall make me live. Who knows himself a braggart,Let him fear this, for it will come to passThat every braggart shall be found an ass.Rust sword! cool blushes! and, Parolles, liveSafest in shame, being fool'd, by foolery thrive.There's place and means for every man alive.I'll after them.[Exit.

First Soldier.You are undone, Captain, all but your scarf; that has a knot on't yet.

Parolles.Who cannot be crushed with a plot?

First Soldier.If you could find out a country where women were that had received so much shame, you might begin an impudent nation. Fare ye well, Sir; I am for France too; we shall speak of you there.

[Exit Soldiers.

Parolles.Yet am I thankful: if my heart were great,'Twould burst at this. Captain, I'll be no more;But I will eat and drink, and sleep as softAs captain shall: simply the thing I amShall make me live. Who knows himself a braggart,Let him fear this, for it will come to passThat every braggart shall be found an ass.Rust sword! cool blushes! and, Parolles, liveSafest in shame, being fool'd, by foolery thrive.There's place and means for every man alive.I'll after them.

[Exit.

The resolution he here forms augurs for the future a still greater moral deterioration. He resolves to seek safety in shame; to thrive by foolery; and, though fallen from his captaincy, to

"eat and drink, and sleep as soft as captain shall."

When Shakespeare resumed his plan of reflecting Florio's association with Southampton, in theFirst Part of Henry IV.he recalled the state of mind and morals in which he had left him as Parolles inLove's Labour's Won, and allowing for a short lapse of time, and the effects of the life he hadresolved to live, introduces him inHenry IV., Part I. Act 1. Scene ii., as follows:

Fal.Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?Prince.Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sack and unbuttoning thee after supper and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou would'st truly know. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? Unless hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of leaping-houses, and the blessed sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-coloured taffeta, I see no reason why thou should'st be so superfluous to demand the time of day.

Fal.Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?

Prince.Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sack and unbuttoning thee after supper and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou would'st truly know. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? Unless hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of leaping-houses, and the blessed sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-coloured taffeta, I see no reason why thou should'st be so superfluous to demand the time of day.

In Parolles and Falstaff we have displayed the same lack of moral consciousness, the same grossly sensuous materialism, and withal, the same unquenchable optimism and colossal impudence.

When we remember that though Shakespeare based his play upon the oldFamous Victories of Henry V.and took from it the name Oldcastle, that the actual characterisation of his Oldcastle—Falstaff—has no prototype in the original, the abrupt first entry upon the scene of this tavern-lounger and afternoon sleeper-upon-benches, as familiarly addressing the heir apparent as "Hal" and "lad," supplies a good instance of Shakespeare's method—noticed by Maurice Morgann—of making a characteract and speak from those parts of the composition which are inferred only and not distinctly shown; but to the initiated, including Southampton and his friends, who knew the bumptious self-sufficiency of Shakespeare's living model, and who followed the developing characterisation from play to play, the effect of such bold dramatic strokes must have been irresistibly diverting.

It is difficult now to realise the avidity with which such publications as Florio'sFirstandSecond Fruiteswere welcomed from the press and read by the cultured, or culture-seeking, public of his day. Italy being then regardedas the centre of culture and fashion a colloquial knowledge of Italian was a fashionable necessity. A reference in a current play to an aphorism of Florio's or to a characteristic passage from the proverbial philosophy of which he constructs his Italian-English conversations, which would pass unnoticed now, would be readily recognised by a fashionable Elizabethan audience.

When Shakespeare, through the utterances of the prince, characterises Falstaff by suggestion upon his first appearance in the play in the following lines:

"Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sack and unbuttoning thee after supper and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou would'st truly know,"

for the benefit of his initiated friends he links up and continues Florio's characterisation as Parolles and Falstaff, and in the remainder of the passage,

"What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? Unless hours are cups of sack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of leaping-houses, and the blessed sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-coloured taffeta,"

suggests Florio's character from his own utterances in theSecond Fruites, where one of the characters holds forth as follows:

"As for me, I never will be able, nor am I able, to be willing but to love whatsoever pleaseth women, to whom I dedicate, yield, and consecrate what mortal thing soever I possess, and I say, that a salad, a woman and a capon, as yet was never out of season."

A consideration of certain of the divergences between thedramatis personæof theFirst Part of Henry IV.and theSecond Part of Henry IV., made in the light of the thread of subjective evidence in the plays of the Sonnet period, may give us some new clues in determining the relative periods of their original composition.

In theFirst Part of Henry IV.the hostess of the tavern is referred to as a young and beautiful woman in Act I. Scene ii., as follows:

Falstaff.... And is not my hostess of the tavern a most sweet wench?Prince.As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle. And is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance?Fal.How now, how now, mad wag! what, in thy quips and quiddities? What a plague have I to do with a buff jerkin?Prince."Why, what a pox have I to do with my hostess of the tavern?Fal.Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning many a time and oft.Prince.Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part?Fal."No, I'll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all there.Prince.Yes, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would stretch; and where it would not, I have used my credit.Fal.Yea, and so used it that, were it not here apparent that thou art heir apparent—but, I prithee, sweet wag, shall there be gallows standing in England when thou art king? And resolution thus fobbed as it is with the rusty curb of old father antic the law? Do not thou, when thou art king, hang a thief.

Falstaff.... And is not my hostess of the tavern a most sweet wench?

Prince.As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle. And is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance?

Fal.How now, how now, mad wag! what, in thy quips and quiddities? What a plague have I to do with a buff jerkin?

Prince."Why, what a pox have I to do with my hostess of the tavern?

Fal.Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning many a time and oft.

Prince.Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part?

Fal."No, I'll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all there.

Prince.Yes, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would stretch; and where it would not, I have used my credit.

Fal.Yea, and so used it that, were it not here apparent that thou art heir apparent—but, I prithee, sweet wag, shall there be gallows standing in England when thou art king? And resolution thus fobbed as it is with the rusty curb of old father antic the law? Do not thou, when thou art king, hang a thief.

Falstaff's impertinent and suggestive reference to the prince's intimacy with the hostess, not being taken well, he quickly gives the conversation a turn to cover up the mistake he finds he has made. It is palpable that the characterisation of the hostess in theFirst Part of Henry IV., in its original form, was not the same as that presented in theSecond Partof this play in which she is represented as Mistress Quickly, an old, unattractive, and garrulous widow. In theFirst Part of Henry IV.she is mentioned only once as Mistress Quickly. In ActIII.Scene iii. the prince addresses her under this name and inquires about her husband.

Prince.What sayest thou, Mistress Quickly? How doth thy husband? I love him well; he is an honest man.

This single mention of the hostess as Mistress Quickly is evidently an interpolation made at the period of therevision of this play late in 1597, or early in 1598. It is also probable that the revision at this time was made with the intention of linking the action of theFirst Partto theSecond Partof the play, the outline of which Shakespeare was probably planning at that time.

The dramatic time of theFirst Partof the play has been estimated as at the outside covering a period of three months, and of theSecond Part, a period of two months. No long interval is supposed to have elapsed between the action of the two parts; yet, in theFirst Partof the play the hostess is young, attractive, and has a husband. In theSecond Part, she is old, unattractive, and is a widow. This divergence is evidently to be accounted for by the fact that theFirst Part of Henry IV.in its earliest, and unrevised, form was written, not long after the composition ofLove's Labour's Won(All's Well that Ends Wellin its early form), and during the estrangement between Southampton and Shakespeare in 1594, caused by the nobleman's relations with the "dark lady," that "most sweet wench," "my hostess of the tavern."

I have indicated a certain continuity and link of characterisation between Parolles, as we leave him inAll's Well that Ends Well, and Falstaff, as we first encounter him in theFirst Part of Henry IV.I shall now demonstrate parallels between the characterisation of Falstaff in theFirst Part of Henry IV., and the tone and spirit of the conversations between the imaginary characters of Florio'sSecond Fruites. Fewer resemblances are to be found between theSecond Fruitesand theSecond Part of Henry IV.From this I infer that when Shakespeare composed theFirst Part of Henry IV.in its original form, his personal acquaintance with Florio was recent and limited, and that he developedhis characterisation of Falstaff in that portion of the play largely from Florio's self-revelation in theSecond Fruites, and that in continuing this characterisation later on, in theSecond Partof the play, he reinforced it from a closer personal observation of the idiosyncrasies of his prototype.

The Earl of Southampton, who was shadowed forth as Bertram inLove's Labour's Won, with Parolles as his factotum,—representing Florio in that capacity,—becomes the prince inHenry IV., while Florio becomes Falstaff. TheFirst Partof the play in its original form reflected their connection and the affair of the "dark lady" in 1593-94. TheFirst Part of Henry IV., in its revised form, and theSecond Part of Henry IV.reflect a resumed, or a continued, familiarity between Southampton and Florio in 1598. This leads me to infer that Florio may again have accompanied Southampton when he left England with Sir Robert Cecil for the French Court in February 1598, in much the same capacity as he had served him on his first visit to France in 1592, when they were first reflected as Bertram and Parolles.

In the original development of the characterisation of Parolles, Armado, and Falstaff, I am convinced that Shakespeare worked, not only from observation of his prototype in their daily intercourse, but that he also studied Florio's mental and moral angles and literary mannerisms in his extant productions. If Armado's letters to Jaquenetta and to the King be compared with Florio's dedication of hisSecond Fruites—which was published in 1591, several months preceding the original composition ofLove's Labour's Lost—and also with his "Address to the Reader," a similitude will be found that certainly passes coincidence. A comparison of Parolles' and Falstaff's opportunist and materialisticphilosophy with Florio's outlook on life as we find it unconsciously exhibited in hisSecond Fruites, reveals a characteristic unity that plainly displays intentional parody on Shakespeare's part.

Didactic literature seldom presents the real character and workaday opinions and beliefs of a writer. The teacher generally speaks from a height transcending his ordinary levels of thought and action. In Florio'sSecond Fruiteshis intention is didactic only in relation to imparting a colloquial knowledge of Italian. In this endeavour he arranges a series of twelve conversations on matters of everyday life between imaginary characters, who are, presumably, of about the same social quality as his usual pupils—the younger gentry of the time. In these talks his intention was to be entirely natural and to reproduce, what he conceived to be, ordinary conversation between gentlemen of fashion. In doing this he reveals ethics, manners, and morals of a decidedly Falstaffian flavour. The gross and satyr-like estimate of women he displays; his primping enjoyment of apparel; the gusto with which he converses of things to eat and drink—of ale, and wine, and capons; his distrust of the minions of the law; his knowledge and horror of arrest and imprisonment, and his frankly animal zest of life, all suggest Shakespeare's knowledge of the book as well as the man.

As Florio'sSecond Fruitesis not easily accessible to the general reader, a few extracts may serve to exhibit the characteristic resemblances to Shakespeare's delineation of Falstaff.

The twelve chapters of the work are headed as follows:

The first chapter, "Of rising in the morning and of things belonging to the chamber and to apparel."The second, "For common speech in the morning between friends; wherein is described a set of tennis."The third, "Of familiar morning communication; wherein many courtesies are handled, and the manner of visiting and saluting the sick, and of riding, with all that belongeth to a horse."The fourth chapter, "Wherein is set down a dinner for six persons, between whom there fall many pleasant discourses concerning meat and repast."The fifth, "Wherein discourse is held of play and many things thereto appertaining, a game of primero and of chess."The sixth chapter, "Concerning many familiar and ceremonious compliments among six gentlemen who talk of many pleasant matters, but especially of divers necessary, profitable, civil, and proverbial receipts for a traveller."The seventh, "Between two gentlemen who talk of arms, and of the art of fencing, and of buying and selling."The eighth chapter, "Between James, and Lippa, his man, wherein they talk of many pleasant and delightsome jests, and in it is described an unpleasant lodging, an illformed old woman, also the beautiful parts that a woman ought to have to be accounted fair in all perfection, and pleasantly blazoned a counterfeit lazy and naught-worth servant."The ninth, "Between Cæzar and Tiberio; wherein they discourse of news of the Court, of courtiers of this day, and of many other matters of delight."The tenth chapter, "Between gentlemen and a servant; wherein they talk of going to supper, and familiar speech late in the evening."The eleventh, "Wherein they talk of going to bed, and many things thereto belonging."The twelfth, "Wherein proverbially and pleasantly discourse is held of love and women."

The first chapter, "Of rising in the morning and of things belonging to the chamber and to apparel."

The second, "For common speech in the morning between friends; wherein is described a set of tennis."

The third, "Of familiar morning communication; wherein many courtesies are handled, and the manner of visiting and saluting the sick, and of riding, with all that belongeth to a horse."

The fourth chapter, "Wherein is set down a dinner for six persons, between whom there fall many pleasant discourses concerning meat and repast."

The fifth, "Wherein discourse is held of play and many things thereto appertaining, a game of primero and of chess."

The sixth chapter, "Concerning many familiar and ceremonious compliments among six gentlemen who talk of many pleasant matters, but especially of divers necessary, profitable, civil, and proverbial receipts for a traveller."

The seventh, "Between two gentlemen who talk of arms, and of the art of fencing, and of buying and selling."

The eighth chapter, "Between James, and Lippa, his man, wherein they talk of many pleasant and delightsome jests, and in it is described an unpleasant lodging, an illformed old woman, also the beautiful parts that a woman ought to have to be accounted fair in all perfection, and pleasantly blazoned a counterfeit lazy and naught-worth servant."

The ninth, "Between Cæzar and Tiberio; wherein they discourse of news of the Court, of courtiers of this day, and of many other matters of delight."

The tenth chapter, "Between gentlemen and a servant; wherein they talk of going to supper, and familiar speech late in the evening."

The eleventh, "Wherein they talk of going to bed, and many things thereto belonging."

The twelfth, "Wherein proverbially and pleasantly discourse is held of love and women."

He makes one of his characters end this last chapter as follows:

The remarkable resemblance between the sentiments here expressed and the characteristics attributed to Falstaff by Prince Henry in the passage quoted above fromHenry IV., ActI.Scene ii., suggest Shakespeare's knowledge of theSecond Fruites.

He describes the wardrobe of a man of fashion with envious unction, giving a minute inventory of his shirts, handkerchiefs, ruffs, cuffs, towels, quoises, shoes, buskins, daggers, swords, gloves, doublets, jerkins, gowns, hats, caps, and boots. The very superabundance recalling, by contrast, the paucity in this regard in the cases of Armado and Falstaff.

The philosophy of his conversations is selfish and worldly-wise to a degree, with nowhere the slightest suggestion of ideality or altruism.

"T. From those that I do trust, good Lord deliver me, from such as I mistrust, I'll harmless come to be.G. He gives me so many good words I cannot fail but trust him.T. Wot you not that fair words and foul deeds are wont to make both fools and wise men fain.G. I know it, but if he beat me with a sword, I will beat him again with a scabbard.T. What, will you give him bread for cake then?G. If any man wrong thee, wrong him again, or else be sure to remember it."

"T. From those that I do trust, good Lord deliver me, from such as I mistrust, I'll harmless come to be.

G. He gives me so many good words I cannot fail but trust him.

T. Wot you not that fair words and foul deeds are wont to make both fools and wise men fain.

G. I know it, but if he beat me with a sword, I will beat him again with a scabbard.

T. What, will you give him bread for cake then?

G. If any man wrong thee, wrong him again, or else be sure to remember it."

In the conversation concerning meats and repast he is Gargantuan in his descriptions.

"S. The meat is coming in, let us set down.C. I would wash first if it were not to trouble Robert.S. What, ho! Bring some water to wash our hands.Robert.Here it is fresh and good to drinke for a neede.H. God hath made water for other things than to drinke.C. Hast thou not heard that water rots, not only men, but stakes?R. Yet men say that water was made to drinke, to saile, and to wash.M. It was good to drinke when men did eat acornes.T. I pray you set down for I have a good stomach.N. As for a good stomach, I do yield a jot unto you.S. My masters, the meat cooles.S. My masters, sit down; every man take his place.N. Tush, I pray you, sit down.C. With obliging you I shall show myself unmannerly.H. Of courtesie, Master M., sit here between us two.M. Virtue consists in the midst quothe the devil when he found himself between two nuns.S. Bring hither that salad, those steaks, that leg of mutton, that piece of beef with all the boiled meats we have.S. I pray you, every man serve himself, let everyone cut where he please, and seek the best morsels.N. Truly these meats are very well seasoned.S. Call for drinke when you please, and what kind of wine you like best.N. Give me some wine but put some water in it.S. You may well enough drinke it pure, for our wines are all borne under the sign of Aquarius.M. Do you not know that wine watered is esteemed a vile thing?C. Give me a cup of beere, or else a bowl of ale.S. I pray you, do not put that sodden water into your bellie.C. I like it as well as wine, chiefly this hot weather.T. He that drinks wine drinks blood, he that drinks water drinks fleame (phlegm).H. I love to drink wine after the Dutch fashion.T. How do they drinke it, I pray you?H. In the morning, pure; at dinner, without water, and at night as it comes from the vessel.M. I like this rule; they are wise, and God's blessing light upon them.H. A slice of bacon would make us taste this wine well.S. What, ho! set that gammon of bacon on the board.M. God be thanked, I am at a truce with my stomach.T. In faith, I would stay until the bells do ring.S. You were not fasting then when you came here?M. I had only drunk a little Malmslie.T. And I a good draught of Muscatine, and eat a little bread.S. Bring the meat away, in God's name.R. The meat is not enough yet.S. Take away that empty pot, set some bread upon the table and put some salt in the salt cellar, and make roome for the second messe.R. Now, comes the roast.S. Welcome may with his flowers.T. And good speed may our barke have.S. The Jews do not look for their Messias with more devotion than I have looked for the roast meat.S. Set that capon upon the table, and those chickens, those rabbits, and that hen, that goose; those woodcock, those snipes, those larks, those quails, those partridges, those pheasants and that pasty of venison.R. Here is everything ready.N. You have led us to a wedding.S. I pray you, cut up that hen, I pray God it be tender.C. Alas, I think she was dam to the cock that crowed to St. Peter.S. I thought that so soon as I saw her.N. I beseech you, sir, will you carve some of that pheasant?M. They be offices that I love to do.N. I will one day fill my bellie full of them.S. Master Andrew, will it please you to eat an egg?A. With all my heart, sir, so be it new laid.S. As new as may be; laid this morning.A. I love new-laid eggs well.S. Sirra, go cause a couple of eggs to be made readie.R. By and by, will you have them hard or soft?A. It is no matter, I love them better raire.T. An egg of an hour, bread of a day, kidd of a month, wine of six, flesh of a year, fish of ten, a woman of fifteen, and a friend of a hundred, he must have that will be merrie.S. What aileth Master T. that he looks so sad?T. I am not very well at ease.S. What feel you, where grieves it you?T. I feel my stomach a little over-cloyde.N. Shall I teach you a good medicine?H. My mother, of happy memorie, was wont to tell me that a pill of wheat, of a hen the days work sweat, and some vine juice that were neat was best physick I could eat.M. Your mother was a woman worthy to govern a kingdom.S. My masters, you see here the period of this poor dinner; the best dish you have had hath been your welcome.H. As that hath fed our minds so have the others fed our bodies well.S. It grieves me that you have been put to such penance, but yet I hope you will excuse me.C. If doing such penance a man might win heaven, O sweet penance for a man to do every day."

"S. The meat is coming in, let us set down.

C. I would wash first if it were not to trouble Robert.

S. What, ho! Bring some water to wash our hands.

Robert.Here it is fresh and good to drinke for a neede.

H. God hath made water for other things than to drinke.

C. Hast thou not heard that water rots, not only men, but stakes?

R. Yet men say that water was made to drinke, to saile, and to wash.

M. It was good to drinke when men did eat acornes.

T. I pray you set down for I have a good stomach.

N. As for a good stomach, I do yield a jot unto you.

S. My masters, the meat cooles.

S. My masters, sit down; every man take his place.

N. Tush, I pray you, sit down.

C. With obliging you I shall show myself unmannerly.

H. Of courtesie, Master M., sit here between us two.

M. Virtue consists in the midst quothe the devil when he found himself between two nuns.

S. Bring hither that salad, those steaks, that leg of mutton, that piece of beef with all the boiled meats we have.

S. I pray you, every man serve himself, let everyone cut where he please, and seek the best morsels.

N. Truly these meats are very well seasoned.

S. Call for drinke when you please, and what kind of wine you like best.

N. Give me some wine but put some water in it.

S. You may well enough drinke it pure, for our wines are all borne under the sign of Aquarius.

M. Do you not know that wine watered is esteemed a vile thing?

C. Give me a cup of beere, or else a bowl of ale.

S. I pray you, do not put that sodden water into your bellie.

C. I like it as well as wine, chiefly this hot weather.

T. He that drinks wine drinks blood, he that drinks water drinks fleame (phlegm).

H. I love to drink wine after the Dutch fashion.

T. How do they drinke it, I pray you?

H. In the morning, pure; at dinner, without water, and at night as it comes from the vessel.

M. I like this rule; they are wise, and God's blessing light upon them.

H. A slice of bacon would make us taste this wine well.

S. What, ho! set that gammon of bacon on the board.

M. God be thanked, I am at a truce with my stomach.

T. In faith, I would stay until the bells do ring.

S. You were not fasting then when you came here?

M. I had only drunk a little Malmslie.

T. And I a good draught of Muscatine, and eat a little bread.

S. Bring the meat away, in God's name.

R. The meat is not enough yet.

S. Take away that empty pot, set some bread upon the table and put some salt in the salt cellar, and make roome for the second messe.

R. Now, comes the roast.

S. Welcome may with his flowers.

T. And good speed may our barke have.

S. The Jews do not look for their Messias with more devotion than I have looked for the roast meat.

S. Set that capon upon the table, and those chickens, those rabbits, and that hen, that goose; those woodcock, those snipes, those larks, those quails, those partridges, those pheasants and that pasty of venison.

R. Here is everything ready.

N. You have led us to a wedding.

S. I pray you, cut up that hen, I pray God it be tender.

C. Alas, I think she was dam to the cock that crowed to St. Peter.

S. I thought that so soon as I saw her.

N. I beseech you, sir, will you carve some of that pheasant?

M. They be offices that I love to do.

N. I will one day fill my bellie full of them.

S. Master Andrew, will it please you to eat an egg?

A. With all my heart, sir, so be it new laid.

S. As new as may be; laid this morning.

A. I love new-laid eggs well.

S. Sirra, go cause a couple of eggs to be made readie.

R. By and by, will you have them hard or soft?

A. It is no matter, I love them better raire.

T. An egg of an hour, bread of a day, kidd of a month, wine of six, flesh of a year, fish of ten, a woman of fifteen, and a friend of a hundred, he must have that will be merrie.

S. What aileth Master T. that he looks so sad?

T. I am not very well at ease.

S. What feel you, where grieves it you?

T. I feel my stomach a little over-cloyde.

N. Shall I teach you a good medicine?

H. My mother, of happy memorie, was wont to tell me that a pill of wheat, of a hen the days work sweat, and some vine juice that were neat was best physick I could eat.

M. Your mother was a woman worthy to govern a kingdom.

S. My masters, you see here the period of this poor dinner; the best dish you have had hath been your welcome.

H. As that hath fed our minds so have the others fed our bodies well.

S. It grieves me that you have been put to such penance, but yet I hope you will excuse me.

C. If doing such penance a man might win heaven, O sweet penance for a man to do every day."

Portions of the sixth chapter, with its talk of divers necessary prophetic and proverbial precepts for a traveller, evidently supplied Shakespeare with the hint for Scene iv. ActII.of theFirst Part of Henry IV., between Falstaff and Prince Hal, wherein Falstaff personates the prince's father.

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