SYNOPSIS
Act 1, Scene 5: “Boar’s Head Inn” of Plump Jack
We are at the Boar’s Head Inn. Hal relaxes at his ease. Boy and Hostess Quickly serve him. Falstaff, Pistol and Bardolph enter, flummoxed and bedraggled. Falstaff denounces Hal for his nonappearance at the robbery. He reports his own heroic defense against troops of assailants, the number increasing with each breath. Pistol and Bardolph swear to every word. They turn to see Hal in the disguise he wore at Gad’s Hill, twirling Falstaff’s plumed hat on his sword, as the “pilgrims” reprise their roles. Falstaff swears that he saw through the trick from the start, and spared Hal’s life out of civic duty. Changing the subject, Falstaff invites Hal to rehearse the defense of his playboy lifestyle that he will present to his father. Hal agrees.
The Falstaffians put a stool on the table and heave Falstaff onto it. Playing Henry IV, he denounces Hal and vilifies all his companions save for that single paragon Falstaff. Then the two switch places as Hal plays the father and Falstaff the son. This time the son is flayed for consorting with Falstaff, “that old white-bearded Satan.” Falstaff answers “No, my good lord, banish Pistol, banish Bardolph, banish Boy, banish Nell, but for sweet Jack Falstaff, kind Jack Falstaff, true Jack Falstaff, valiant Jack Falstaff; and therefore more valiant, being, as he is, old Jack Falstaff, banish not him thy Harry’s company, banish not him thy Harry’s company, banish Plump Jack, and banish all the world!” Hal answers softly, “I do, I will.”
Constables bang at the door, demanding that Falstaff join in the wars. All exit but Falstaff and Hostess. These two have known each other “these twenty-nine years, come peascod time,” through thick and thin, and share a tender moment before he emerges to face down the constables and march off to war.