Shakespeare introduces one of his most beloved comic characters, Sir John Falstaff, a figure he manages to include in no less than four of his plays! He is often cited as the greatest character Shakespeare ever created since he encompasses all the opposites that make up human experience - good and evil, love and lust, truth and falsehood, comedy and tragedy - a man intent upon life and pleasure at all costs yet constant in his fatherly love for Hal.

Hal is found in a tavern, a waggish wastrel who cavorts with thieves, drunks and whores before 'going straight' to help his father quell the attempt of the young Hotspur to depose him.

The scheming at the start of the play and the battle scenes at the end frame several bawdy tavern scenes in which Shakespeare regales us with a wonderful array of low life characters absurd at times, often quite touching but always splendidly comical.