Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

PISTOL

in 2 Henry the Fourth — Shakespeare, William

Metadata

Play2 Henry the Fourth
AuthorShakespeare, William
Year (catalogued)1600
First performance1597
Decade1600s
GenreHistory
Play typeAdult Professional
CompanyLord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men
Speech prefix(es)Pistol | Pist. | Pist | Pisto
Words576
Characters3070
Typicality0.42 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA11974
BritDrama no.1083
ClusterCluster 9 — Boon companions & bluff banter

Important excerpts

No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).

Full speech

God save you sir John. Sir John God save you. Not the ill wind which blows no man to good: sweet Knight, thou art now one of the greatest men in this Realm. A footre for the world and worldlings base, I speak of Africa and golden joys. Shall dunghill curs confront the Helicons? and shall good news be baffled? then Pistol lay thy head in Furies lap. Why then lament therefore. Under which King, Besonian? speak, or die. Harry the fourth, or fifth? As nail in door, the things I speak are joust. What? I do bring good news. I will discharge upon her sir John, with two bullets. Then, to you mistress Dorothy, I will charge you. I know you mistress Dorothy. God let me not live, but I will murder your ruff for this. Not I, I tell thee what corporal Bardolf, I could tear her, I'll be revenged of her. I'll see her damned first, to Pluto's damned lake by this would ̄ worser to th'infernal deep, with erebus & tortures vile also: hold hook and line, say I: down, down dogs, down faters have we not Hiren here? Men Like dogs give crowns Like pins, have we not Hiren here? Then feed and be fat, my fair Calipolis, come gives some sack, si fortune me torment sperato me contento, fear we broad sides? no, let the fiend give fire, give me some sack, and sweet heart, lie thou there, come we to full points here? and are & caeteraes, no things? Sweet Knight, I kiss thy neaffe, what, we have seen the seven stars. What shall we have incision? shall we embrue? then death rock me a sleep, abridge my doleful days: why then let grievous ghastly gaping wounds vntwinde the sisters three, come Atropose I say. Let vultures vile seize on his lungs also: where is the life that late I led, say they, why here it is, welcome these ple sant days. exit. God bless thy lungs good Knight. It does so. It does so. It does, it does, it does. 'Tis semp r idem, for, obsque hoc nihil est, 'tis in every partly. My Knight, I will inflame thy noble liver, and make thee rage, thy Dol, and Helen of thy noble thoughts, is in base durance, and contagious prison, halde thither by most mecha nical, and dirty hand: rouse up revenge from Ebon den, with fell Alectoesnake, for Doll is in: Pistol speaks nought but truth. There roared the sea, and trumpet Clang or sounds. The heavens thee guard and keep, most royal mpe of feign. Si fortuname tormenta spero contenta. These be good humours indeed, shall packhorses, and hollow pampered jades of Asia which cannot go but thirty mile a day, compare with Caesars and with Canibals, and tro jant Greeks? nay rather damn them with King Cerbe us, and let the Welkin roar, shall we fallen foul for toys? Thrust him down stairs, know we not Galloway nags? A fowtre for thine office: sir John, thy tender lambkin now is King: Harry the fifths the man: I speak the truth: when Pistol lies, do this, and fig me, Like the bragging spaniard. Puff? Puff ith thy teeth, most recreant coward, base sir John, I am thy Pistol and thy friend, and helter skelter, have I road to thee, and tidings do I bring, and lucky joys, and gol den times, and happy news of price.

Plot summary

Plot — 2 Henry the Fourth
After the battle of Shrewsbury, there are contradictory rumours abroad as to the outcome: some say that the King and his son have vanquished Lord Hotspur of Lancaster, whereas in fact they won. Now Lord John of Lancaster is travelling north with a power, including Sir John Falstaff, to crush the regrouping remnants of the Percy rebellion. Mistress Quickly tries to have Falstaff arrested for debt, while threatens to prevent him setting out for London, but he talks his way out of it. Back from a military expedition in Wales, Prince Henry and Poins disguise themselves as drawers and eavesdrop on Falstaff’s conversation: he says uncomplimentary things about them, but Falstaff excuses himself inventively when confronted. Northumberland’s family persuade him to flee to Scotland rather than join the other northern rebels. Falstaff musters troops in Gloucestershire, but the best men bribe their way out, leaving him with the least suitable soldiers. Prince John sees the rebels and agrees to redress their grievances if they disband their army; but when they do so, he has them arrested for treason. Falstaff arrives in the north late, but meets the rebel Sir John Colville, who promptly surrenders without a fight, having heard Falstaff’s reputation. Prince John returns to court, but Falstaff goes via Gloucestershire to visit Justice Shallow. The sickly King prepares for death, and worries about the kingdom’s future in the hands of his eldest son. News arrives of the defeat of all the rebels. Prince Henry finds his father asleep with the crown beside him, and, thinking him dead, tries it on. The King wakes to find his crown gone. Brought back, the Prince excuses himself, and the King gives deathbed advice: he should pursue an aggressive foreign policy to distract from internal dissent. He dies in the Jerusalem chamber, fulfilling a prophecy that he will die in Jerusalem. Henry V is not the King everyone expected the Prince to be. He confirms in office the Lord Chief Justice, who had imprisoned him for his misdemeanours. Pistol brings to Gloucestershire news of his accession, and Falstaff anticipates power for himself and his associates. He is disappointed: when he accosts the King at his coronation, Henry refuses to acknowledge him, and banishes him — though with a pension to ensure that poverty does not lead him back into crime. Falstaff is convinced that this is only a public show of rejection, which will later be countermanded in private; but in fact he and his crew…