FALSTAFF AND SNOOPY.

FALSTAFF AND SNOOPY. I had the good fortune long ago to hear Auden lecture. He said that Falstaff was a mythopeic character (that is, one who inspires people to make up episodes that the author forgot to tell us). Over twenty-five years ago there was a television production of THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR with Ben Kingsley playing Ford. I was talking to a man a week later who told me that he had watched the show with his four year old son. He told a bedtime story to his son every night, but this time he decided to let his son stay up to watch MERRY WIVES until he fell asleep. The boy never fell asleep, but watched happily until the end. The next night, he went to tell his son his bedtime story. The boy said, “Daddy, tell me a story. Tell me a story about Falstaff….about Falstaff and ….Snoopy.”