Falstaff: la comèdia, l'òpera, el film

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyse different treatments of Falstaff, the fictional character created by William Shakespeare, both in literature (be it historical drama -Henry IV, parts one and two; Henry V- or comedy -The Merry Wives of Windsal), and in the adaptation to opera written by Arrigo Boito -librettist and composer who had collaborated with Giuseppe Verdi on the libretto of another Shakespearean tragedy, Othello- and, finally, in the cinema version of the American actor and director Orson Welles. As we know, Falstaff constitutes the nucleus of the aforementioned works, the through-line of the plot in both tragedy and comedy, and their principal point of reference. Thus, the article attempts to review in detail the changes -additions and/or substractions-: which have occurred in the original text in function of the different languages to which it has been adapted while striving to achieve operatic and cinematographic effect.