Justice Shallow

Play

Henry IV, Part 2, The Merry Wives of Windsor

Summary

Robert Shallow, a Justice of the Peace in Gloucestershire, is one of Shakespeare's great comic creations: an ancient, garrulous country gentleman perpetually rhapsodising about his wild youth at the Inns of Court — memories that Falstaff privately regards as fantastical exaggeration. His mixture of vanity, senility, and provincial self-importance make him an easy mark; Falstaff exploits him mercilessly for money and hospitality, and Shallow's gleeful anticipation of preferment once Falstaff is in royal favour comes to nothing after Hal's rejection of Falstaff. He also appears in The Merry Wives of Windsor, where he threatens legal action against Falstaff over his deer-poaching.

Notable Quotations

"We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow." *(2H4, 3.2 — Falstaff to Shallow, evoking their shared dissolute youth)*

"Death, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to all; all shall die. How a good yoke of bullocks at Stamford fair?" *(2H4, 3.2 — Shallow's characteristic yoking of mortality with triviality)*

Cross-references

• Henry IV, Part 2 — the play
• The Merry Wives of Windsor — the play
• Histories — the genre
• character_falstaff — Falstaff, who exploits him