Fat, Foolish, & Fabulous

I recently mentioned Sir John Falstaff, as one of my favorite Shakespearean characters. The man was utterly disreputable: a drunk, a coward, a lecher, a glutton, utterly without redeeming qualities—what’s not to love about him? Clearly, Shakespeare loved him; Falstaff appears in four plays and is mentioned in another.

Supposedly, the character was based…