Role of Falstaff in Henry IV, Part One

Falstaff's Role in Henry IV, Part One
Henry IV, Part One, has always been one of the most popular of Shakespeare's plays, maybe because of Falstaff. Much of the early criticism I found concentrated on Falstaff and so
will I. This may begin in the eighteenth century with Samuel Johnson. For Johnson, the Prince is a 'young man of great abilities and violent passions,' and Hotspur is a 'rugged soldier,' but 'Falstaff, unimitated, unimitable Falstaff, how shall I describe thee? Thou compound of sense and vice . . . a character loaded with faults, and with faults which produce contempt . . .…