MARION HARLAND.
CHARACTER SKETCHES OF ROMANCE,
FICTION, AND THE DRAMA.
Falkland, an aristocratic gentleman, of a noble, loving nature, but the victim of false honor and morbid refinement of feeling. Under great provocation, he was goaded on to commit murder, but being tried was honorably acquitted, and another person was executed for the crime. Caleb Williams, a lad in Falkland’s service, accidently became acquainted with these secret facts, but, unable to live in the house under the suspicious eyes of Falkland, he ran away. Falkland tracked him from place to place, like a blood-hound, and at length arrested him for robbery. The true statement now came out, and Falkland died of shame and broken spirit. —W. Godwin, Caleb Williams (1794).
⁂ This tale has been dramatized by G. Colman, under the title of The Iron Chest, in which Falkland is called “Sir Edward Mortimer,” and Caleb Williams is called “Wilford.”
False One (The), a tragedy by Beaumont and Fletcher (1619). The subject is the amours of Julius Caesar and Cleopat´ra.
Falsetto (Signor), a man who fawns on Fazio in prosperity, and turns his back on him when fallen into disgrace.—Dean Milman, Fazio (1815).
Falstaff (Sir John), in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and in the two parts of Henry IV., by Shakespeare. In Henry V., his death is described by Mrs. Quickly, hostess of an inn in Eastcheap. In the comedy, Sir John is represented as making love to Mrs. Page, who “fools him to the top of his bent.” In the historic plays, he is represented as a soldier and a wit, the boon companion of “Mad-cap Hal” (the prince of Wales). In both cases, he is a mountain of fat, sensual, mendacious, boastful, and fond of practical jokes.