Orson Welles’s Chimes at Midnight is a pastiche of the Falstaff plays. The film reorganizes dialogue from these texts to reposition Falstaff (played by Welles) as a tragic hero lamenting the loss of his youth. Kenneth Rothwell explains that, as a tragic hero, Falstaff acquires a tragic flaw: “the disease of ‘not listening’” or not understanding Hal’s rhetorical language (86). Though Chimes initially received poor reviews (Anderegg 137), the film is now regarded as an insightful adaptation that explores themes of nostalgia, power, greed, ambition, language, and friendship. Read More