l's Well that Ends Well_, and
Falstaff, as we first encounter him in the _First Part of Henry IV._ I
shall now demonstrate parallels between the characterisation of Falstaff
in the _First Part of Henry IV._, and the tone and spirit of the
conversations between the imaginary characters of Florio's _Second
Fruites_. Fewer resemblances are to be found between the _Second
Fruites_ and the _Second Part of Henry IV._ From this I infer that when
Shakespeare composed the _First Part of Henry IV._ in its original form,
his personal acquaintance with Florio was recent and limited, and that
he developed his characterisation of Falstaff in that portion of the
play largely from Florio's self-revelation in the _Second Fruites_, and
that in continuing this characterisation later on, in the _Second Part_
of the play, he reinforced it from a closer personal observation of the
idiosyncrasies of his prototype.

The Earl of Southampton, who was shadowed forth as Bertram in _Love's
Labour's Won_, with Parolles as his factotum,--representing Florio in
that capacity,--becomes the prince in _Henry IV._, while Florio becomes
Falstaff. The _First Part_ of the play in its original form reflected
their connection and the affair of the "dark lady" in 1593-94. The
_First Part of Henry IV._, in its revised form, and the _Second Part of
Henry IV._ reflect a resumed, or a continued, familiarity between
Southampton and Florio in 1598. This leads me to infer that Florio may
again have accompanied Southampton when he left England with Sir Robert
Cecil for the French Court in February 1598, in much the same capacity
as he had served him on his first visit to France in 1592, when they
were first reflected as Bertram and Parolles.

In the original development of the characterisation of Parolles, Armado,
and Falstaff, I am convinced that Shakespeare worked, not only from
observation of his prototype in their daily intercourse, but that he
also studied Florio's mental and moral angles and literary mannerisms in
his extant productions. If Armado's letters to Jaquenetta and to the
King be compared with Florio's dedication of his _Second Fruites_--which
was published in 1591, several months preceding the original composition
of _Love's Labour's Lost_--and also with his "Address to the Reader," a
similitude will be found that certainly passes coincidence. A comparison
of Parolles' and Falstaff's opportunist and materialistic philosophy
with Florio's outlook on li