Falstaff and Sack

I‘ve barely been on my computer at home, that’s why there aren’t any pictures up yet. Things have been busy, you know. Surprise B-Day yesterday for Jed (saw Cisco and Bartley too!). Britt and I had our “made it a year” day on Sunday.

We went out that night and I caught a glimpse of something on the “Cognac, Port, and Sherry” section of the menu: Dry Sack. Faithful readers of Infinite Regression may remember the epic “Drunk on Text” post. If not feel free to acquaint yourself with it. Dry Sack was featured on the important list and because of that, and because it was our anniversary, I was compelled to order that plenary wine in celebration. I quizzed our server on the significance of Sack, asking if she was familiar with a certain Falstaff. Alas, Shakespeare, she claimed, is akin to a foreign language, and the Henriad can only be read with a good English translation! I smiled and maintained my good nature: “please serve the Sack at the conclusion of the meal.”

Now having drunk Sack I feel a richer understanding of Falstaff’s character. The sweet heaviness of Sack is itself a signifier of Falstaffian identity. I think certain medieval “props” might give deeper meaning to Shakespeare and creative professors ought to take note. I imagine a deconstruction of Falstaff’s role in the Tetralogy based nearly entirely on Sack–and the lecture would include tasting the liquid. Soon, binge-drinking Juniors would have a stronger cultural awareness, and it would be based on Sack! The strong dessert wine of Spanish origin would make them aware for the first time of the intricate vagaries of Falstaff’s overbearing pleasure-obsessed persona; his love of dangerous self-satisfaction would become clear and the subsequent enrichment of Shakespearian literature for alcoholic Brit-Lit students would prove nearly as intoxicating as the quarts of Sack Falstaff constantly sought after.

Pictures of Hocking soon.