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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: THE AUTHOR AND HIS TIMES


William Shakespeare was born into a tradesman's family in Stratford-
upon-Avon in late April, 1564. When he was eighteen, Shakespeare
married Anne Hathaway, ten years older than he. The young couple had
a baby girl named Susanna six months later on May 26, 1583. In 1585
the birth of fraternal twins, Hamnet and Judith, completed the new
family. But shortly afterward, Shakespeare left Stratford and moved
to London, leaving his family behind.

No one knows what Shakespeare did for a living before he arrived in
London. We do know that Shakespeare established himself in the
London theater by 1592. He had become both an actor and a playwright
with London's most prestigious theatrical troupe, the Lord
Chamberlain's Men, headquartered in the first professional theater
building built since the fall of the Roman Empire. It was called,
simply, The Theater.

Open to the sky, The Theater had a large platform stage bounded on
three sides by the audience. The stage was large (over thirty feet
across), and was divided into upper and lower acting levels.
Entrances and exits were made through two or three doors at the rear
of the platform, into the "tiring house" where costumes were changed
and speeches rehearsed. Scenery was kept at a bare minimum--a table
and two benches might suggest a scene indoors or a tree represent a
whole forest. The actors wore splendid costumes, however, and the
acting style would have been broad and lively. Teenage boys played
the women's parts. A gallery of musicians accompanied the actors,
and the sound of battle was reproduced with effects backstage.

The audience would have been a cross-section of Londoners. Unruly
apprentices stood on the ground around the stage, while merchants,
fashionable women, and courtiers sat in three tiers of seats.

In the palaces along the River Thames Queen Elizabeth I ruled
England amid a magnificent court. In an age when monarchs held
absolute power, England was lucky to have such a queen. Elizabeth
was a brilliant, outspoken, strong-willed woman, and a crafty
politician who loved her country. Elizabeth I's reign was long (1558-
1603) and dynamic, if not always peaceful. England had recently--
under the reign of her sister, Queen Mary ("Bloody Mary")--been a
Catholic country. Now it was Protestant and Puritan. But Elizabeth
still had many Catholic enemies, such as northern England's powerful
lords, and her cousin Queen Mary of Scotland. In 1569 the northern
lords had rebelled against Elizabeth. They were defeated, but in the
following year the Duke of Norfolk unsuccessfully attempted a coup
to depose Elizabeth and place her Catholic cousin on the throne.

Although these rebellions failed, they worried Elizabeth; thereafter
her subjects were required to listen to sermons on civil
disobedience three times a year. The sermons followed a strict
doctrine that the monarch was God's deputy on earth, and no subject
had a right to oppose her. Rebellion against the monarch was
rebellion against God, a terribly grave sin, to be punished by chaos
on earth and eternal damnation for the rebels.

In 1588, King Philip II of Spain had sent the Armada, a huge
flotilla of warships, to invade England. Elizabeth sent her navy to
attack Philip's fleet, and after a week of merciless fighting the
Armada was roundly defeated. Elizabeth's subjects rejoiced, and
celebrated their country's greatness with an unprecedented patriotic
fervor. One product of this burst of nationalist pride was the
history play, which celebrated England's past and, like the sermons,
instructed audiences in good civil behavior. Henry IV, Part 1 is one
of ten plays Shakespeare wrote to celebrate England's history.

Shakespeare died in Stratford on April 23, 1616. He left no male
heirs to continue his name. His only son, Hamnet, had died at age
eleven. Susanna and Judith both married, but Susanna's only child
Elizabeth was Shakespeare's last direct descendant. She died
childless in 1670.

But Shakespeare left another kind of heir--thirty-seven plays and
three major poems. In 1623, seven years after his death, two of
Shakespeare's former colleagues in the theater published thirty-six
of his plays, eighteen of them for the first time. We refer to this
as the "First Folio." In a prefatory poem, Ben Jonson praised his
old friend and rival playwright as "the wonder of our stage." That
verdict has stood through the centuries.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT I

King Henry IV is holding a political conference with his advisory
council. His preparations for a holy crusade must be postponed
because England's borders are threatened. The English general
Mortimer was taken prisoner by Glendower after losing a battle in
Wales, and another English lord, Hotspur, who has just won a battle
in the north against the Scottish leader Douglas, refuses to send
the king the prisoners he captured. King Henry is angry with Hotspur,
and summons him to court.

Prince Hal, who should be helping his father King Henry govern the
country, is somewhere in London roistering with an old friend, the
disreputable Sir John Falstaff. A young thief named Poins meets them,
and arranges with Falstaff to commit a highway robbery at Gad's Hill.
Hal refuses to join them, until Poins privately tempts Hal with a
plan to play a practical joke on Falstaff, which will show him up as
a coward.

In the palace Hotspur, Northumberland, and Worcester argue with King
Henry. The Percies, powerful northern lords, then plot to rebel
against Henry, with whom they rebelled two years ago against King
Richard II. They intend to enlist Henry's enemies (Glendower,
Mortimer, Douglas, and the Archbishop of York) to help them
overthrow the king.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT II

Two carriers discuss the condition of England and Gadshill (a member
of Poins' gang) finds out when several rich merchants will be
passing Gad's Hill on their way to London.

Falstaff and the band of thieves meet with Hal and Poins at Gad's
Hill. Falstaff and the thieves rob the passing merchants; then Hal
and Poins (in disguise) steal the stolen money. Falstaff defends
himself briefly and unsuccessfully. Hal and Poins take the stolen
money to London.

Meanwhile at Warkworth Castle in the north, Hotspur receives a
letter from a lord who refuses to join the rebellion conspiracy. He
rides off to meet the rebel leaders in Wales.

In a London tavern Hal and Poins are waiting for Falstaff to arrive.
Falstaff and the thieves burst into the tavern, and tell an
exaggerated story about their encounter with an army of thieves at
Gad's Hill. Hal exposes Falstaff as a liar. Then news of the Percy
rebellion reaches the tavern. Hal, who's been summoned to court,
prepares for his father's inevitable scolding by rehearsing with
Falstaff the meeting with Henry. At the height of their play-acted
argument, a sheriff arrives to arrest Falstaff for theft. Falstaff
hides, and Hal lies to protect him from criminal punishment.
Falstaff falls asleep, and Hal picks his pocket before returning to
court.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT III

In a castle in Wales the rebels meet to divide the leadership of
England into three parts. Glendower and Hotspur quarrel, but peace
settles among the rebels while they say good-bye to their wives.
They ride to Shrewsbury, where the battle against Henry will shortly
take place.

In the palace Henry accuses Hal of wasting his youth and
disappointing his family. Henry compares Hal unfavorably with King
Richard II and with Hotspur. Hal promises to turn over a new leaf,
and vows to gain honor equal to Hotspur's by fighting a glorious
battle. Father and son are reconciled, and Henry gives his son
command of one-third of the royal army.

In the tavern Falstaff quarrels with the hostess over who picked his
pocket. Hal arrives dressed for battle, and settles the dispute by
admitting he did it. Hal gives Falstaff command over a troop of foot
soldiers, and returns to court to help with battle preparations.
Falstaff plots ways of turning the war to his personal profit.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT IV

Hotspur, Worcester, and Douglas are camped at Shrewsbury, waiting
for the rest of their allies. Messengers arrive with news that
Northumberland and Glendower won't be joining them in battle.
Hotspur and Douglas resolve to carry out their plans anyway, despite
their greatly reduced forces. Hearing that Prince Hal is leading a
gloriously attired army toward Shrewsbury, Hotspur swears to kill
him in single combat.

Falstaff marches his foot soldiers toward the battlefield. Their
raggedy appearance shocks Hal, but Falstaff lectures him on the
realities of war.

Sir Walter Blunt arrives at the rebel camp with an offer of pardon
from Henry. Hotspur airs his grievances against Henry, and sends
Blunt back to the royal camp without an answer.

At York, the archbishop is very worried because the king's army
outnumbers the rebels three to one.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT V

Worcester and Henry try to reach a peaceful settlement, and Hal
intervenes to offer himself in single combat to Hotspur, in place of
a full-scale battle. Henry forbids this, and sends Worcester back to
the rebel camp with an ultimatum.

Worcester lies to Hotspur about Henry's peace offer, and the battle
challenge is given. During the battle Henry fights Douglas, and Hal
fights Hotspur. Hal rescues Henry from Douglas, and kills Hotspur.
Falstaff, meanwhile, leads his soldiers into the thickest fighting,
yet he debunks honor, and pretends to fall down dead when challenged
by Douglas. Standing between the bodies of Hotspur, his greatest
rival, and Falstaff, his best friend, Hal praises Hotspur and teases
Falstaff, then walks away. Falstaff jumps up and defends his
seemingly cowardly behavior. Hal returns, amazed to find Falstaff
still alive. Hal allows Falstaff to take credit for killing Hotspur,
a lie on which Falstaff stakes his future reputation.

The king's army wins the battle. Henry orders the executions of the
rebel prisoners, but Hal insists on freeing Douglas. Henry divides
the royal army, proudly giving his son command of one-half. The two
halves split to the north and west, marching away to fight the
remaining rebel leaders.



HENRY IV, PART 1: KING HENRY IV

In order to understand what is troubling King Henry, you should be
familiar with the events surrounding the deposition of Richard, and
Henry's rise to power.

These events will be described four times in Henry IV, Part 1: by
Henry, by Hotspur (twice), and by Worcester. Each account of how and
why Henry became king differs, just as newspapers or history books
today often disagree about a single event.

Shakespeare never makes Henry's motives entirely clear, and Henry is
relatively quiet about them. You don't know if Henry rose to the
throne on a tide of popular opinion that he never anticipated when
he returned from exile, or if he carefully planned the entire
"election," and always meant to steal the crown from his cousin
Richard.

Because Henry's motives aren't clear, you could form two perfectly
feasible, but entirely different, portraits of Henry. You can see
him as Hotspur does: as a "vile politician" who calculated every
move up the ladder of success, and manipulated his friends and his
country into making him king. Or you can see Henry as the
beneficiary of irresistible political forces: a good politician who
knew how to take advantage of opportunity and who understood how to
use power most effectively.

Even though Henry is a usurper, he wants to unite his kingdom and
uphold her laws. He may not be a legal king, but he's a better ruler
than Richard.


HENRY IV, PART 1: PRINCE HAL

Hal is the Prince of Wales, Henry's son and heir. When Henry dies
Hal will inherit the crown, and rule England as King Henry V. But to
his father, Hal doesn't seem like much of an heir. Instead of living
at court and helping his father govern England, Hal carouses in the
taverns of Eastcheap with a band of drunkards and petty thieves.

Like his father, Hal wasn't born to be a king. When he was twelve,
Henry usurped the throne from King Richard, and Hal suddenly found
himself next in line to be king. Immediately after Henry's
coronation Hal moved into the tavern world, to drink and joke with
Falstaff, and to rob for him. Hal tells you early on that he's only
pretending to be dissolute, and intends to stage a stunning
reformation of character that will make him look even better to the
eyes of the unexpecting court. This may sound like an excuse, but
when war breaks out Hal does leave the tavern world, and returns to
the court to fight with his father against the Percies.

Whereas Henry never seems at ease anywhere, Hal is equally at home
in court and tavern. At Shrewsbury he fights like a perfect knight,
with great courage and magnanimity. In the tavern he mingles easily
with the commoners, and even the lowly waiters hail him as the "king
of courtesy." As a nobleman aged about twenty, Hal has been trained
in the arts of chivalry, good manners, and military skills. But he's
still learning the art of being a prince. Some readers believe Hal
goes to the tavern to escape his new serious responsibilities.
Others think that he goes there to adjust to his new role, and learn
something about the lives of the people he will one day have to
govern.

Hal has inherited Henry's flair for politics, as his plan for a
spectacular "reformation" shows. Unlike Henry, Hal will inherit an
untainted crown. The combination of political skill and rightful
claim will make Hal the perfect king.

Most readers judge Hal as a person, not as a king, and find him
lacking on several counts. He's cold and detached from his
companions, whom he vows to banish. He uses people for personal
advantage, whether as part of his self-help course in kingship or
for sheer amusement. He enjoys cruel practical jokes. Honor is a
commodity to Hal, something he must win for his kingly image, not
something he feels is necessary for leading a virtuous life. His
favorite imagery is borrowed from the accounting profession. He
counts men's attributes like coins in a change purse. His behavior
toward people is capricious: One moment he promises them the earth,
the next he cruelly upbraids them.

Other readers sympathize with Hal, recognizing that a prince is
different from other men. We may value spontaneity and warmth in our
friends, but we require sensible planning and a cool head in our
leaders. When asked to join a highway robbery, Hal dispassionately
weighs the pros and cons of the scheme before agreeing to
participate. He learns about vice from Falstaff, but ultimately he
rejects the criminal life as completely as he rejects Hotspur's wild
romanticism. Hal seems more in control of himself than anyone else
in this play. Every other character makes grand promises he doesn't
keep. Hal promises to fight loyally for his father, and he does. He
promises to win honor from Hotspur in battle, and he does. In a
world given to lying and stealing, Hal proves he's no counterfeit,
but a true prince of England.


HENRY IV, PART 1: HOTSPUR

Northumberland's son Hotspur is often seen as the romantic hero of
this play. Many readers respond to him more than to the cool,
enigmatic Hal. Even King Henry wishes Hotspur were his son. The very
embodiment of military courage and virtue, Hotspur is a quick-
tempered, energetic young man whose straightforward approach to life
is both attractive and dangerous.

On one hand, Hotspur is a knight in shining armor whose reckless and
passionate nature makes him more attractive than the calculating,
hypocritical politicians who surround him.

Hotspur is completely dedicated to winning honor, but this blinds
him to many realities. He values honor more than his own life. He's
impatient with anyone who can't understand his devotion to an ideal
of knightly behavior; he ridicules Hal's tavern life, and scoffs at
Glendower's interest in magic. To Hotspur, anything less than
winning honor is a waste of time. Politicians enrage him with their
endless talk and compromises. He dreams of being the greatest knight
on earth, and challenges anyone who claims to be his rival in battle.

Hotspur's thirst for battle is self-destructive; he pursues honor
like an addict. He allows events to give him direction without
stopping to think about the consequences of his actions. Once he's
committed to a cause, nothing and no one can stand in his way.
Northumberland despairs of Hotspur's rash nature, and fears his son
might ruin their plans. He refuses to listen to good counsel, and
his overconfidence blinds him to the guile or weakness of others. He
may love his wife, but he doesn't trust her to keep quiet about the
rebellion plans. At Shrewsbury he refuses to wait for reinforcements
and dies a fanatic's death, as a pawn in Worcester's political game.

King Henry sees Hotspur as a model for Prince Hal. Henry sees
himself in Hotspur--both are rebels against a king, both are
ambitious and capable of leading great political revolutions. But
both Henry and Hotspur fail to see their moral impostures. Falstaff
and Hal alone see through Hotspur's glamorous facade: Hotspur's dead
body is simply a warehouse of honor from which Falstaff can steal a
good military reputation and Hal can steal the honor he requires for
kingship.

Hotspur is called the "king of honor," but can a rebel and a traitor
be a king? His own uncle Worcester accuses him of "apprehending a
world of figures"; is this a man you'd want as a leader of real men?
Hotspur may be heroic, but he's misguided by his family and too
narrow in his thinking. He dashes off on a quest for military glory,
and rushes his country into civil war because of a personal insult.
In this play Shakespeare is trying to define what makes a good king.
Hotspur may be an attractive person, but when we judge his
leadership qualities, he falls short.


HENRY IV, PART 1: FALSTAFF

Sir John Falstaff, knight of the realm and stealer of purses, is an
endless stream of contradictions. You can't sum him up in a capsule
description; he seems to evade categorization as deftly as he evades
Hal's verbal traps. He changes roles and moral postures as easily
and as often as anyone else changes clothes.

He's old and young; fat and limber; cowardly and fearless; sinful
and virtuous. Falstaff is a liar, a drunkard, and a thief--but he's
a brilliant conversationalist, well educated in the Bible and
classical and contemporary Elizabethan literature.

Although clothed in a mountain of fat, Falstaff seems to strip the
world naked, and laughs at the court's pretensions about abstract
ideals like honor and good government. He mocks all the serious
pursuits in the play--honor, law and order, reasonableness, and
justice. He even makes himself look ridiculous, and then asks you to
agree that his view of the world is great fun.

Falstaff's name is a contraction of the words "false staff," which
can mean a cracked or brittle cane, and a misleader. A false leader
is a counterfeit king. Falstaff is King Henry's comical counterpart
who distorts Henry's royal image like the trick mirrors in a
carnival funhouse. Whereas Henry symbolizes authority and civil
order, images of disorder cluster around Falstaff--anarchy, gluttony,
and falseness surround the old knight like dancing figures of the
Seven Deadly Sins.

Falstaff is also a substitute father for Hal. He preaches a kind of
revolutionary politics to the young prince. Falstaff begs Hal to
make thieves respectable, and to abolish capital punishment. He
tries to tempt Hal into committing highway robbery. But Hal refuses
to be corrupted by Falstaff's temptations. He calls Falstaff a
"villainous abominable misleader of youth" and "that old white-
bearded Satan." He banishes Falstaff and his reign of misrule.

Falstaff's view of life is realistic and hard. He sees that friends
are disloyal and money is hard to come by. The reality of war is
that men are killed. It's easier to sin than to pursue the pious
virtues of a devout Christian. These opinions are cynical perhaps,
but Falstaff tempers his harsh view of life with good-natured
enthusiasm. When confronted with adversity, Falstaff understands
that a good hearty laugh is healthier than crippling anxiety, such
as that which plagues humorless King Henry.



HENRY IV, PART 1: SETTING

The setting for the play is England. There are seven scenes in
London and seven scenes at Shrewsbury. There are also two scenes in
Rochester and one each at York, Wales, and Warkworth Castle in
Northumberland. As you can see from a map, the action covers almost
the entire country. You also move through different kinds of social
settings.

In London you spend time at the king's palace and in a tavern in
Eastcheap. You pass along roads leading from Dover to London and
from London to Shrewsbury by way of Coventry. You hear about Henry's
landing at Ravenspur and his meeting with the Percies at Doncaster.
You visit a hotel in Rochester and a mysterious castle in Wales. You
hear about battles along the Scottish and Welsh borders.

England becomes more than a physical setting; it is almost like
another character. You are shown how much her welfare depends on
power and political wisdom. You are shown how important it is for a
king-to-be to know all levels of life in England.

The time period of the play is the early fifteenth century--June
1402 to July 1403 to be exact--but the characters onstage really are
drawn from the late sixteenth century--1596-97, when Shakespeare
wrote the play. Each character has his own sense of time. Hotspur
burns it, Falstaff wastes it, King Henry worries about its passing,
and Prince Hal carefully counts and measures it. This elastic sense
of time is matched by Shakespeare's flexible sense of historical
time in drama; he compresses the events of one year into a timespan
that seems to amount to no more than a few weeks. Some scenes,
especially those at court, are tense and brisk; others, such as the
tavern scenes, roll along easily, taking all the time in the world.


HENRY IV, PART 1: THEMES

Many themes run through Henry IV, Part 1. The following are some of
the most important.

1. A STUDY OF HISTORY

Shakespeare is dramatizing an important and insecure period of
English history, when King Henry IV's reign was plagued by civil
rebellions, and Prince Hal's dissolute behavior brought the safety
of the succession into question. In the 1590s Elizabeth, old and
childless, was in danger of dying without an heir. If the wrong
candidate was chosen, England was bound to erupt into civil war.
Shakespeare turned to King Henry IV's time to examine the issue of
authority and rebellion so crucial for his own age.

2. AUTHORITY AND REBELLION

In Shakespeare's time it was taken for granted that a king had
absolute authority over his country. But if the king does not rule
by hereditary right then political power becomes important--how to
win it and how to use it. The question of how to maintain order also
becomes crucial, because the king's authority may not be accepted by
everyone. When treason threatens the court, all of England is thrown
into doubt and confusion. The very harmony between man and nature
seems to be affected, and brother fights brother in an endless
struggle for power.

3. THE EDUCATION OF A PRINCE

As King Henry V, Hal will be called "the mirror of all Christian
kings." Prince Hal's education in becoming the perfect king is
portrayed in this play. He must steer a course between Hotspur's
virtues and Falstaff's vices, and satisfy the double demands of
royal authority and political power.

4. A PORTRAIT OF ENGLAND

Although the events of the play took place in 1403, the characters
are modeled on Elizabethan men and women. You hear or see a cross-
section of Shakespeare's own society: thieves, prostitutes, ballad-
singers, innkeepers, scolding wives, apprentices, carriers,
merchants, pilgrims, magicians, sheriffs, soldiers, lords, ladies,
and royal princes. You see the Welsh and the Scots as well as the
English. You learn about Elizabethan food and drink and their
prices; you learn about Elizabethan political conferences,
transportation, communications networks, military weapons, and plays.
These all contribute to a rich and lively picture of Elizabethan
daily life.

5. HONOR

The Pursuit of honor is one of the characters' chief motivations.
Hotspur seeks military glory and fame above all else, and recklessly
gives up his life to save his honor. His courage is thrilling, but
his single-mindedness blinds him to the weaknesses of others. Prince
Hal seems to lack honor; he strays from court and robs for sport. He
speaks of honor as a mere commodity. Yet he shows true honor later;
he is valiant in battle and generous toward both friends and enemies.
Falstaff, on the other hand, scoffs at honor itself. He prefers to
live in sin rather than die for honor. But Falstaff doesn't scoff at
the rewards of honor. Like Hotspur, he's ambitious to win titles and
respect. Falstaff, who steals for a living, cheats to win honor at
Shrewsbury. Yet, though his friends call him a coward, his brilliant
wit and expansive view of humanity win him another kind of respect.

These different uses for honor lead you to wonder what honor's
ultimate value really is. People talk a lot about it, but what place
can honor have in a world ruled by a usurper, where a rebel is
called the king of honor?

6. COUNTERFEITING

Trying to decide what's real or counterfeit, true or false, is one
of the major concerns of the play. Characters ask each other, and
you, to decide on the accuracy of news and reports, on different
versions of history, and on the reality of a man's reputation.

The idea of counterfeiting is bound up in the king's usurpation of
the crown--since his claim is dubious, all other claims for
authenticity begin to be doubted. The idea is emphasized in the
imagery of stolen and cracked crowns (both the coins and the symbol
of kingship) that are passed off as being legal and legitimate.

7. FATHERS AND SONS

Throughout the ages fathers have wanted their sons to emulate them,
and sons have displeased their fathers by showing independence of
mind. Each son in this play has two fathers--one natural and one
moral. Henry is Hal's natural father, and Falstaff is Hal's moral
father. Whom shall Hal imitate? The false king or the thieving
knight? Hotspur has two fathers--Northumberland, who scolds
Hotspur's quick temper, and Worcester, who leads him into rebellion
and lies to him to protect his own life. Whom should he follow?
Should the sons imitate their fathers, or are they right to reject
them as models and pursue their own courses of action, no matter
what the consequences may be?


HENRY IV, PART 1: STYLE

The worlds of the court and the tavern speak in different styles:
The court characters use stately verse, and the commoners in the
tavern world use lively prose. Hal, because he spans both worlds, is
the only character to speak in both styles.

Shakespeare's writing style manages to sound realistic in both
Poetry and prose. His characters sound like real people with vivid
imaginations. Shakespeare varies the stresses and sound of the words
and the length of sentences to create different kinds of verbal
music, which gives you an illusion of real speech.


HENRY IV, PART 1: FORM AND STRUCTURE

The structure of the play is episodic; that is, scenes do not follow
one line of action, but alternate from one set of characters to
another. This allows two plots to develop at the same time, with
connections and contrasts between them drawn continually. One plot
concerns the Percies' rebellion against Henry; the second plot
concerns Falstaff's life in the tavern with Prince Hal. The tavern
scenes mirror the court scenes: Whatever happens in one plot,
happens in the other but on a different scale.

Individual characters, too, are contrasted in pairs. Hotspur and
Falstaff, Henry and Hal, Henry and Falstaff, Hal and Hotspur,
Worcester and Falstaff, are the most important character contrasts.
They parody each other and thus you can see how they see each other.
Hal parodies Hotspur and Henry; Hotspur parodies Henry, Glendower,
and the king's messenger; Falstaff parodies Henry and a host of
other men.


HENRY IV, PART 1: SOURCES AND ROYAL LINEAGE

The outline of the historical events in the play may be found in
Raphael Holinshed's 1587 edition of The Chronicles of England,
Scotland, and Ireland (first published in 1577). This massive
compilation of fact, legend, hearsay, and moralizing was a popular
Elizabethan source for England's history from its beginnings to the
middle of the sixteenth century. In his account of Henry IV's reign,
Holinshed stresses the difficulties Henry had trying to govern the
kingdom as a usurper. Shakespeare rearranged the sequence of some of
the incidents to give them more dramatic impact.

Shakespeare also turned to Samuel Daniel's epic-length poem, The
First Four Books of the Civil Wars Between the Two Houses of
Lancaster and York (published in 1595). Daniel unified Holinshed's
rambling account of the Percy rebellion, emphasizing the immoral
basis of King Henry's reign. Shakespeare followed Daniel in changing
Hal's and Hotspur's ages so that both men are young. (The real Hal
was 16 when Hotspur was 36.) Daniel also gave Shakespeare precedent
for having Hal kill Hotspur at Shrewsbury. (There's no historical
evidence that it happened that way.)

Stories about Prince Hal's wild youth began to circulate shortly
after his death. An anonymous play called The Famous Victories of
King Henry V, which was most likely written before 1588, was
published in 1598. There Shakespeare probably found his models for
Hal's tavern companions, the highway robbery, the tavern play, and
Henry's concern over his dissolute son.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ELIZABETHAN ENGLISH

All languages change. Differences are apparent even between parents
and their children. If language can change in only one generation,
imagine how different the English used by Shakespeare some four
hundred years ago will be from the English you use today. The
following information on Shakespeare's language will make it easier
for you to understand Henry IV, Part 1.

Adjectives, nouns, and verbs were less rigidly confined to
grammatical roles in Shakespeare's day. Verbs could be used as
adjectives, such as christen, for which you would today say
"Christian," as in "...and can call them all by their christen names,
/ as Tom, Dick, and Francis" (II, iv, 7-8). Adjectives could be used
as adverbs. In "Here is a dear, a true industrious friend" (I, i, 63)
, true means "truly" or "loyally." Grievous is used for "grievously"
in "He cannot come, my lord, he is grievous sick" (IV, i, 17).

Wordplay often involved the use of a word from two parts of speech.
For example, Falstaff uses cold as a verb meaning "trick," and colt
meaning "horse" is used as a verb by Prince Hal:

Falstaff: What a plague mean ye to colt me thus?
Prince: Thou liest; thou art not colted, thou art uncolted.
(II, ii, 37-39)

The meanings of words undergo changes; chip extended its meaning
from a small piece of wood to a small piece of silicon, for example.
Many of the words in Shakespeare still exist today, but their
meanings have changed. The change may be small, as in the case of
suddenly meaning "at once" or "immediately," in: "Well, I'll repent,
and that suddenly, while I am in some liking..." (III, iii, 5-6). Or
the change can be important. Doubt means "strongly suspect" or "fear,
" starve means "die," trick means "characteristic," wanton means
"luxuriant," and advertisement means "information."

Words not only change their meanings, they are frequently discarded
from the language altogether. In the past leman meant "sweetheart"
and sooth meant "truth." The following are some of the words used in
Henry IV that are no longer in current English (you can usually
figure them out from their contexts):

MINION  (I, i, 85): darling

SACK  (I, ii, 3): wine

LEAPING HOUSES  (I, ii, 9): brothels

QUIDDITIES  (I, ii, 46): quibbles

GIB-CAT  (I, ii, 76): castrated tomcat

COZENING  (I, ii, 114): cheating

HARDIMENT  (I, iii, 103): valor, courage

CORRIVAL  (I, iii, 217): associate, partner

BOTS  (II, i, 9): intestinal worms

JORDAN  (II, i, 19): chamberpot

FRANKLIN  (II, i, 54): man with freehold land

SQUIRE  (II, ii, 13): measure, measuring instrument

COLT  (II, ii, 38): trick

MANAGE  (II, iii, 50): horsemanship

HEST  (II, iii, 63): command

MAMMETS  (II, iii, 97): puppets

SKINKER  (II, iv, 24): one who draws wine, bartender

NETHERSTOCKS  (II, iv, 117): stockings

BOMBAST  (II, iv, 331): cotton stuffing

BOMBARD  (II, iv, 457): wine vessel

CRESSETS  (III, i, 16): beacons

BOOTLESS  (III, i, 74): unsuccessful

CATES  (III, i, 175): delicacies

BATE  (III, iii, 2): lose weight

ANCIENTS  (IV, ii, 24): ensigns

OWE  (V, ii, 77): own

Shakespearean verb forms differ from modern usage in two main ways.
Questions and negatives could be formed without using do or did, as
when Hotspur asks his wife in Act II, Scene iii, line 100: "What
sayest thou, Kate?" where today you would say: "What do you say,
Kate?" In the same speech Hotspur tells her: "I love thee not; / I
care not for thee, Kate" (94-96) where instead you would say: "I
don't love you; I don't care for you."

A number of past participles and past tense forms that were used
then are considered ungrammatical today. Among them are holp for
"helped": "...which our own hands Have holp to make so portly" (I,
iii, 12-13); set for "seated":

Prince: Well, here I am set.
Falstaff: And here I stand.
(II, iv, 444-45)

and forgot for "forgotten": "If that the king / Have any way your
good deserts forgot" (IV, iii, 52-53).

Shakespeare and his contemporaries had the extra pronoun thou, which
was used to address a person who was one's equal or social inferior.
Frequently, a person in power used thou to a child or subordinate,
but was addressed you in return. For example, in Act II, Scene iii,
lines 78-79, when Lady Percy speaks to Hotspur:

Lady Percy: But hear you, my lord.
Hotspur: What sayest thou, my lady?

You was obligatory if more than one person was being addressed: "I
know you all, and will awhile uphold / The unyoked humor of your
idleness." (I, ii, 200-201). It could also be used to indicate
respect, as in Act I, Scene iii, line 24, when the Earl of
Northumberland addresses the king: "Those prisoners in your
Highness' name demanded...."

There is one more pronominal reference that you should know about.
King Henry uses the royal we to stress his sovereignty, as in "Then
this remains, that we divide our power." (V, v, 35).

Prepositions were less standardized in Elizabethan English than they
are today. You'll find several uses in Henry IV that you would have
to modify in your contemporary speech. Among them are on for "to,"
in "the victory fell on us"; with for "by," in "Thence to be
wrenched with an unlineal hand"; of for "from," in "For of no right,
nor color like to right"; and on for "of," in "enamored on his
follies."

Contemporary English allows only one negative per statement. If you
said, "I haven't none" you would be considered ungrammatical. But
Shakespeare often used two or more negatives for emphasis, as in Act
III, Scene i, line 127, when Glendower tells Hotspur: "No, nor you
shall not" and in Act III, Scene iii, lines 115-117, when Falstaff
tells the hostess: "There's no more faith in thee than in a stewed
prune, / nor no more truth in thee than in a drawn fox."

Don't worry if all this seems confusing. Most of the language is
clear as you read the play, and almost every edition includes a
glossary.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT I, SCENE I

In this scene at court you see King Henry's policies being
frustrated and his authority snubbed; you witness his despair over
Prince Hal and his admiration for Hotspur.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-33

In the palace in London, King Henry meets with his lord counselors
to discuss the current political crisis.

The country is obviously torn up by internal fighting for power.
Henry describes this, feelingly, for his counselors. He wants to
establish peace and order in the kingdom, to have his subjects
"march all one way," but instead there's war and uncertainty. He
explains that he is going to take the warring nobles on a crusade to
the Holy Land, to stop them from fighting at home.

NOTE: Crusades were medieval religious wars fought by European
Christians against Muslims in the Holy Land. The men who went on the
crusades hoped to win salvation, honor, or riches during the long
campaigns. By the sixteenth century crusades were also used by kings
as a strategy to divert attention from domestic trouble, by focusing
their subjects' attention on foreign problems.

The struggle to achieve his political aims is apparently wearing out
Henry. He's "shaken" and "wan," anxious and tired when you first see
him. Shakespeare doesn't tell you why the king is under such a great
strain, but his original audience would already have known the
causes of the civil uprisings as well as you know the causes of the
American Civil War. King Henry IV is a usurper--a criminal, a thief
who stole the crown. Henry and his supporters forced the rightful
king of England, Richard II, to resign his crown only one year
before this play begins. The civil rebellions may simply be a fight
for political power, such as accompanies any change in leadership.

Shakespeare's audience would have believed that God is punishing
Henry by bringing anarchy and rebellion to England. No matter how
good a ruler Henry might be, only two things will bring peace to
England: 1. Henry can pay for his sin by going on a crusade to
Jerusalem; or 2. he can hold onto the crown long enough to pass it
on to his son, Prince Hal. But the domestic crisis in England is
keeping him from going to Jerusalem. Soon you will find out what the
problem is with his son.

NOTE: Throughout the play images of violence, disorder, and disease
will appear. They're signs that Henry hasn't been forgiven yet.
Shakespeare won't let you forget Henry's unpaid-for crime.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 34-62

Westmoreland, the king's chief counselor, steps forward to report on
a meeting that took place the previous night. We were discussing the
crusade, Westmoreland says cautiously when a messenger from the west
suddenly burst into the room with grave news: Lord Mortimer had lost
a battle in Wales against the "irregular and wild" Owen Glendower,
and Mortimer was taken prisoner.

Henry immediately cancels the crusade. Will it ever take place? You
will see his anxiety turn into frustration and then rage.

Westmoreland has even more unwelcome news: another messenger had
brought word that young Harry Percy, "Hotspur," was fighting a
bloody battle in the north; its outcome was still unknown.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 63-76

Henry gestures to a travel-stained lord, Sir Walter Blunt, who has
just brought the king an updated report: Hotspur won the battle,
taking several Scottish lords prisoner. "And is not this an
honorable spoil? / A gallant prize?" Henry eagerly asks Westmoreland
(obviously Henry admires Hotspur). Westmoreland agrees that it's a
victory worthy of a prince.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 77-110

The news of Hotspur's victory then makes the king turn sad, because
his own son wasn't there. Hotspur, Henry says, is "the theme of
honor's tongue," while Prince Hal's reputation is stained with "riot
and dishonor." Henry doesn't have only political rebellion to worry
about--his own son rebels against him. Henry wishes Hotspur and Hal
could exchange places, so that Hotspur would be the next king of
England.

But Henry is as angry with Hotspur as he is proud of him. Hotspur
disobeyed a direct order to send his prisoners to the king. He
writes that he'll send Henry only one prisoner, who happens to be of
royal blood. Westmoreland suggests that Hotspur's uncle Worcester
may be responsible for this disobedience, because Worcester is
"malevolent to you in all aspects."

Hotspur is, after all, behaving according to the law of arms, but
Henry is reacting as though his authority has been flouted.

NOTE: The law of arms stated that the victor in a battle could keep
all prisoners of war, except for prisoners of royal blood; these had
to be sent to the king.

Henry impatiently dismisses his counselors, having ordered Hotspur
to court to explain his behavior. This incident with the Scottish
prisoners has now set up a conflict between King Henry and Hotspur's
family, the Percies. Watch for it to flare up soon.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT I, SCENE II

In this scene set in Prince Hal's apartment in London, Falstaff and
Hal talk about crime and punishment, and a robbery is planned.
Remember, this is the world Hal comes to to escape from life in his
father's court. You've heard about Hal's bad reputation; compare
that with how he appears in person. You'll also now meet his
favorite companion, Sir John Falstaff.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-73

Many stage directors begin this scene with Falstaff asleep, snoring
loudly, showing you a vivid emblem of sloth, the vice of idleness.
How unlike our first glimpse of King Henry! The king was tired and
anxious, but awake, making speeches and political decisions. The
sleeping Falstaff, belly spilling over his belt, is the very image
of good health and irresponsibility.

Hal wakes up Falstaff. "Now, Hal," the old knight bellows, "what
time of day is it, lad?" The prince hoots with laughter. Why should
you want to know the time, he asks Falstaff, when you spend all of
it in a drunken oblivion, aroused only by more wine, women, and the
chance of stealing more wallets?

NOTE: Look at the images of time in Scene 1--the sense of urgency,
the racing messengers, the rapidly dated news bulletins. Time is a
precious commodity at court. But now here's Falstaff, gloriously
wasting time. This is just one of many ways he rejects the
conventions of law and order.

Now thoroughly awakened by Hal's scolding, Falstaff daydreams about
his lucky future, when his friend Prince Hal will be King Henry V of
England. Falstaff cheerfully admits that, at present, he's a thief,
with a bad reputation and even worse prospects--the gallows. (In
Shakespeare's time the penalty for stealing was hanging.) "Will you
make thieves respectable when you are king?" wonders Falstaff. Hal
promises to raise Falstaff's social status--as high as the hangman's
noose. "Do thou not," Falstaff begs, "when thou art King, hang a
thief." Hal promises to make Falstaff his chief hangman.

Falstaff hopes Hal will behave on the throne of England the same way
he behaves in the tavern. King Henry, you know, also thinks Hal will
behave that way--that's why he's so worried about Hal. But maybe
they're selling him short. Does Hal say anything in this scene that
implies that he will disregard justice? Every time Falstaff asks him
to allow criminals to escape punishment, Hal upholds English law,
and intends to go on hanging thieves.

Falstaff never lets Hal forget that one day he will rule England.
Phrases like "when thou art king" and "were it not here apparent
that thou art heir apparent" must irritate Hal. They're reminders
that Hal can't spend all his life in the tavern, unless he's willing
to disregard the responsibilities of kingship. You've just seen how
weighty his father's responsibilities are. Now Shakespeare makes you
curious to see whether Hal will be able to bear the burden when his
time comes.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 74-107

Falstaff becomes depressed, convinced he can never escape hanging.
He puts on a mock-religious attitude, acting like a Puritan, and
solemnly promises to repent his evil ways. Hal, Falstaff announces
sternly, you have corrupted me. Before I knew you, I was virtuous.
But now I am wicked, and I must reform.

Throughout the play, whenever he becomes depressed Falstaff will
look into his past and see only virtue and slenderness. He dislikes
the present, with its fears and poverty. He's afraid of the gallows,
of the hard realities of his life, and so he escapes into fantasy.
He idealizes his own past.

Although Falstaff's claim that the young prince corrupted him is
preposterous, Hal doesn't get angry. He cleverly uses Falstaff's own
words to trap him. "Where shall we take a purse tomorrow?" Hal slyly
suggests. Falstaff instantly leaps to the bait. The prince rocks
with laughter: "I see a good amendment of life in thee," he cries,
"from praying to purse-taking." Insulted, Falstaff defends himself.
He argues that because thieving is his true calling in life, it
isn't a sin for him to steal wallets.

Why, then, did Falstaff swear he must repent and give up his current
life-style? Falstaff's bad debts to innkeepers and prostitutes are a
continual reminder that he's failed to make money from his vocation.
He thinks repentance might make him rich; but then again, so might a
stolen wallet, fat with gold!

NOTE: Compare this to King Henry's situation for a moment. In taking
the crown from King Richard II, Henry committed a criminal act, a
sin. Now he feels sorry about it and wants to repent. He thinks the
crusade will wash away his sin. But if you apply Falstaff's logic to
Henry's situation, then the deposition wasn't illegal or sinful.
Henry simply followed his vocation as a good politician by governing
England. Why, then, does he feel such a compelling need to repent?
Perhaps Henry isn't truly living up to his vocation. The continual
uprisings and lawbreaking in the country are a constant reminder to
Henry that he's not doing his job adequately. The nobles' rebellion,
about to start in Scene 3, is kindled by Henry's failure to pay back
his debts to his former supporters.

Now think about Prince Hal. He and Falstaff joke easily, but Hal
never forgets to remind Falstaff how many times he's paid for
Falstaff's entertainments.  Hal is generous to his friends, you
discover, but he also makes sure they don't abuse his generosity.

Falstaff is a mirror for both Henry and Hal. Shakespeare is holding
up that mirror, asking you to look into it. But he doesn't tell you
how to judge what you're seeing--he only wants you to notice how
complex life is. There are no simple explanations for people's
behavior in a good play--or in life.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 108-162

A thief named Poins enters, and tells Hal and "Monsieur Remorse"
(Poins has obviously heard Falstaff's repentance act before) of a
plot to rob merchants passing by Gad's Hill (a crossroads thirty
miles from London) in the morning. He promises to fill their pockets
full of crowns.

NOTE: A "crown" is an Elizabethan gold coin; it's also the symbol of
kingship. Shakespeare puns on this double meaning throughout the
play.

Falstaff joins Poins' plot eagerly, but Hal refuses--"Who, I rob? I
a thief? Not I, by my faith." Falstaff dares him to, on pain of
dishonor. Hal refuses. Falstaff threatens to become a traitor when
Hal is king. "I care not," replies Hal. Falstaff tries to awaken
Hal's honor and loyalty, but Hal doesn't seem tempted by such lofty
ideals. This sets him in contrast to Hotspur, who, you've been told,
is "the theme of honor's tongue."

This is the first time that the issue of how Hal will treat Falstaff
later is brought up. Notice that although Hal gives Falstaff
specific answers, Falstaff never takes Hal's warnings seriously.

Poins promises Falstaff to convince Hal to join the plot, and
Falstaff goes cheerfully off to get drunk.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 163-199

Poins has a trick planned, designed to make a fool of Falstaff, but
he needs Hal's help to make it work. They'll disguise themselves and
rob the robbers. Hal considers the plan coolly. What if they
recognize us? he asks. Poins says he has special suits for disguises.
What if they fight back? wonders Hal. Poins reassures him: Don't
worry, they're all cowards. Bardolph, Peto, and Gadshill (the
members of the thieving gang) will run away, and Falstaff will fight
only as long as he thinks he has to. Hal finally agrees to this plan,
and arranges to meet Poins the next day. Poins leaves.

NOTE: What are you to think of a Prince of Wales who steals money,
even for fun? Readers have suggested several possible motives: 1.
Hal wants to make a fool of Falstaff; 2. Falstaff, a robber himself
couldn't report the robbery, so Hal would be safe from recrimination
from the court, and from scandal; 3. stealing from a thief is more
like a form of rough justice, than like a real crime; or 4. Hal is
acting out a family pattern of stealing crowns. Notice that Hal
needed only a little reassurance that he wouldn't get caught (like
Henry's getting popular support for his usurpation) in order to turn
thief.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 200-222

Alone, Hal switches from prose to courtly verse. He tells you a
secret: His "loose behavior" is only a disguise. He has deliberately
earned a bad reputation for himself, but he has his reformation
planned. He shrewdly realizes that if he counterfeits villainy now,
he'll look even better when his true self shines through.

NOTE: Hal's sudden revelation has bothered many readers. They think
he's being coldhearted and calculating, disloyal to his friends.
(These readers often think the same about King Henry!) Other readers
see Hal more heroically, as a true student of kingship, who
understands that he must put some distance between himself and his
surroundings in order to observe them, to learn about the people and
country he'll one day have to govern. Think about how modern
politicians emphasize any experiences that prove they are truly "of
the people." Even though Hal doesn't have to be elected to his job,
he still seems to understand instinctively how to gain popular
support.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT I, SCENE III

In Act I, Scene i, you saw King Henry consulting with his loyal
advisers. Now you see him quarreling with his most troublesome
subjects, the Percies. They have met to discuss Hotspur's refusal to
surrender his Scottish prisoners.

NOTE: The Percies (Northumberland, Worcester, and Hotspur) were
Henry's first and greatest supporters in his campaign against King
Richard II. Because Henry was penniless when he returned from exile,
he offered to repay the Percies for their help with power when he
became king. So far Henry hasn't paid back his debts to the Percies,
and they've decided that Henry never intended to. They see him as a
scheming politician, using his friends and then casting them away
when they're no longer useful.

The quarrel in this scene takes the form of three deliberate
challenges to Henry's authority. Obviously, the Percies are up to
something. The only Percy not involved in the conspiracy at this
point is Hotspur--he's the innocent bait for Henry.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-21

Henry is threatening to use his royal power against the Percies if
they continue to disobey him. Worcester reminds Henry that the
Percies gave him the very power he's now trying to use against them.
Henry doesn't want to be reminded of this, however, and banishes
Worcester from the court.

Notice how Henry's opening lines (lines 1-9) echo Hal's closing
words in the previous scene. Hal promised that he will "imitate the
sun"; Henry is promising to act like a royal lion, "Mighty and to be
feared." Hal will lawfully inherit the crown, and so he has a right
to use royal imagery. Henry, on the other hand, was placed on the
throne with the Percies' help, and Worcester is here questioning
Henry's right to use royal authority.

Worcester's image of making Henry "portly" with power may remind you
of Falstaff's "portly" body. Henry's crown gives him stature and
makes him a figure of authority; Falstaff's belly makes him
physically imposing but also a figure of fun.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 21-78

The quarrel resumes over whether or not Hotspur intended to send his
Scottish prisoners to Henry. Northumberland defends Hotspur's
disobedience by insisting that exaggerated rumors were spread by his
detractors. Hotspur blames the king's messenger for bringing him a
false report.

Once again you're being asked to question the accuracy of news and
reputations. The Percies are using unverifiable reports as a way to
challenge Henry's authority. Hotspur's speech about the messenger
(lines 30-71) offers a good example of their strategy.

Hotspur reconstructs the end of the Scottish battle. He says he was
bleeding and exhausted, leaning on his sword to keep from collapsing,
when the neatly dressed messenger rode up. The messenger was bathed
in perfume to cover up the nauseating smell of the dead bodies, and
chattered about the unpleasantness of war. This "popinjay" (parrot)
lord made Hotspur so impatient and angry

To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet,
And talk so like a waiting gentlewoman
Of guns and drums and wounds

that Hotspur could only answer the cowardly lord's questions
"neglectingly" and "indirectly."

Henry's loyal follower, Sir Walter Blunt, is embarrassed by this
description and suggests that Henry might be better off if he forgot
the entire incident. After what you've seen of Henry's character,
it's hard to believe he'd send such a prissy lord as his
representative to a battlefield. Could the story have been made up?

Nothing Hotspur says sounds rehearsed: The images flow from his
memory on a flood of indignation. But perhaps Worcester invented
this story in order to discredit Henry's image.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 79-128

All through this scene Henry has been cold and angry, or scared. Now
you discover why he's reacting so badly to the Percies--they're
forcing him to make a bargain over the Scottish prisoners, which is
a great insult to his royal status. They've made Henry an offer they
know he can't possibly agree to: Hotspur will yield his prisoners
only if Henry agrees to pay Glendower to free Mortimer. Glendower,
however, is one of Henry's greatest enemies, and Henry has no reason
to want to save Mortimer (who is King Richard's designated heir). To
make matters worse, Mortimer has married Glendower's daughter, and
Hotspur is married to Mortimer's sister.

Henry believes that Mortimer is a traitor, and purposely lost the
battle in Wales to Glendower. He flatly refuses the Percies'
proposal. "Shall we buy treason?" the king asks in disbelief.
Hotspur bursts out in a passionate defense of Mortimer's military
prowess and accuses Henry of slander.

Henry turns white with fury and calls Hotspur a liar. He issues a
curt order for Hotspur to deliver his prisoners immediately, and
rushes from the room. Is this the behavior of a slick politician--
getting in the final word before slamming the door politely--or of a
man driven into a corner, having no place else to run? The part
probably could be played either way. Continue to study Henry's words
and actions, to decide how you'd play it.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 129-151

Hotspur reacts to Henry's insult like a spoiled child being
punished: "An if the Devil come and roar for them, / I will not send
them." Northumberland restrains his hot-headed son from rushing
after the king to deliver this message in person.

Typically, Hotspur overreacts to insult by going to extremes. He
swears he'll start a campaign to overthrow Henry--"this unthankful
King"--and place Mortimer on the throne. He's willing to overthrow
the government to save a personal code of honor. Think about people
you know who behave like Hotspur in an argument. Would you trust
them in leadership roles?

Now that Henry is gone, Worcester baits Hotspur into joining a
conspiracy to rebel against the king. He and Northumberland have
already planned this coup. The first part of their scheme was to
alienate Hotspur and Henry. So far their plan has worked perfectly.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 152-196

Worcester (who returned after the king left) tells Hotspur that
Mortimer is Richard's designated heir. Hotspur idealizes Richard,
calling him a "sweet lovely rose" whereas Henry is a "thorn" in
their sides. Hotspur's romanticism of Richard's reign is similar to
Falstaff's idealization of youth. Hotspur doesn't notice the irony
of idealizing Richard; the Percies rebelled against Richard to place
Henry on the throne.

Worcester plays upon Hotspur's most vulnerable feature, his sense of
honor. Worcester reminds Hotspur that their family has been blamed
for Richard's death--not Henry. As a result, their family honor has
been badly tarnished.

Hotspur fumes at this rankling thought. He calls his relatives
hangmen, and scoffs at them for being "fooled, discarded, and shook
off" by Henry since the deposition. (Remember that Hal has offered
to make Falstaff his royal hangman. Will he turn his back on
Falstaff as Henry seems to have turned his back on the Percies?)
Hotspur urges his family to restore their "banished honors" before
Henry has time to get them out of his way.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 197-218

Worcester tells Hotspur that he has some deep and dangerous matters
to discuss. Hotspur can't resist--danger and honor are his vocation.

Hotspur's imagination becomes inflamed thinking of the honor to be
won by rebelling against Henry. He sees himself grappling with honor
and danger, diving to the bottom of the sea or leaping to the moon
to rescue "bright honor." These images are your first real
indications that Hotspur's honor is his goddess, to whom he's
totally committed. The language is energetic, with extremely
physical images. Hotspur seems to draw his power from the very idea
of honor.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 219-270

Worcester and Northumberland have a hard time quieting Hotspur long
enough to reveal their conspiracy plan. His father calls him a "wasp-
stung and impatient fool," and many readers find this restless
intensity one of Hotspur's most attractive features. It's certainly
the one that causes him the most trouble. Northumberland fears that
Hotspur will destroy their careful planning.

Hotspur calls Henry a "vile politician" and a "king of smiles." It
shows how much he dislikes court politics, where calculation and
cunning govern men's lives. Even today you hear political candidates
claim that they hate playing the games that professional politicians
play. Do you think it's possible for idealists to succeed in
politics?


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 271-320

Hotspur finally agrees to listen to his uncle's plan. The Percies
are going to join forces with Glendower, Mortimer, the Archbishop of
York, and Douglas (the Scottish general whom Hotspur just defeated).
They'll wait for the right opportunity and then strike against the
king.

Hotspur is sure it will be a noble plot because of the caliber of
the conspirators. He's willing to abide by the decisions of others,
unlike Hal, who cautiously questioned each detail of the plot Poins
proposed to him. Hotspur may be rebelling for honor, but notice that
the elder Percies aren't concerned about redeeming their honor--
they're more afraid that Henry will kill them, partly so he won't
have to be reminded of how he came to wear the crown, and partly so
he won't have to share his power with them. The Percies' rebellion,
then, is motivated by fear and a desire for honor; it has nothing to
do with politics or the good of England.

The Percies are a very tightly knit family. They're tightening a
knot around Henry's crown, like a noose. Hotspur can barely wait for
the royal "sport" to begin.

NOTE: Notice how the balance of justice has just swung into reverse,
against Henry. Readers tend to find three different explanations for
the Percy uprising:

1. Shakespeare's audience would have said that it was part of
Henry's due punishment for deposing and murdering a rightful king.
He's being punished with a copy of his own crime, and nothing he can
do will stop it. Peace and order will return to England only when a
rightful king wears the crown once more.

2. Some readers take a broad philosophical view and say that the
rebellion is an inevitable consequence of the deposition, because
history always repeats itself.

3. Others say that the rebellion resulted from the one major flaw in
Henry's political campaign to become king: He depended on powerful
lords and made them promises he never intended to keep. If you look
at the Percies' motives, their conspiracy becomes a selfish bid for
power by a group of dissatisfied lords who just want to share the
power they helped to create. It has nothing to do with justice.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT II, SCENE I

In this scene two carriers talk about the condition of England, and
two thieves prepare the robbery at Gad's Hill.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-47

Act I closed with Hotspur's rousing cry for action. As Act II opens
a scruffy fellow is yawning and peering through the darkness with a
lantern. It's sometime between two and four o'clock in the morning,
in the stableyard of a hotel near Gad's Hill. Two carriers
(deliverymen) are preparing to take men and goods to London. One
carrier calls for the stable boy to help them. The stable boy calls
back, "Anon, anon!" but he never appears. The two carriers complain
about how badly the hotel has run down since its previous owner died.

2. Car.: This house is turned upside down since
Robin Ostler died.
1. Car.: Poor fellow never joyed since the price
of oats rose. It was the death of him.

NOTE: This scene seems to have little to do with Shakespeare's plot,
but if you listen closely to the carriers' conversation you'll
realize that the domestic disorder of the "house" (hotel) mirrors
the political and social disorder of Henry's England, and the two
"houses" that are trying to govern England--the king's family and
the Percies. It also shows that the troubles at the head of the
kingdom have trickled down to affect every level of society.

The hotel rooms stink and are infested with fleas that sting the
guests. England, too, is infested--with thieves and traitors. The
rebels feel stung by Henry's policies (see Act I, Scene iii, lines
245-246).

Robin Ostler died of poverty after prices rose. King Richard died
partly because he overtaxed his subjects.

Notice the images of commerce and speed in this scene. At the hotel
there are horses to harness, guests to awaken, journeys to take,
business deals to make, and accounts to settle. Think about Henry's
urgency to go on a crusade, to settle his account with God. The
Percies have horses to spur, men to awaken to their cause, and debts
to square with King Henry and Prince Hal.

Gadshill, a member of Poins' gang, enters the scene and tries to
trick the carriers into giving him the lantern. The trick fails, but
Gadshill succeeds in finding out that they're going to London that
day, by way of Gad's Hill. Gadshill calls for the chamberlain (room
attendant), who appears as the carriers depart.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 48-97

You discover that the chamberlain is an informer who relays
information to Gadshill about the hotel guests--who they are, where
they're going, and how much money they are carrying.

Notice how the chamberlain's speedy entrance contrasts with the
stable boy's reluctance to help the carriers with their horses. It
almost seems that only thieves can command attention and respect in
Henry's England. The honest, hardworking carriers are ignored by the
hotel servants; the hotel guests are tricked and set up to be robbed
by the thieves. This is another example of the disorder afflicting
England.

Much of the dialogue in this scene is difficult to follow because
it's written in Elizabethan slang. Basically, Gadshill is making a
comparison between two kinds of thieves: those who rob for "sport"
(like Prince Hal, and perhaps Hotspur), and those who rob for a
living and prey on the commonwealth (like Falstaff and the rebels).
Then Gadshill changes his mind and decides that all thieves are
alike. Keep that in mind as you watch Hal taking part in the Gad's
Hill robbery.

Gadshill promises as a "true man" to pay the chamberlain for his
information out of the robbery spoils. But the chamberlain would
rather seal the bargain as a "false thief," because the word of
honor of a thief is traditionally supposed to be stronger than the
promises of honest men.

NOTE: Here the opposition between "true man" and "false thief"
echoes King Henry's broken promises to the Percies. A thief is by
definition a dishonest man; his intentions may be questioned, as
well as his loyalty. Gadshill is lying when he says he's a "true
man" because he's a thief. The chamberlain wishes him to swear
truthfully, as he is a "false thief." King Henry is a thief who
claims to be a true king, and he was disloyal to both King Richard
and the Percies.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT II, SCENE II

The robberies committed in this scene are the tavern world's moral
counterpart to the rebellions at court. Both Falstaff and Hotspur
try to steal "crowns" and fail. Hal successfully steals "crowns,"
just as his father succeeded in stealing Richard's "crown."

It's four o'clock in the morning and robbery is being committed at
Gad's Hill. Remember that Hal agreed to participate only because he
and Poins intend to play a practical joke on Falstaff, by robbing
him of the stolen money. The double robbery gives you a chance to
examine the definitions of honor and cowardice in the play: Is it
nobler to fight a battle until the bitter end, or to run away when
you realize you're overpowered and bound to lose? This will become
an important issue during the battle of Shrewsbury in Act V.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-46

You've already heard Poins predict, in Act I, Scene ii, that
Falstaff will behave like a coward during the robbery. If Falstaff
fights "longer than he sees reason, I'll forswear arms," Poins
declared then, implying that a man is honorable only if he fights
until the battle's end, regardless of who is winning. But there's
another point of view, which says that honor is one thing, but
saving your life is another, and it's better to live in dishonor
than die for the sake of a good reputation.

NOTE: For centuries readers have been arguing over whether or not
Falstaff behaves like a coward in this scene. Some readers see the
fat knight quivering with fear and roaring for mercy as he runs away
from the buckram-suited robbers, and call him an absolute coward.
Other readers are more sympathetic to Falstaff, and see him
struggling to maintain his dignity in the face of what he sees as
grave danger--he's willing to lose the stolen money but not his life.
Look at the evidence for both sides of this argument, and decide for
yourself.

As the scene begins, Poins and Hal seem determined to get as many
laughs as possible at Falstaff's expense. They hide his horse, and
then hide themselves to watch the "fat-kidneyed rascal" struggle
uphill on foot. When Falstaff enters, he's cursing Poins and Hal for
removing his horse:

Eight yards of uneven ground is threescore and
ten miles afoot with me, and the stony-hearted
villains know it well enough. A plague upon it
when thieves cannot be true one to another!

Some readers see Falstaff's speech as positive proof that he's
terrified of being alone in the middle of the night, and he insults
his friends only to give himself confidence. The longer he's left
alone, the more frantic his calls for help and oaths against Poins
become. When Hal finally appears, Falstaff covers up his fear with
jokes.

Falstaff's defenders point out that the old knight would be too
terrified to speak if he were really afraid. Having guessed that
Poins hid his horse, Falstaff is merely angry and disheartened to
discover that his best friends aren't loyal to him or mindful of his
old age and obesity. Any fear Falstaff might show is natural, a
simple instinct for self-preservation. After all, who wouldn't be
nervous, stranded on a dangerous, unlit road famous for highway
robbery? When Hal appears, Falstaff firmly demands an explanation
for the prank, insults the prince, and jokes about his weight. A
true coward wouldn't have the self-possession to recover that
quickly.

Notice that Falstaff is deserted by his friends just before the
robbery. King Henry has just been deserted by his former allies, the
Percies. Perhaps Hotspur would do well to place less faith in his co-
conspirators, in such a world of shaky loyalties.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 48-78

Gadshill arrives and warns the thieves that the travelers are
approaching. They put on disguises, take their battle positions, and
wait. Peto wonders how many travelers they'll be up against.

Gadshill: Some eight or ten.
Falstaff: Zounds, will they not rob us?
Prince: What, a coward, Sir John Paunch?
Falstaff: Indeed, I am not John of Gaunt,
your grandfather, but yet no coward...

Falstaff's detractors refer to literary tradition to support their
view of Falstaff as a coward. One literary device used in comedy,
they say, is that any character who claims he's not a coward is soon
proved to be one. There's no reason to think that Falstaff is any
different.

Falstaff's defenders remember that he's an old military captain who
would be practical and weigh the odds of winning a battle when his
troops are outnumbered. This shows Falstaff to be a cautious leader,
concerned for his troops' safety. Keep this feature in mind when you
see the real battle in Act V.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 79-91

Poins and Hal hide and put on their disguises. The travelers arrive
meanwhile, and the rest of the thieves rob them. What does Falstaff
do?

Some readers imagine Falstaff standing cowardly on the sidelines,
shouting encouragement to the real thieves and insults to their
victims. They say he doesn't actually take part in the robbery.

Other readers point to Shakespeare's stage direction in the text,
which simply says, "Here they rob them and bind them." There's no
indication that Falstaff lets his friends do all the work. They say
he participates in the robbery along with Bardolph, Peto, and
Gadshill.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 92-110

The thieves divide their loot. Falstaff accuses Hal and Poins, who
he thinks have slipped away, of being cowards. Then Hal and Poins
(disguised) emerge from hiding and attack the thieves. All but
Falstaff run away at once; Falstaff strikes a few blows and then
runs away, leaving the money on the ground.

Poins' prediction has come true. But is this proof that Falstaff is
a coward? Hal announces, just in case anyone missed the point, that
the thieves "are all scattered and possessed with fear." Poins
shakes his head and laughs at Falstaff, "How the fat rogue roared!"
You have to admit that Falstaff certainly seems to be behaving like
a coward now, but you could also say that he's behaving as any self-
respecting criminal would if he were caught in the act--running away
to avoid arrest and hanging. He isn't a coward if he's a practical
man determined to escape the gallows.

Still, the thieves did run away, like a losing army afraid to hang
around for an honorable surrender. Do only thieves act this way?
Watch as the Percies' rebellion progresses: Some of them, too, will
defect the minute their side seems to be losing. Where will that
leave the "honorable thief" Hotspur? Will he, like Falstaff, run to
save his life?

Even though he runs away, Falstaff manages to do his country some
service at Gad's Hill. Hal says he "lards the lean earth as he walks,
" sweating from exertion or fear. (The Elizabethans thought
perspiration was melting body fat.) The fat knight, therefore, feeds
England. Later you'll see Hotspur feeding the worms at Shrewsbury
with his lifeless body.

NOTE: What are you to think of a prince who robs people, even if
it's just in fun? Some readers say that Hal's joke is morally
indefensible because it sets a bad example for his future subjects;
others excuse Hal's behavior on the grounds that the people he robs
are themselves thieves.

The Prince of Wales does play a mean practical joke on a fat old man.
Falstaff may complain of losing his breath, but he never stops
talking. At the scene's beginning he swears he can't move another
inch without dying of exhaustion, but by the end of the scene he's
running away like a young man. Hal's joke doesn't seem to have
harmed anything more serious than Falstaff's dignity.

Notice that Hal takes command of the thieves, even though he's never
committed highway robbery before. Not only do the thieves
unquestioningly accept his authority, but his plan works perfectly,
and the prince gets what he came to Gad's Hill for: "argument for a
week, laughter for a month, and a good jest forever." This shows him
to be a good leader, and a man who knows how to get what he wants.
Knowing this, you may take him more seriously than his father does.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT II, SCENE III

The last time you saw Hotspur he was passionately riding off to
start the rebellion against King Henry. Now you see another side of
him, at home, reading a letter and talking with his wife.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-35

The Percies have obviously been gathering support for their
rebellion. Everything is going according to plan: Glendower,
Mortimer, the Archbishop of York, and Douglas have agreed to meet
them on the ninth of next month, ready to march against the king.

But Hotspur is reading aloud a letter from one lord who doesn't
think the Percies have a very good chance of winning, and refuses to
join the conspiracy. He offers reasonable excuses: The allies can't
be trusted, the timing for the march isn't the best, and he fears
they underestimate the power and size of the king's army.

Hotspur is furious; he doesn't think these are very good reasons at
all. Hotspur has no patience for men who think twice about
consequences. Think about Hal's careful questioning of Poins in Act
I, Scene ii. Hal wouldn't join in the robbery until he was satisfied
that there was no chance of getting into trouble or having the plan
fail. Do you believe it's cowardly to be cautious before you
undertake a dangerous action? Some people are cautious to make sure
they won't get hurt; others are cautious to make sure they will
succeed. Hal believes in safety and in winning; Hotspur, however,
believes mostly in sticking with a cause.

Hotspur calls this lord a "frosty-spirited rogue," in other words, a
wet blanket. He doesn't stop to think if any of the lord's
objections might contain truth. (You'll see, in fact, in Act IV,
that every one of the objections comes true.) But Hotspur's code of
honor won't allow him to doubt his cause or distrust his allies.

No one, not even a hero, likes to think he's about to do something
foolish. As the lord's warning begins to sink in, Hotspur rants and
mocks him with increasing impatience and fury:

...By the Lord, our plot is a good plot as ever was
laid; our friends true and constant: a good plot,
good friends, and full of expectation; an excellent
plot, very good friends...

Notice the repetitions in Hotspur's speech. Is Hotspur genuinely
amazed that anyone would disagree with him? Does his self-confidence
sound forced to you? The code of honor says he must be brave and
loyal at any cost. What if Hotspur is scared and can't admit it?
Haven't you seen people trapped by the need to appear "macho"? All
that Hotspur seems worried about is that Henry might be told of the
conspiracy, and the rebels will thus lose the element of surprise.
Hotspur can't look back; he realizes that war is now inevitable. He
does take one precaution--he speeds his departure. As his wife
enters, Hotspur is calling for his horse.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 36-124

Lady Percy shows you the other side of Hotspur's courage. Hotspur
won't tell her what's wrong, but she knows something is happening,
something dangerous, because Hotspur can't eat, and on the few
occasions he can fall asleep he has nightmares. She says he spends
all day by himself, brooding. Is he carefully planning his battle
strategies, a young man thoroughly engaged in a great project? Or
are these the symptoms of anxiety and fear?

Hotspur doesn't want to listen to his wife's catalogue of the
symptoms he can't admit to having. On stage, the actor playing
Hotspur might stare ahead, thinking about the rebellion, not
listening to her loving expression of concern. As soon as she's
finished, he starts calling for his horse again. She calls him a
parrot, and says he's "mad-headed" and full of "spleen" (sullen and
moody). She's charming and gentle with him, but the prince of honor
refuses to tell his own wife about the rebellion. Honor requires
that he doesn't betray his friends or seem like a coward, even to
his wife.

But the young man underneath the shining armor seems very worried
indeed. He knows what kinds of risks he's taking. In his sleep he's
been remembering every military strategy he's ever devised, listing
weapons, counting the dead--"all the currents of a heady fight"
float through his unconscious mind.

Neither the lord's cautious warning nor his wife's loving appeals
can keep Hotspur from carrying on the crusade against Henry. "We
must have bloody noses and cracked crowns [heads]" he cries. Honor
spurs him on. He cannot or will not listen to second opinions; his
safety isn't important. But from now on Hotspur will systematically
be stripped of his illusions about honor, until he lies dead on the
battlefield. You'll have to decide whether it was worth it.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT II, SCENE IV

This scene in the Eastcheap tavern consists of four major parts: 1.
Hal and Francis; 2. Falstaff's "incomprehensible lies"; 3. the
tavern play; and 4. the Sheriff.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-113

While waiting for Falstaff and the thieves to return to Eastcheap,
Hal tells Poins that he spent fifteen minutes in the cellar of the
tavern talking to the drawers (waiters). He's learned their slang
and is now "sworn brother" to them all. The drawers have crowned Hal
the "king of courtesy" (the most gallant knight), and swear their
allegiance to him when he becomes king of England.

Hal finds this funny, but he also finds it honorable: "I tell thee,
Ned," laughs the prince, "thou hast lost much honor that thou wert
not with me in this action." Is Hal joking about honor at the
expense of the drawers (as he laughed at Falstaff at Gad's Hill)? Or
does his laughter disguise a serious purpose? What kind of honor can
Hal expect to win in a tavern cellar? It's not the kind of honor
Hotspur intends to win in battle, although it may make Hal famous
throughout Eastcheap. Hotspur's honor is bound up in military fame
and glory. Hal's honor in the tavern seems to be part of his
education in kingship: He's learning about the men he'll one day
have to rule.

To prove how well he knows the drawers, Hal decides to play a trick
on one of them, Francis. If we stand in different rooms and call
Francis at the same time, Hal predicts to Poins, he'll end up caught
in the middle, unable to decide which caller to serve. The trick
works exactly as Hal predicts. Poins and the prince have a good
laugh over the unfortunate drawer's behavior.

NOTE: Notice the imagery of time in this episode. All Hal's
questions to Francis relate to time--how long his apprenticeship
will last, how old he is, when he gets paid. His last question is,
"What time is it?" And Francis answers, "Anon, anon," soon. Perhaps
Hal is wondering how much longer he can stay in the tavern world
before he has to return to the court.

If you look at Hal's practical joke from a personal point of view,
as many readers do, you can say that Hal is behaving like a bully,
heartlessly toying with another person. You can say that Hal is
being devious, too, because he can't openly ask people about
themselves.

But you can also look at the practical joke as a mirror image of
Hal's situation. Like Francis, Hal is pulled in two directions at
once. Francis is unable to distinguish which caller is more
important, so he gets stuck in the middle. Hal is being pulled in
opposite directions by Falstaff in the tavern world and by his
father in the court world. If Hal is consciously creating this
mirror image, he's taking a good look at his own situation and
laughing at its absurdity. All Francis could do was to tell his
tormentors "soon." All you've heard Hal say so far is that he'll
decide which world he belongs in, soon.

Hal laughs at Francis for knowing "fewer words than a parrot."
Calling Francis a parrot reminds Hal of Hotspur. (Remember that
Hotspur called the king's messenger a parrot, and Lady Percy has
just called Hotspur a parrot.) Hal muses that life in Hotspur's
house must be very boring, as boring as Francis' life of waiting on
tables. Hal imagines Hotspur and his wife having only one topic of
conversation at the breakfast table: war. "I am not yet of Percy's
mind, the Hotspur of the North," says Hal--implying that he will be,
someday. He cynically imagines Hotspur killing six or seven dozen
men before breakfast and then, an hour later, calling it a "trifle."
Hal has never met Hotspur, but we can see from this how their
attitudes toward war differ: Hotspur lives only for military honor,
while Hal thinks that's too narrow a life-style. Thinking about the
single-minded Hotspur makes Hal yearn for the robust, contradictory
Falstaff.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 114-376

Hal and Poins have just baited the wordless Francis; now they'll
bait the wordy Falstaff as the second part of their robbery trick
begins.

You just heard Hotspur in Act II, Scene iii, calling for bloody
noses and cracked crowns. Falstaff delivers some of them now.

Falstaff's entrance on stage (with Bardolph, Peto, and Gadshill) is
a moment of pure drama. Picture the fat knight and his crew in torn
and bloody clothes, groaning from the wounds they sustained at Gad's
Hill; notice how their swords are hacked and how they gasp for
breath.

Falstaff is so short of breath as he enters that at first he sounds
almost like Francis, with only two phrases in his head: "A plague of
all cowards." and "Give me a cup of sack [sherry]." His voice is
weak as he curses the evilness of the world and mutters about
vengeance and virtue.

Hal asks him what's wrong, with an innocent air.

"A king's son!" bellows Falstaff. "If I do not beat thee out of thy
kingdom with a dagger of lath.... You Prince of Wales." Falstaff
threatens to banish Hal from England with a prop sword. At the end
of this scene, however, you'll see Hal promise to banish Falstaff.

Falstaff accuses Poins and Hal of cowardice and disloyalty, charging
them with the very insults they used against him in Act II, Scene ii.
Falstaff asks Hal and Poins if they dare to call running away the
"backing of your friends." Notice that he's beginning to sound like
Hotspur did when he was reading the cowardly lord's letter.

Hal pretends he doesn't know what Falstaff is talking about. And
Falstaff's "incomprehensible lies" begin. They're epic in scope, the
stuff of legends. Poins has predicted Falstaff's behavior perfectly,
as you will see.

Falstaff launches heroically into his account of the battle of Gad's
Hill. Although shamefully deserted by Hal and Poins, Falstaff says,
he and his men stole the sum of 1000 pounds; then they were robbed
of the money by 100 men. Falstaff claims he escaped only by a
miracle. He shows Hal and Poins his bloody clothes and hacked sword
as proof. Hal and Poins are amazed at the extravagance of his
performance. (You can think of this as a parody of Hotspur and his
description of the king's messenger in Act I, Scene iii.) On stage
Falstaff usually acts out his brave fight against an ever-changing
number of thieves. Toward the end, 52 men set upon Falstaff at once.
If I'm lying, declares Falstaff, "I am a bunch of radish!"

Hal casually asks Falstaff if he killed any of the thieves. Falstaff
sighs and admits he "peppered two of them... two rogues in buckram
suits... if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse" The
numbers of men in buckram multiply rapidly now: 2, 4, 7, 9, 11... "O
monstrous!" cries Hal, "Eleven buckram men grown out of two!"

Right when Falstaff looks and sounds his most heroic, Hal stops his
lies cold, with the truth: "These lies are like their father that
begets them--gross as a mountain, open, palpable." "Art thou mad?"
demands Falstaff, "Is not the truth the truth?"

NOTE: One of the main themes of the play is how people deceive
themselves and others with lies and false reports that they swear
are true. Elsewhere in the play the report is almost always believed
by the hearer, but here, nobody is fooled by Falstaff's lies.

Hal and Falstaff call each other names. (Look at their imagery:
Falstaff calls Hal various shrunken objects, such as a "starveling";
Hal calls Falstaff all sorts of gigantic objects, including a "huge
hill of flesh." Hal finds Falstaff's lies disgusting, and Falstaff
thinks he's beaten Hal. The two men are at a critical moment in
their friendship, jockeying for power over one another. The rest of
this scene defines their status toward each other.

Hal at last tells Falstaff the truth about the trick. He's furious
at Falstaff for pretending to be wounded in a great battle. (Keep
this in mind later, when Falstaff fakes death at Shrewsbury.) Hal
challenges Falstaff to get out of the verbal trap he's built for
himself.

By this time Falstaff, can appear either cowed or pleased with his
cleverness. He pauses and then announces, "By the Lord, I knew ye as
well as he that made ye." His audience is stunned. Falstaff
continues, all innocence, to explain why he ran away like a coward:
I knew it was you, Hal. Like a lion (a kingly image) I can tell the
true prince, by instinct, from the false thief.

A messenger arrives at the tavern with news: Hal is told of the
Percy rebellion and ordered to report to his father the next
morning; his time in the tavern world is up. Falstaff asks Hal if
he's horribly afraid or thrilled at the prospect of fighting his
father's enemies. Some readers see this as Falstaff playing the old
soldier, coaching a young and inexperienced one. Others believe
Falstaff is proving to be a coward once more, by imagining what he'd
do in Hal's place.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 377-487

Falstaff and Hal agree to rehearse Hal's upcoming interview with
Henry. Falstaff plays the king, choosing a three-legged stool for
his throne, a cushion for his crown, and the hacked-up sword for his
scepter. Hal sees the comic absurdity of these props:

Thy state is taken for a joined-stool, thy golden
sceptre for a leaden dagger, and thy precious rich
crown for a pitiful bald crown.

Here is the crown imagery in its most ironic form. Hal, the future
king of England, clearly recognizes the difference between the
majesty of true kingship and its travesty at the hands of Falstaff.
The crown of England becomes a bald head, a threadbare cushion, and
worst of all a fake. You can also see this as a commentary on the
state of kingship whenever the king is a thief.

Falstaff relishes this chance to do some real acting. He cleverly
invents props, finds makeup in the bleary-eyed effect of drinking
sack, and chooses a suitably tragic tone of voice, something he
could have gotten out of the sixteenth-century theater repertory--a
parody of a king in a ranting tragedy.

NOTE: Notice how sharply this brings forward your image of Henry as
a usurper and a clever politician. Falstaff shows you a king who's
floundering in circumstances beyond his control, making do with
whatever is at hand, inventing strategies on the spot. Falstaff
shows you a politician who knows how to adjust his tone of voice to
suit his audience, and carefully watches for the effects he has on
them.

Falstaff sits on the joint-stool throne, and addresses Hal. His
entire speech is a parody of what Henry will in Act III Scene ii. He
takes a highly moral attitude toward the wayward young prince and is
shocked at the company Hal keeps. He warns Hal that he's wasting his
precious youth, and wonders why Hal, who seems to be his son, has
such a bad reputation. This question raises a moral question about
Hal's youthful rebellion: When the King of England is a thief, will
his son be one, too? Falstaff is able to guess exactly what Henry
will say; it shouldn't be hard, since it's the same argument fathers
have always had with their sons. They're afraid their sons won't
live up to their high expectations, and scared that their own faults
will show up in their sons.

Now Falstaff starts to play with Hal. "Henry" tells Hal that he's
noticed just one virtuous man in his company, a "goodly portly man,
i' faith, and a corpulent." Keep him, urges "Henry," and banish all
the rest of your friends. Falstaff probably suspects that Hal may
leave him behind after the real interview the next day. He's
indirectly begging Hal not to leave him behind later when the
reformation comes.

Hal now demands that they exchange roles. "Depose me?" asks "Henry"
in mock horror. If you make a better king than I do, he retorts,
hang me upside down. This is a central action of the play: the
deposition of one king in order to place a "better" king on the
throne. The penalty for proving to be a false king--a traitor--is
hanging. It's ironic that Falstaff should call Hal's taking up the
crown a deposition: Hal is the only candidate for kingship in the
play who won't have to steal the crown to wear it.

As "king," Hal calls Falstaff every offensive name he can think of,
referring to his obesity, thieving, vanity, drunkenness, and cunning.
Hal demands to know what worth Falstaff has. This is the same sort
of vicious, negative attitude that the Percies take toward King
Henry--seeing him as only the cunning, pompous politician.

Falstaff pretends not to know to whom Hal is referring. "That
villainous abominable misleader of youth, Falstaff, that old white-
beared Satan," Hal replies coldly. Falstaff defends himself,
pleading the vices of old age and claiming the license of knighthood.
No, insists Falstaff, banish everyone else, but "banish plump Jack,
and banish all the world!" Hal replies simply, "I do, I will."

NOTE: These lines have astonished readers for years. Some say it
proves absolutely that Hal is no better than his hard-hearted,
calculating politician of a father, that Hal has been using Falstaff
badly. Other readers prefer to see Hal as the future king who must
cast aside the immorality Falstaff represents, no matter how
attractive he is as a companion. They say that if Falstaff is
shocked, then it's his own fault for believing that Hal could ever
be like him and still be a true prince.

At the end of Henry IV, Part 2, the newly crowned King Henry V will
do exactly what he's promised here, and banish Falstaff from his
presence.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 488-558

As Hal speaks his fateful words, a knocking is heard offstage. It's
a symbol that reality is about to take over. The pressures and
responsibilities of the court are calling, and Hal's apprenticeship
with Falstaff is over.

Bardolph answers the door and returns with the news that a sheriff
and one of the carriers wish to search the house, to look for the
stolen Gad's Hill money. Falstaff begs Hal not to betray him, not
yet anyway. "Never call a true piece of gold a counterfeit,"
Falstaff counsels, as he hides behind a curtain.

Hal, however, surprisingly lies and tells the sheriff that Falstaff
isn't there. He's no idealist; he's willing to lie if it serves a
practical purpose. In spite of his recent harsh words, he must still
feel affection for Falstaff, and so he saves him.

The fate Falstaff has always tried to avoid just came knocking at
the door; in the face of grave danger, Falstaff hid. When Hal pulls
back the curtain, Falstaff is snoring just as he was at the opening
of Act I, Scene ii. Notice that he hides like a coward, but falls
asleep like a man sure of his friends, with complete confidence in
Hal. Just for good measure, Hal picks Falstaff's pocket. The
practical joker in him still lives.

The tavern world has just come full circle, beginning and ending
with Falstaff's snores. The next lines Prince Hal speaks look
forward to the court. He promises that he will give Falstaff a
military command, a company of foot soldiers (to get even with him
for the "incomprehensible lies," perhaps). He promises to repay the
stolen money with interest, and, with all his accounts settled, he
leaves for his father's court.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT III, SCENE I

The action shifts from Eastcheap to Glendower's castle in Wales.
This scene is structured like a miniature drama with its own rising
and falling action. Its atmosphere is unlike any other scene in the
play.

Glendower, Hotspur, and Mortimer meet to sign a contract that
divides England into three parts. Hotspur will rule the north of
England and Scotland; Mortimer will rule the southeast of England,
and Glendower will rule southwestern England and Wales.

NOTE: Notice how this contrasts with Henry's wish to have his people
"march all one way." Henry's political ideas are those of an
Elizabethan monarch or a modern candidate for president--a desire
for a strong nation ruled by a strong leader. But the rebels want
England for themselves and are dividing it up to satisfy personal
needs for power. There's no political discussion in this scene, just
a quarrel among three thieves (and one politician, Worcester, who
probably designed the plan). They're so confident of overthrowing
the king that they're sharing the spoils before committing the crime.

How would you react to hearing that the heads of a leading political
party want to overthrow the government and divide up your country?
Shakespeare gives us a series of clues as to how he and his audience
would have felt.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-13

The rebels' confused entrance in this scene should be contrasted to
the formality of the king's court, and to the comfortable drunken
sprawl of the tavern. In fact, in most stage productions the tables
and chairs from the previous tavern scene are left onstage for the
rebels' meeting--clearly linking themes between the two scenes.

The rebels can't decide who should sit down first and where they
should sit. In the presence of royalty, the king would normally sit
first and arrange his lords formally according to their ranks. As
King Richard II's designated heir, then, Mortimer should take the
royal initiative, and sit first. As host, Glendower ought to be
granted the privilege of seating his guests. But notice that Hotspur
takes charge of the seating arrangements. From this moment on
everything Hotspur says and does in this scene threatens to break up
the conspiracy.

Although the rebels are still confident and hopeful for the future,
there's something disconcerting in the fact that Hotspur has lost
the map of England they've been consulting. It's one indication of
the disorder the rebels represent in the play. It may also be a sign
that they've lost sight of England--her best interests--in their
struggle for power.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 14-79

Glendower and Hotspur quarrel over the Welshman's magical abilities.
Glendower defends himself as fiercely as you've seen Hotspur defend
his honor in other scenes. Their relationship in this scene depends
mostly on whether you think Glendower really is a magician or not.
You can see him as a wise magician whose quiet self-control
outshines Hotspur's childish taunts; or you can see Glendower as a
crackpot whose egotistical boasts and inane prophecies imitate
Hotspur's honest and direct nature. If Glendower is a magician, then
Hotspur is reacting to him as a rival; if Glendower is a fake, then
Hotspur is reacting to him as a fool, and their relationship becomes
parallel to Hal and Falstaff's.

Glendower boasts that when he was born the earth "shakeout like a
coward"--there was an earthquake, and the ground ran away from his
feet in fear. Hotspur retorts that the earth merely had indigestion,
and belched. These references to trembling cowards and digestive
processes sound much like the images used to describe Falstaff.

Notice that in the middle of the rebel war council Shakespeare puts
the imagery of disease and disorder in their mouths. You're not to
forget that these men are planning to murder a king and butcher a
country.

Glendower next boasts that he can command the devil. Hotspur scolds
him, like Hal scolding Falstaff after one of his monstrous lies.
Glendower retaliates with some hard facts that even Hotspur can't
deny: he's already beaten King Henry's army three times in battle.
Henry was sent home "bootless" and "weather-beaten," like a frail
man overcome by a storm. The "bootless" image recalls many of the
thieves' jokes in Act II, Scenes i and ii, and the image of Henry as
a man overcome by the stormy power of the Welshman recalls the news
of Mortimer's defeat in Act I, Scene i.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 80-157

Mortimer intervenes and turns their attention back to the map of
England, which Glendower has finally recovered. Hotspur argues that
Glendower's share of the country is larger than his own. Their
argument quickly degenerates into a childish squabble:

Hotspur: I'll have it so. A little charge will do it.
Glendower: I will not have it alt'red.
Hotspur: Will you not?
Glendower: No, nor you shall not.
Hotspur: Who shall say me nay?
Glendower: Why, that I will.

Next, the two great generals insult each other's ear for music and
poetry. Glendower says he loves to sing English songs, and Hotspur
retorts that the songs sound harsh and grating to him.

Glendower finally concedes the boundary to Hotspur, but Hotspur
isn't a gracious winner; he further insults Glendower by saying he'd
willingly give three times that amount of land to a friend, but
he'll haggle with anyone else over the smallest fraction.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 158-204

Glendower leaves to fetch Mortimer's and Hotspur's wives, so they
can say good-bye before they leave for Shrewsbury.

While Glendower is out of the room, Mortimer and Worcester take
turns scolding Hotspur for his rudeness toward Glendower. His
impatience, they tell him, sometimes makes him seem courageous, but
more often it shows "Defect of manners, want of government, / Pride
haughtiness, opinion, and disdain." Hotspur listens, against his
will, to them listing the perils of his single-mindedness, and he
sulks. As you listen to this lecture, you can compare Hotspur's
faults to Hal's good points. Prince Hal has all the qualities
Hotspur lacks, as his encounter with the drawers has already
demonstrated.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 205-288

Glendower returns with the wives, and the tense atmosphere becomes
relaxed and romantic. Mortimer's wife sings in the musical language
of the Welsh, accompanied by music that Glendower magically produces.
There's peace in the magicians house, before the storm of battle
begins. But Hotspur, the man of action, breaks the spell and calls
for his horse.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT III, SCENE II

You saw Falstaff and Prince Hal rehearsing Hal's royal interview.
Now Hal is in the palace, kneeling in front of his father, listening
to a lecture on his irresponsible behavior. This scene is placed
directly in the middle of the play, and it sums up many themes:
authority and rebellion; kingship and politics; the education of a
prince; and the relationship between a father and his son.

NOTE: As you judge Henry's statements, place them against the
background of political events in the play. He sees Hal from two
points of view--that of a king and that of a father.

As a king, it's his duty to punish criminals and traitors because
they upset peace and order in the commonwealth. But Henry sees
himself as once a "traitor," so it's hard for him to punish others.
The Percies--who were rebels against the old king--went free and
unpunished when their candidate, Henry, took over.

Henry has tried to maintain law and order in the kingdom, but no
matter how hard he tries, disorder and fighting break out. Then his
own son becomes a thief. His old supporters turn against him and
embark on a new rebellion. A new set of traitors is born. The
kingdom is in danger of collapsing once again.

King Henry is failing to maintain law and order, to carry out his
obligations to his subjects. But he's trying, and as a father, he
needs his son's support. This interview is also King Henry's way of
finding out whether or not he can rely on Prince Hal.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-30

Henry demands an explanation for Hal's riotous living. Hal simply
blames his youth for some of it, and the rest on rumors and false
reports that make him sound worse than he really is. Hal may be
learning about kingship in the tavern world, but he doesn't take
this opportunity to make Henry see it that way.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 31-96

Henry tells Hal how hard he worked to get where he is today. (Isn't
this a typical father's line?) He had to steal "all courtesy from
heaven" (notice how this contrasts with the drawers' crowning Hal as
"king of courtesy"). Henry had to "dress" himself in humility to
convince the people to give their allegiance to him. (Hal has just
done something like this--dressed himself in buckram--but you don't
hear him boasting of it to his father.) Henry says he kept out of
the public eye most of the time so that when he did make an
appearance in a crowd, his presence, like a comet illuminating the
night sky, struck the people with awe and wonder. He understood that
in order to be a king you have to act like one.

You've already heard Hal's plan for a similar campaign strategy, in
his soliloquy at the end of Act I, Scene ii. Hal intends to make his
reformation "glitter" over his former bad reputation, just as Henry
describes. But again, Hal keeps silent about this lesson in kingship
he has already learned.

Henry then compares Hal with King Richard, who "Mingled his royalty
with capering fools" until the people were sick of looking at him,
and scorned him. Henry tells Hal that he, too, has lost his royal
status by mixing with the wrong people.

Look at the imagery of Henry's speech, with its references to
stealing, play-acting, and the importance of making the right effect.
These are all lessons that Hal has already learned in the tavern
with Falstaff. Many readers see Henry's speech as another elaborate
justification of why he stole the crown. Like a man with a guilty
conscience, he must keep retelling this story. You know that this is
one crime Hal can't commit, because he'll inherit the crown. Other
readers see Henry's speech as a bitter and angry outburst, lashing
out both at his "almost alien" son Hal, and at current events, which
threaten to take away everything he has worked so hard to win.

The king cries over Hal: "Not an eye / But is weary of thy common
sight, / Save mine, which has desired to see thee more." When Hal
speaks, he simply promises to behave himself in the future. He
doesn't show any regret for being at odds with his father. Is Hal
behaving with youthful smugness, or are his answers polite and
circumspect, as befits a royal heir? In either case, Hal doesn't
tell Henry anything more than the barest facts. Remember that his
reformation was designed to astonish his father as well as the rest
of England.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 97-131

Right now, continues Henry, you're acting like Richard, and
Hotspur's acting like me when I started to campaign against Richard.
He deserves to be king more than you do. I once turned my friends
into Richard's enemies, just as Hotspur is turning my enemies into
his friends. Hotspur, like a young god of war, is leading them into
battle against me. He scornfully tells his son, you might as well
join them.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 132-162

Maybe it's Henry's claim that Hotspur would make a better king, or
maybe it's the idea that Henry thinks Hal would fight against his
own father, but Henry's speech finally triggers an emotional
reaction in his aloof young son. No, answers Hal, it won't be that
way. When the time comes, Hal assures his father, I'll put on a
disguise of blood and force Hotspur to "render every glory up" in
battle.

Hal is promising his father that he'll be as good a king's son as
ever lived, that he'll equal and then surpass Hotspur. Hal chooses
the traditional challenge for knights--single combat.

NOTE: Even though Hal is living up to the code of chivalry, look at
the images he uses: "redeem," "exchange," "factor," "engross," "call
him to so strict account," "render up," "reckoning," and "cancels
all bands." Understanding that honor and reputation are commodities,
he intends to exchange Hotspur's honor for his own.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 163-183

King Henry is relieved to find Hal loyal, and he gives him command
of one-third of the royal army. The interview is over, and so is the
tug-of-war between the tavern and the court. From now on, the fight
will be between Hal and Hotspur, not Henry and Falstaff.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT III, SCENE III

This is a scene about "reckonings"--all of the debts accumulated so
far in the tavern are coming due, as the battle of Shrewsbury
approaches.

In Eastcheap, Falstaff is playing "Monsieur Remorse" to Bardolph and
quarreling with the hostess.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-53

Falstaff is depressed. He's usually played drunk here. He looks like
he's just lost his best friend. He asks Bardolph if he looks like
he's losing weight. Is Falstaff too depressed even to eat, or is he
still complaining about having to walk at Gad's Hill? "Do I not
dwindle?" he asks. No he hasn't, Bardolph says, not one ounce. Yet
his strength is failing, Falstaff insists. He wants to repent--again-
-he wants to reckon up his losses with God.

Long ago, Falstaff remembers, I led a virtuous life (well, virtuous
enough). But now I live "out of all order, out of all compass." He
probably looks ruefully now at his belly and his wine bottle. He's
still "fat Jack," and he still lives out of order--outside the
social and moral order of the court. He no longer recognizes himself
as a member of a society he's lived in for sixty-odd years. Prince
Hal has banished him. His hope for the future is gone. Low as he
feels, he makes himself feel better by insulting Bardolph. He's been
paying for Bardolph's upkeep for thirty-two years.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 54-86

The hostess is a generous woman and a hardworking wife who runs an
honest business. You learn that Falstaff owes her 24 pounds and the
balance of his charge account bill for food and drink at the tavern.

As she enters, Falstaff may sense that she's come to collect hermoney. To divert her from bringing up the subject, he accuses her of
picking his pocket. He knows that there were only restaurant bills
and a piece of candy there to be taken, but he swears to her that he
was robbed of a family signet ring and a good deal of money.

The hostess fights back spiritedly. Her strategy is to confront him
with reality, with how much money and kindness he owes her. Notice
how similar the hostess' strategy with Falstaff is to Lady Percy's
with Hotspur. Both women are realistic but try to tease a confession
from the men. Their efforts fail, but they make it clear how well
they understand the men. Hotspur and Falstaff both resist the
women's charms.

Falstaff boasts that a ring worth a fortune was stolen from his
pocket, implying that he could have paid her back if it hadn't been
stolen. Hal, however, had told her the ring was practically
worthless, and she believes Hal.

Is Falstaff behaving like a con man or like a good military
strategist? Either way, he's childishly evading his responsibilities,
and transferring his anger and depression over Hal onto the innocent
hostess.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 87-92

In performance, when Hal enters with Peto, both dressed for war, you
suddenly see the sharp contrast with Falstaff's sprawling, slovenly
form. You see Falstaff at his most disreputable and Hal in his most
royal uniform.

NOTE: A few lines before Hal's entrance, Falstaff shouts to the
hostess, "How? the prince is a Jack [a knave, a two-faced rascal], a
sneak-up. 'Sblood, an he were here, I would cudgel him like a dog if
he would say so" (that the ring was worthless). The Prince of Wales
enters immediately afterward. There are two ways to play this.
Falstaff can say these lines deliberately, knowing that Hal is
approaching and will hear them. Or Hal's entrance can follow the
speech as an ironic coincidence, embarrassing Falstaff just when
he's making a bold and impudent statement. He'd have only a split
second in which to turn his roaring into a playful greeting.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 93-131

The hostess engages Hal on her behalf in the quarrel. Notice how Hal
stays slightly aloof, playing judge, not getting involved until his
own name is dragged in. Depending on how you've viewed Hal
throughout the play, you could say that he's indulging in one last
merry debate before he goes off to war, or he's acting like the
newly reformed heir to the crown, cold and conceited, angry with
Falstaff for trying to trick an honest woman.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 132-213

This segment of the scene mirrors Hal's confrontation with Falstaff
over the "incomprehensible lies" in Act II, Scene iv.

Falstaff is once again betrayed by his friends, who accuse him of
slandering the Prince of Wales. The hostess tells Hal that Falstaff
claimed Hal owed him 1000 pounds and threatened repeatedly to cudgel
him if he said the ring was worthless. This may be another version
of the slander scene between King Henry and Hotspur in Act I, Scene
ii. Remember that they accused each other of slander during an
argument that was based mainly on Henry's unpaid debts.

Hal manipulates Falstaff into having either to admit he's a liar or
to carry out his threat to cudgel Hal. Falstaff uses the same escape
route he used in Act II, Scene iv: swearing he dared Hal only as he
is a friend, not as he is a true prince. Hal attacks Falstaff for
lying, nevertheless, in much the same way as he did before, with
images of obesity, dishonesty, and disrespect.

Hal's anger (real or fake) is so sweeping that he finds himself
admitting to the pickpocketing without realizing it:

... Why... if there were anything in thy pocket
but tavern reckonings, memorandums of bawdy
houses, and one poor pennyworth of sugar candy
...if thy pocket were enriched with any other
injuries but these, I am a villain.

For once Falstaff really has Hal trapped. He delivers his challenge
slowly, relishing his victory: "You confess then, you picked my
pocket?" Hal is so stunned at his own unexpected confession that he
can only hang his head and answer, "It appears so by the story."

Falstaff is elated: The true prince has proved to be a false thief
after all. He asks Hal for news of the court. Hal admits that he has
returned the stolen Gad's Hill money, clearing Falstaff of the
charge. Hal's words are almost fatherly. As Falstaff's "good angel,"
Hal will keep the old knight from coming to too much harm. As a true
prince, Hal ensures that justice is still accomplished, despite
allowing the thieves to remain free. He has cleared his debts in the
tavern and is now ready to assume full princely responsibilities.

Falstaff, still a mischievous thief, promptly asks Hal to rob the
king's treasury for him, like a good lad. But Hal isn't listening;
his thoughts have returned to the troubles at court where he belongs
now. He gives Falstaff charge of the foot soldiers, issues orders to
Bardolph, Peto, and Falstaff, and leaves.

Hal's last words in the tavern are in the form of a rhymed couplet,
a kind of summarizing tag line that points up his relationship to
the rest of the play's action: "The land is burning; Percy stands on
high; And either we or they must lower lie." He's now firmly
committed to a rivalry with Hotspur.

Falstaff's spirits have returned, now that he sees Hal confidently
fighting for the future of England. Happiness makes Falstaff feel
like eating, and he calls for the hostess to bring in his breakfast:
"Rare words! brave world! Hostess, my breakfast, come. O, I wish
this tavern were my drum!"

Falstaff, too, recites a couplet, but his rhyme shows he's committed
to adventure, eating, and drinking--just as he was at the beginning
of the play.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT IV, SCENE I

In the time scheme of Shakespeare's play, the ninth of next month--
the time for the rebellion--has arrived. The scene is in the rebels'
camp at Shrewsbury. You can hear drums pounding and soldiers
marching in the distance.

For a fleeting moment at the opening of this scene the rebel leaders
are confident in their rebellion. Hotspur and Worcester, with
Douglas, are waiting for their allies to arrive and for the battle
to begin.

But instead of reinforcements, a messenger arrives. Northumberland
has written to say he's sick, maybe dying, and can't muster an army.
Northumberland isn't coming. The warnings in the letter Hotspur
received from the unnamed lord in Act II, Scene iii, are starting to
come true.

The absence of Northumberland's troops makes a serious hole in the
rebel enterprise, and Worcester is worried. Northumberland's letter
reminds him that even if they give up the rebellion now, Henry will
still have them executed for treason. Hotspur, however, does not
mourn his father's illness; he only sees Northumberland's absence as
a chance to win even greater glory. If the forces are weakened, he
reasons, it will just give more glory to their rebellion, because
it's now more dangerous to fight.

Then a rebel spy, Vernon, returns to the camp with reports the
rebels hadn't expected: Prince Hal, looking like a young god of war,
is leading an army dressed in golden suits of armor. The sight of
Hal mounted on his horse has dazzled Vernon. Hal promised a
brilliant unmasking in his soliloquy in Act I, Scene ii, and here it
is.

Stop it, cries Hotspur to the admiring Vernon, you're making me sick!
Hotspur never imagined he'd have to fight against Prince Hal. But
he's thrilled that a truly worthy rival has come to Shrewsbury; he
can barely wait for Hal to arrive.

Vernon then reveals the news that Glendower's army will be two weeks
late, and that the king's army is 30,000 strong. All three rebel
leaders realize that they're doomed. But Hotspur shouts recklessly,
"Doomsday is near. Die all, die merrily!" Hal's presence will still
make the battle worth fighting. Hotspur knows he'll lose the battle,
but he's sure he'll kill Prince Hal.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT IV, SCENE II

Falstaff's ragged troop of foot soldiers presents a vivid contrast
with the description of Hal and his golden warriors.

Marching his soldiers to Shrewsbury, Falstaff takes a few minutes to
rest his bulky frame. You see him equipped for battle, but he's
still talking about money and drinking, not honor and war.

He's still of his self-importance, and tells you in his soliloquy
about the clever trick he played to earn money from the war. First
he intentionally recruited 150 cowards who he knew could afford to
bribe their way out of military service, and pocketed the bribe
money for himself. Then he recruited another 150 men--debtors,
mostly, but also the kinds of men you've seen before in the play:
unemployed servants (like Bardolph), gentlemen who have no
inheritance and no trade (like Poins), drawers who've broken their
contracts (like Francis), and innkeepers (like Robin Ostler, whose
business was failing). The new recruits are ragged and starving,
like scarecrows.

As Prince Hal and another general, Westmoreland, happen to pass
Falstaff in the road, they both express shock and alarm at the sight
of Falstaff's soldiers. Falstaff shrewdly remarks that beggars will
fill a mass grave as well as any men. His joke (which people rarely
think funny) totally undercuts Hal and Hotspur's view of battle as a
noble meeting ground where honor is won. Falstaff points out the
true nature of war--men die, no matter why they're fighting.

Hal is thoroughly disgusted with his old companion's attitude, and
orders him to march quickly to Shrewsbury, where the king's army is
waiting. As Hal and Westmoreland leave, Falstaff expresses his own
view of what's important in life: not duty, loyalty, and courage,
but good food and good friends, shared in safe surroundings.

At this moment you may sympathize most with Falstaff's realistic,
practical view of life. But remember who he is--a fat drunkard and a
failure. Hal may seem callous, cold, and deluded by abstract ideals,
but at least he is an effective leader, and has discipline and self-
control. Shakespeare doesn't expect you to take one side or the
other, but he does want you to see that there are many ways to view
life, all of which have some value.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-35

It's the night before the battle of Shrewsbury, and the rebel
leaders are quarreling over when to start their attack on the king's
forces. Hotspur and Douglas, renowned for their courage, want to
attack that very night; Worcester and Vernon, more cautious, are
trying to persuade them to wait until daylight. They accuse each
other of cowardice and defend their honors as best as they can.
Underneath, however, you may sense their fear, and possibly their
wish to call off the campaign.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 36-58

A trumpet sounds, and Sir Walter Blunt rides up. The rebels quickly
stop arguing to present a united front before the king's messenger.

Blunt states the rebels' legal position--they stand "out of limit
and true rule... against anointed majesty." (Notice the similarity
of this observation to Falstaff's remarks on his girth in Act III,
Scene iii. The fat knight also stands outside all social and
political limits.)

NOTE: Blunt is raising one of the central moral and political
questions of the play: Is it ever right to rebel against a king?
Shakespeare's audience would have said that rebellion against a
crowned king is always a grave sin. But what if the king is also a
tyrant, or a usurper? Do the same moral attitudes apply?

King Henry was a traitor against the rightful king of England,
Richard II. The men who fought with Henry against Richard now fight
against Henry. If a thief takes a crown from another thief, has any
crime been committed? Or has a form of rough justice triumphed, one
thief punishing another? If these questions sound familiar, it's
because you considered them in Act II, Scene ii, when Prince Hal
robbed Falstaff. Try to apply the answers you gave to Prince Hal's
moral dilemma here. Do you still think they fit?

Blunt, in the name of the king, asks the rebels to state their
grievances. He delivers an offer from Henry of pardon and safety if
they surrender now.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 59-96

Hotspur steps forward to speak for the rebels. His first words are
directed at Henry's habit of breaking promises: "The King is kind,
and well we know the King / Knows at what time to promise, when to
pay." If Henry has broken promises to them before, why should he
keep this one? Hotspur implies.

Hotspur recites yet another history of the events that led up to the
crowning of Henry. All through the play, you've heard hints and
fragments of information about Henry's political campaign. But now,
just before the battle, Shakespeare presents the evidence against
the king, like a skillful prosecutor summarizing a case before a
jury.

From the beginning of his speech Hotspur describes Henry as a
criminal, "a poor unminded outlaw sneaking home." In Hotspur's
version of history his father Northumberland was Henry's campaign
manager, who led the rest of the country in supporting Henry.
Hotspur describes how Henry calculated each step up the ladder of
political success, taking opportunities as he found them and turning
them into political platforms, all the time seeming to care only
about the country's problems. Hotspur is convinced that Henry was
after power for his own use.

In Act III, Scene ii, you heard Henry's version of this story. He,
too, sees himself as a clever politician, one who is able to win
popular support. But Henry didn't tell you all the political events
in his campaign. Here, Hotspur is cataloguing some of the worst
deeds. At this late moment perhaps Shakespeare is showing you that
there are no clearcut heros or villains in this fight. In the middle
of war it's sometimes hard to tell which side is "right."


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 97-122

Hotspur's history of Henry's crimes against the commonwealth stops
with the deposition and murder of Richard. He continues with a list
of personal grievances, which are the true reasons for the rebellion.
Everything Hotspur lists, you saw happen in Act I, Scene iii. There
it seemed that the Percies were contriving a series of challenges to
Henry's authority and then accusing the king of acting unreasonably,
so they would have grounds for rebellion. But from Hotspur's account
here, it does sound like their grievances are very plausible. Think
about the accounts of current events you hear on the news. Most of
you probably accept these as true. But in this play you've seen
events twisted, represented differently to support different
factions' political goals. How does this make you feel about what
you hear or read in the news?

At the end of his list of grievances Hotspur asks Blunt to bring
them some guarantee of safety if they surrender, and Blunt goes back
to the royal camp to obtain it. Does this mean that Hotspur is
thinking about surrendering, after all his talk about honor? It's a
surprising possibility, but we'll never find out, because he won't
be given the chance to surrender, as you'll see in Act V.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT IV, SCENE IV

This brief scene gives the illusion of time passing while Blunt is
carrying the rebels' answer back to Henry. Like the carrier scene in
Act II, this one provides a commentary on the action about to begin.

You're in the Archbishop of York's palace, where a very worried York
is sending messages posthaste to the other rebel leaders.

You learn that the king's army outnumbers the rebel army three to
one.

NOTE: Think about Falstaff's similar predicament at Gad's Hill: He
was outnumbered two to one by the men in buckram. In the face of
such overwhelming odds Falstaff chose to turn and run. Faced with
even greater odds, however, Hotspur will stand and fight. It's one
measure of the differences between these two characters. You have to
decide which man you think uses the best strategy.

You also learn that Glendower has refused to show up at Shrewsbury,
convinced by prophecies that he shouldn't join in. Mortimer isn't
coming to claim his inheritance, either. Could it be that Glendower
really knows the outcome of the battle? Or is he merely playing a
political game, still annoyed by Hotspur's rude behavior when he was
a guest in his house? Either way, you have a growing sense that the
rebels' alliance is falling apart.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT V, SCENE I

On the morning before a civil war, the sun looks bloody and the
winds howl ominiously. Nature unleashes her fury when a country
tears itself apart.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-30

In the king's camp Henry, Hal, Prince John, Blunt, and Falstaff
assemble to meet with the rebel's emissary, Worcester. A trumpet
sounds, and Worcester arrives to answer the king's offer of pardon.

Henry chides Worcester amiably, like an old friend. Worcester agrees
that there are better ways he could spend his declining years, but
the rebellion could not be avoided. Falstaff jokes cynically that
Worcester found rebellion the way you might find a penny in the
street while walking (in Elizabethan terms, Worcester found a crown
in his path and took it). Hal tells Falstaff to be quiet. The old
knight has already shown how absurd Worcester's defense is, but you
can also see how out of place Falstaff's roguish wit is when serious
matters are being discussed.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 31-83

Now Worcester tells you his version of Henry's political campaign.
Rather than sound angry, Worcester manages to sound sad that
rebellion was forced on him. Worcester paints Henry more as a victim
of time and circumstance than as the self-seeking politician of
Hotspur's speech. Worcester says Henry was swept into kingship on a
"flood of greatness" and "a swarm of advantages." He drew support
from the people--with the Percies' help--but after he assumed his
full power, Worcester explains, they were afraid of being swallowed
by the new king. Remember Worcester's warning to Henry that the
Percies were the true power behind the crown, who brought him to his
"portly" greatness (Act I, Scene iii, line 13)? Now he talks about
Henry's "bulk" of power. Again, you may think of Falstaff and his
contrast with the king.

The main part of Worcester's grievances, though, stems from the
broken promises Henry made to the Percies before he became a
candidate for kingship. The rebellion, therefore, Worcester claims,
was caused by Henry himself, by his "unkind usage, dangerous
countenance, / And violation of all faith and troth." Worcester
doesn't even mention the deposition. Perhaps he's clever enough to
see that he shouldn't accuse Henry of being a traitor when he is
hoping to overthrow a king himself.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 84-116

Prince Hal's manner so far in this scene has been detached and
critical (as it so often was in the tavern). Now he cuts short the
king and Worcester's argument, by offering himself in hand-to-hand
combat against Hotspur. Hal offers himself humbly as a "truant" to
knighthood, against the man he calls the greatest knight of his time.
The odds sound much better for Hotspur this way.

But Hal wouldn't suggest this fight if he didn't think he could win.
You've seen before how carefully he reckons his chances before
launching any action. You've already learned that he isn't
interested in winning honor for its own sake, but intends to force
Hotspur to render up every glory. This must be another of Hal's
calculated moves in his reformation plan.

Henry is too proud of his son and heir (at last!) to risk losing him.
He's seen proof of Hal's diplomatic skill just now, but he knows
nothing yet of the young man's military abilities. Henry refuses to
let Hal fight Hotspur, and earnestly entreats Worcester to
reconsider the offer of pardon, to heal the breach and make everyone
friends again. These optimistic lines seem a little forced, though.
Notice that Henry follows them with a stern warning of punishment if
the rebels insist on a battle.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 117-122

Worcester departs without another word. The king and Hal agree that
Hotspur and Douglas are too proud and confident ever to agree to
surrender, and so they begin preparations for battle. Henry goes off
to war, praying for God's help, "as our cause is just."

These words are ironic, coming from a man whose list of political
crimes you've just heard twice. Yet Henry is the king, and if order
is to be maintained, any rebellion must be regarded as illegal and
sinful.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 123-128

As Hal starts to leave, Falstaff holds him back to ask for
protection in the battle, to prove that they're still friends.

Hal, however, counsels Falstaff to say his prayers, and reminds the
old man that he owes God his final reckoning--death. The actor
playing Hal might say these words with bitterness, or with a joking
tone, or with an air of preoccupation, his thoughts already on the
battle. Whichever way he speaks to Falstaff, though, Hal goes off to
join his father, leaving Falstaff alone before a great battle. The
old knight is horseless as well. His circumstances are just as they
were at the beginning of the Gads Hill robbery.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 129-143

This time, though, Falstaff doesn't roar for Hal to come back. He
turns Hal's cynical words about death around; if that's a debt he
owes God, then he can put off paying it. You've seen how much
Falstaff dislikes paying his bills; the thought of paying God for
his life must seem like the worst reckoning of all. I won't call God,
decides Falstaff, if he doesn't call me.

Having thus talked himself into some kind of courage, Falstaff
starts to walk off to war. "Honor pricks me on," he announces
confidently. But then he stops, thinks, turns around, and has a
series of second thoughts.

He wonders if honor is something worth dying for, and proceeds to
argue with himself (since no one else is around) over the practical
advantages of fighting for honor.

Can honor set a leg? No. Or an arm? No.... What
is honor? A word. What is that word honor?...
Air--a trim reckoning! Who hath it? He that died a
Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No.... But will it not
live with the living? No. Why? Detraction will not
suffer it. Therefore I'll none of it....

Honor can give Falstaff neither life nor fame, it won't help him
live through a battle or live forever in reputation. The battle
Falstaff is about to risk his life in is being fought for honor--and
he doubts very much that that's worth dying for.

Some readers say Falstaff's catechism on honor is his way of
rationalizing being a coward. Other readers see it as a realistic if
cynical, look at the fortunes of war.

NOTE: If you compare Falstaff's and Hotspur's views of honor, you'll
understand the two men's relationship for the rest of the play. To
Hotspur, honor is more important than life itself, and the pursuit
of honor drives him to his death. He stands for image and ideals.
Falstaff hacks away at the meaning of honor until he's reduced it to
a puff of air, a word. The only honor worth having is life. Falstaff
is physical, realistic, vivid, contradictory--a slice of life.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT V, SCENE II

In this scene the rebels deceive each other.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-27

In most stage productions of this play the audience sees the battle
starting now. Trumpets are blaring, drums are beating; soldiers are
fastening helmets, checking their weapons, giving and taking orders.

Worcester tells Vernon not even to tell Hotspur of the king's
"liberal and kind" offer for peace. Worcester doesn't trust the king
to keep his word; once you're a traitor, he points out, you'll
always be regarded as a traitor, so there's no way we can really go
back to our former position at court. Hotspur, however, is likely to
escape the king's punishment, Worcester adds, because we'll be
blamed for misleading and corrupting him. "We did train him on,"
sighs the old politician, and we "shall pay for all." Unlike Prince
Hal, Hotspur couldn't see that his elder companions were misleading
him. Hal rejected Falstaff, but Hotspur joined Worcester and
Northumberland. His downfall thus began at just about the same time
as Hal's reformation.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 28-43

Hotspur and Douglas enter together to discover what happened between
Worcester and King Henry. Notice that the rebel leaders are still
split into two factions, divided by different levels of courage and
politics. Their internal dissension is in contrast to the solid
front on the king's side.

Worcester lies, telling Hotspur that "There is no seeming mercy in
the King." Douglas is sent to find Westmoreland, to deliver the
rebels' challenge.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 44-72

Douglas returns almost immediately with a frantic call to arms. Now
that the war has been officially declared, Worcester feels it's safe
to tell Hotspur about Hal's challenge to fight him in single combat.
Hotspur's reaction exactly parallels Hal's offer: Both young men
wish they could fight this war alone, and together.

Vernon describes Hal's challenge in glowing terms, and speaks of
Hal's amazing transformation:

If he outlive the envy of this day,
England did never owe so sweet a hope,
So much misconstrued in his wantonness.

Nobody on stage in this scene wants to hear this. The battle
preparations stop, and no one else speaks. Hal has redeemed his bad
reputation--exactly as he said he would.

NOTE: Everyone in Shakespeare's audience knew what would happen next-
-Hal would kill Hotspur in hand-to-hand combat. Hal appears here
like the sudden blaze of a comet, lighting up the dark sky of
rebellion. It's an omen: a good one for England and a poor one for
Hotspur. It's a mirror that he could look into and see his own death.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 73-104

Yet Hotspur buoyantly teases Vernon for being "enamored" of Hal's
new image, and promises to crush Hal by hugging him--in a soldier's
death-grip embrace. Hotspur turns to his soldiers and gives them a
rousing pep talk. But a messenger arrives; Hotspur ignores him. He
keeps talking boldly about their future glory, whether they win or
lose, live or die. A second messenger arrives, announcing that the
king's army is coming. Hotspur and his soldiers on stage are locked
together in an embrace of soldierly commitment, though the odds
against their winning are impossibly high. The trumpets play. Before
the military tattoo is over, the stage is left empty.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT V, SCENE III

During the battle of Shrewsbury, all the major themes are brought
together, and focus on the figure of Prince Hal.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-33

Henry enters with his army. They take up battle positions for an
attack. At the sound of a trumpet, they rush noisily into battle
(offstage).

NOTE: The king's shrewd tactic is to send lords dressed in his royal
colors into battle. Douglas will kill these "kings" one by one,
until he finally meets the real king of England. These "counterfeit"
kings may symbolize all the claimants for the crown in the play, or
they may be signs that Henry is as much of a coward as Falstaff,
disguising his fears with mighty images. It is indeed ironic that
Henry, the royal impostor, should send royal impostors into battle
to defend his crown.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 34-43

Falstaff, running as fast as he can, stumbles over one of the dead
"counterfeits," Sir Walter Blunt. "There's honor for you! Here's no
vanity!" he cries. Blunt's lifeless body perfectly illustrates
Falstaff's conception of honor.

Falstaff willingly has led his ragamuffin soldiers into wholesale
slaughter: not even three of them are left alive. His pathetic army,
though comical, serves as an ironic commentary on Henry's royal
counterfeits. Both the foot soldiers and the disguised noblemen now
lie in the mud. Yet Falstaff is alive, against great odds.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 44-61

When he hears someone coming near, Falstaff looks for a hiding place.
He's relieved to discover it's no one fiercer than Prince Hal.
Falstaff tells him a monstrous lie, that he's done Hal a great favor
and killed Hotspur. Hal calls Falstaff a liar and asks to borrow his
sword. Falstaff gives Hal a bottle of sack instead. But Hal
furiously throws the bottle at Falstaff; the middle of a battlefield
is no place for jokes. This episode shows Hal as a dedicated soldier-
-and it shows Falstaff's continued resistance to the honor of war.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 62-67

Alone, Falstaff makes a bargain with himself to fight Hotspur--if
their paths should happen to cross. He takes another look at dead
Blunt, and shudders. "Give me life," he declares. If he can't live,
he knows he'll have honor in his death, but he doesn't particularly
want to pursue that.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 1-25

The royal father and sons meet on the edge of the battlefield. Hal
is badly wounded but refuses to rest. He advises Henry to return to
the fighting, lest the army think he's dead and lose heart.

NOTE: When Henry returned from exile and began his campaign to
become king, King Richard II was in Ireland, losing a war. His
return to England was delayed by bad weather, and many people
thought he was dead. That was one of the reasons Henry had so little
trouble taking the crown. The fact that Henry returns to the battle
at Shrewsbury is a clue that, unlike Richard, he will win and keep
his crown.

Here you see Hal in the garment of blood he promised to put on in
Act III, Scene ii. He's proving to be a brave soldier and continues
to brush off his father's cautious advice. He praises his younger
brother like a generous knight and scorns his wounds with as much
disregard as Hotspur does.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 26-62

The king's army of counterfeit kings seem to pop up everywhere (much
like Falstaff's army of imaginary thieves in Act II, Scene iv). When
Douglas faces Henry and challenges Henry's identity, he voices one
of the play's central questions: Who is the real king?

Douglas remains skeptical, although he admits that this man bears
himself like a king. So, you know, did Falstaff when he was play-
acting in the tavern. Both Henry and Falstaff steal crowns and both
manage to act like kings. Does acting like a king entitle a man to
rule? Hotspur is called the "king of honor" and is Henry's ideal of
an heir. Mortimer is Richard's designated heir. Each has a claim to
the crown, but does either of them deserve to be king?

Whether or not Douglas is convinced that he is indeed standing
before the true king, he fights Henry, an older and weaker man, to
the ground. Henry is about to be robbed of his life and his crown,
when Prince Hal arrives on the scene. He announces his identity to
Douglas: "It is the Prince of Wales that threatens thee, / Who never
promiseth but he means to pay." Douglas does not doubt Hal's word or
his ability with a sword. Henry may be vulnerable, but his son is
not. After fighting with Hal, Douglas flees.

The true prince rescues his father and restores his crown to him.
(Remember that he restored the treasury "crowns" stolen at Gad's
Hill, in Act III, Scene iii.)

Henry praises Hal's behavior and admits that the young man has
overturned his father's opinion of him. The king welcomes Hal back
into the line of succession. He confesses that he thought Hal wanted
him dead. Hal's reply to his father is bitter but honest; it's
dangerous to listen to rumors, he says. If my bad reputation had
been real, father, you would now be dead. Notice how realistic their
reconciliation is. It takes a long time for people to learn to trust
each other again after a long estrangement. There's no sudden,
magical reunion here.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 63-117

As the king limps away to return to battle, Hotspur appears before
Hal. Hotspur has come to steal Hal's title, his claim to the crown.
Hal now has a chance to take away Hotspur's honors, with which he
intends to "make a garland for my head"--a crown of honor.

Notice that the very minute Hal becomes Hotspur's equal in Henry's
eyes, Hotspur arrives to challenge him. Now that they are equal at
last, only one of them can live: "England cannot brook a double
reign / Of Harry Percy and the Prince of Wales," Hal warns Hotspur.

As the rival princes fight, Falstaff enters and stands nearby,
cheering Hal on from the sidelines just as he cheered on the thieves
at Gad's Hill.

Douglas reenters, and finding no more kings to fight, he challenges
Sir John Falstaff (who has, after all, looked like a king before in
this play). The old knight fights as long as he sees reason--and
then falls down, pretending to die. (Sometimes on stage, the actor
playing Falstaff falls down before Douglas strikes even one blow.)
Falstaff moans as though in his death agonies. Douglas comes closer
to inspect his dying foe. Falstaff suddenly lies very still,
pretending to be dead. Douglas shrugs and moves off, looking for
better opponents.

At the very moment Falstaff feigns death, on another part of the
stage Hal mortally wounds Hotspur. As Hotspur dies, he mourns the
loss of his honor more than the loss of his life. To the end, he
remains consistently the "King of honor."

NOTE: Dying, Hotspur sees himself as "life's fool," but some readers
say that Hotspur is honor's fool. Hotspur's view of himself is
romantic and tragic. Falstaff might say that his loss of life is
ridiculous. Why choose to be food for worms when there are so many
good things in life?

Hal mourns the dead Hotspur as he would a brother. He does not steal
Hotspur's honor, after all, but generously allows Hotspur to "take
thy praise with thee to heaven." Just as he returned the stolen
crowns and his father's crown, so Hal now restores Hotspur's crown
of honor. Hal tenderly covers Hotspur's mangled face with a few
feathers plucked from his helmet. This noble gesture shows how well
Hal deserves his own title, the "king of courtesy."

As Hal rises from bending over Hotspur's body, he sees Falstaff
lying "dead." Having just spoken a eulogy over Hotspur, now he
speaks one over Falstaff. Hal treated Hotspur like a prince, but he
treats his old friend with a more familiar, joking tone:

Poor Jack, farewell!
I could have better spared a better man.
O, I should have a heavy miss of thee
If I were much in love with vanity.

"Vanity" is empty boasting, Falstaff's brand of honor, which Hal has
now rejected. In spite of himself, Hal is sorry to lose a good
friend, but he won't miss his frivolity. Hal promises to pay for
Falstaff's funeral, to have him emboweled for posterity.

On stage, Hal would be now standing between his two models, Hotspur
and Falstaff: between virtue and vice, courage and cowardice, spirit
and sensuality, rebel and thief. He looks at both bodies and walks
away.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 118-136

Falstaff may want to lose weight but disemboweling wasn't what he
had in mind. He gets to his feet as quickly as possible and proceeds
to rationalize his counterfeit death as "the true and perfect image
of life." You might say that the dead Hotspur is the true and
perfect image of honor. To Falstaff, however, a better honor is
"discretion," knowing when to run for one's life.

Falstaff sees Hotspur's dead body, and his cynical, practical view
immediately transforms the corpse's value. Falstaff sees it as a
chance to steal some glory. He looks around to make sure no one is
watching, stabs Hotspur in the thigh, and throws the corpse over his
shoulders like a sack of potatoes.


HENRY IV, PART 1: LINES 137-174

As Falstaff lugs away Hotspur, Hal and John return to attend to the
bodies. They watch Falstaff struggle, fascinated. Hal can't believe
his eyes, but Falstaff assures them he is very much alive. He tosses
Hotspur to the ground with a mock humility, and claims whatever
reward is due.

Falstaff is claiming the reward for killing the greatest knight as
well as the king's worst enemy. Hal stands dumbfounded while
Falstaff spins another web of monstrous lies about his duel with
Hotspur. Falstaff accuses Hal of lying and boasts that he and
Hotspur fought for an hour before he wounded Hotspur. Falstaff never
actually says he killed Hotspur, but implies it with great bravado:

If I may be believed, so;  if not, let them that
should reward valor bear the sin upon their own heads.

Falstaff has turned Hotspur's beloved ideal of military glory into a
quest for tangible rewards, for titles, wealth, and social status.
These are the commodities Hal has just rejected, the elements of
honor he doesn't need.

To his credit, Hal takes the whole thing as a joke, and promises to
see how much he can get for Falstaff as a reward. Can you imagine
Hotspur doing the same? Hal's honor is proving to be not only a
sense of humility with the people of England, but also a sense of
security that needs no outward display. Perhaps you've known people
like this, who don't have to be conceited about their good qualities.
Do you think they make good leaders?

As the trumpet sounds the retreat, Hal and John go to survey the
field. You learn that the king's army has won.

With Hotspur's body flung across his back, Falstaff goes off,
promising to repent, lose weight, stop drinking, and live modestly,
"as a nobleman should do." When Falstaff reappears in Henry IV, Part
2, Hal will have procured him a pension; Falstaff will be dressed
lavishly and living off a fake reputation as a great military hero.


HENRY IV, PART 1: ACT V, SCENE V

You can see the victory at Shrewsbury as a sign that King Henry has
won the right to rule England. He has also ensured the rightful
succession of the crown, by restoring Prince Hal to favor. But
because Henry's a usurper, rebels will grow like Hydra's heads;
there are still threats to his kingdom. King Henry therefore divides
his triumphant army in two, to march against Northumberland and York,
Glendower and Mortimer. The play ends as it began, with civil
uprisings and bloodshed.

Notice that Henry is still not a perfect king. He exercises justice
arbitrarily; he condemns Worcester and Vernon to death but allows
Prince Hal to free Douglas. But unlike his behavior in Act I, Scene
i, Henry seems here to be acting with a firm control over the
destinies of his people, and trusts his son to administer justice.

Hal is definitely emerging as a model leader. His attitude toward
prisoners of war contrasts with Hotspur's in Act I. Hotspur treated
his "honorable spoil" as political pawns, but Hal graciously allows
his brother John to free his "honorable bounty" Douglas
unconditionally. The battle of Shrewsbury has taught Hal "to cherish
such high deeds, / Even in the bosom of our adversaries." As a true
prince, Hal shows generosity to his enemies and courtesy to the
court. As a good politician, Hal values Douglas' military skill--a
grateful Scottish general would be a powerful asset to an English
king--and bends the laws against treason in order to gain a
potential ally.

Royal grace mixes equally with shrewd political ability in the
character of Prince Hal. This balance of leadership qualities will
help him become England's great hero-king, Henry V. But that's
another play.


HENRY IV, PART 1: GLOSSARY OF CHARACTERS

ARCHIBALD, THE FOURTH EARL OF DOUGLAS  Born 1369, known as "Tyneman"
in history. Fought at Shrewsbury, but was captured and kept prisoner
until 1408. He later fought with the French against Henry V. He was
killed in battle in 1424.

FALSTAFF, SIR JOHN  Fictitious knight and companion of Prince Hal,
based probably on Sir John Oldcastle, who was a companion of the
real Henry IV's and possibly a friend to Prince Hal. Oldcastle was
born in 1378; he was High Sheriff of Herefordshire and became Lord
Cobham by marriage in 1409. He fought in France with Henry V, but
was accused of heresy and executed in London in 1417.

GLENDOWER, OWEN  Welsh nobleman, Lord of Glyndwyr, descended from
Llewellyn, the last of the Welsh kings. Born 1359, he possibly
served as a lawyer at Richard II's court, and was educated in
England. Glendower first rebelled against Henry IV over the king's
handling of a real estate dispute with one of his neighbors.
Defeated at Shrewsbury, he joined with the French against Henry V in
1405. Renowned for his magical abilities. Died in 1415.

KING HENRY IV  Born 1367 at Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire, the eldest
son of John of Gaunt, who was Duke of Lancaster and a grandson of
King Edward III. Created Duke of Hereford under Richard II, he was
then banished by Richard in 1398. He returned to England in 1399 to
claim his deceased father's title, but with popular support and the
approval of Parliament, became king. He ruled England from 1399-1413,
when he died (possibly of leprosy) in a chamber in his palace called
Jerusalem.

HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES  Born 1387 at Monmouth, Wales. The eldest son
of King Henry IV, Prince Hal became King Henry V after his father's
death in 1413. He conquered France and married the French king's
daughter, Katherine. He died in France in 1422, leaving a young
child Henry VI, on the throne.

JOHN OF GAUNT  Born 1340, third son of King Edward III. His name
derives from his birthplace, Ghent, in Flanders. He was created Earl
of Richmond in 1342; Duke of Lancaster in 1361; Duke of Aquitaine in
1390. Died in 1399.

JOHN, DUKE OF LANCASTER  Born 1389, third son of Henry IV. He
captured leaders of the northern rebellion and had them executed
after promising amnesty. He became Regent of France under King Henry
V; later he conquered Orleans and Rouen, where he died in 1435.

MORTIMER, EDMUND, FIFTH EARL OF MARCH  Born 1391, he was the heir to
his father's claim to the throne after 1398, but he was a friend to
Henry V. He died of the plague in 1425.

MORTIMER, ROGER, FOURTH EARL OF MARCH  Born 1374, he was heir
designate to Richard II's crown. He died in 1398.

PERCY, HENRY, DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND  Born 1342, he was the head of
the most powerful baronial family in England. Died in 1408.

PERCY, HENRY, KNOWN AS HOTSPUR  Born 1364, he was the son of
Northumberland and a nephew of Worcester. He died in 1403 at the
battle of Shrewsbury, by an unknown hand. He was married to
Elizabeth Mortimer, daughter of the third Earl of March.

PERCY, THOMAS, EARL OF WORCESTER  Born 1342, he was captured and
executed at Shrewsbury, 1403.

KING RICHARD II  Born 1366, son of the Prince of Wales, Edward, the
Black Prince. When Edward III died (after his son and heir, the
Black Prince), Richard assumed the crown at age eleven. John of
Gaunt was made Protector of the realm until Richard was twenty years
old. Richard suppressed Wat Tyler's rebellion in 1381. He was
married twice: in 1382 to Anne of Bohemia, who died in 1394; in 1396
to Isabella of France, (who was only eight years old), for political
reasons. Also called Richard of Bordeaux, he was the eighth
Plantagenet king. He was deposed and died in mysterious
circumstances, 1399-1400.



HENRY IV, PART 1: ON KING HENRY IV

The one serious flaw in a brilliantly arranged usurpation was
Henry's dependence on powerful men for the support necessary to take
the crown from Richard, while at the same time seeking to maintain
the independence and inherent power of the office.

-Moody E. Prior, The Drama of Power, 1973


HENRY IV, PART 1: ON PRINCE HAL

The prince, who is the hero both of the comick and tragick part, is
a young man of great abilities and violent passions, whose
sentiments are right, though his actions are wrong; whose virtues
are obscured by negligence, and whose understanding is dissipated by
levity. In his idle hours he is rather loose than wicked, and when
the occasion forces out his latent qualities, he is great without
effort, and brave without tumult. The trifler is roused into a hero,
and the hero again reposes into the trifle. The character is great,
original and just.

-Samuel Johnson, The Plays of
William Shakespeare, 1785

Very conscious of the way that men respond to the image of royalty,
and no less instinctive a politician than his father, Hal is the
creator as well as the creature of political mythology, the author
as well as the hero of his legend.

-Robert Ornstein, A Kingdom for a Stage, 1972


HENRY IV, PART 1: ON FALSTAFF

[At Gad's Hill] What he leaves behind is not jeering contempt for a
butt or a coward, but affection; an affection compounded of many
simples: laughing sympathy for one who has "more flesh than another
man, and therefore more frailty", astonishment at the quick
dexterity with which he nevertheless carries his guts away,
merriment at the turning of the tables upon him, delight in the
sheer absurdity of his predicament, and above all--quite illogically,
though inextricably--blended with the rest, gratitude to the player
for the cleverness of the whole entertainment.

-John Dover Wilson, The
Fortunes of Falstaff, 1943


HENRY IV, PART 1: ON HOTSPUR

Hotspur's speech [Act I, Scene iii, lines 30-71], by far the most
sustained in the play to this point, is so full of detail, so quick
and apparently spontaneous in elaboration,... so varied by
impersonations of the "popinjay", and yet so strong and lively in
rhythm that his character is strongly established in its own right
by this one manifestation. The speech glistens with light and shade
and is charged with energy. Given the active performance implied by
the language, Hotspur usurps all attention.

-John Russell Brown,
Shakespeare in Performance, 1976


HENRY IV, PART 1: ON THE MEANING OF THE PLAY

Analysis leaves us then, with symbols of Power and Appetite as the
keys to the play's meaning: Power and Appetite, the two sides of
Commodity... Those who see the world of Henry IV as some vital,
joyous Renaissance England must go behind the facts Shakespeare
presents. It is a world where to be normal is to be anti-social, and
to be social is to be anti-human. Humanity is split in two. One half
is banished to an underworld where dignity and decency must
inevitably submerge in brutality and riot. The other half is
restricted to an overworld where the same dignity and decency
succumb to heartlessness and frigidity.

-John F. Dandy,
Shakespeare's Doctrine of Nature, 1949

                               THE END