HENRY IV PART I

Leading characters in the play

King Henry IV	This is a very worried man. When he was plain 		Henry Bolingbroke, he was exiled from his native 			country — England — but returned (after his father’s 		death) to claim his inheritance. Soon afterwards, he 		deposed the King, Richard II, and usurped his throne. 		Now he has two great problems. He is afraid that he too 		may lose his throne and kingdom# and he is distressed 		because his elder son and heir, the Prince of Wales, 		seems to be a riotous, irresponsible young man.

Prince Hal	The Prince of Wales is having a good time. He and his 		friends are usually found in taverns, and he seems to 		have no sense of the proper behaviour for a prince. But 		gradually we learn that Hal is not a mere “playboy”.

Hotspur	This is the nickname of Henry Percy, son of one of the 		King’s chief opponents. He is young and impetuous (as 		the nickname suggests), but he is also a very valiant 		warrior who has already won a great reputation for 		himself. He has an exaggerated sense of military honour,                      which he values above everything else.

Sir John Oldcastle	A most complex character. He is a fat knight, who 		eats too much, drinks too much, and spends most of his 		time in the tavern. He has a great sense of humour — 		and makes fun of himself, as well as laughing at the 		other characters. He is also a liar, a thief, and a coward. 
The character called “Sir John” in the play is often known as “Falstaff”# however, when the play was first acted, the name of this character was “Oldcastle”, after Sir John Oldcastle, a Lollard who was hanged for heresy in 1417, and might have provided the inspiration for the frequent Biblical quotations and Puritan speech mannerisms which Shakespeare’s character uses to comic effect. It is believed that Shakespeare changed “Oldcastle” to “Falstaff” as a result of protests from Oldcastle's descendants. This edition restores Sir John's original name.