Henry IV, Part 2

Last updated

The Palace at Westminster, King Henry and the Prince of Wales (Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 2, Act 4, Scene 4), first published 1795, reissued 1852, Robert Thew, after Josiah Boydell The Palace at Westminster, King Henry and the Prince of Wales (Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 2, Act 4, Scene 4) first published 1795, reissued 1852 Robert Thew, after Josiah Boydell.jpg
The Palace at Westminster, King Henry and the Prince of Wales (Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 2, Act 4, Scene 4), first published 1795, reissued 1852, Robert Thew, after Josiah Boydell

Henry IV, Part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. It is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1 and succeeded by Henry V .

Contents

The play is often seen as an extension of aspects of Henry IV, Part 1, rather than a straightforward continuation of the historical narrative, placing more emphasis on the highly popular character of Falstaff and introducing other comic figures as part of his entourage, including Ancient Pistol, Doll Tearsheet, and Justice Robert Shallow. Several scenes specifically parallel episodes in Part 1.

Characters

Synopsis

The play picks up where Henry IV, Part 1 left off. Its focus is on Prince Hal's journey toward kingship, and his ultimate rejection of Falstaff. However, unlike Part One, Hal's and Falstaff's stories are almost entirely separate, as the two characters meet only twice and very briefly. The tone of much of the play is elegiac, focusing on Falstaff's age and his closeness to death, which parallels that of the increasingly sick king.

King Henry IV, Part II: Sir John Falstaff with His Page (Act I, Scene ii), Edwin Austin Abbey (1905) Edwin Austin Abbey - King Henry IV, Part II, Sir John Falstaff with His Page (Act I, Scene ii) - 1937.1172 - Yale University Art Gallery.jpg
King Henry IV, Part II: Sir John Falstaff with His Page (Act I, Scene ii), Edwin Austin Abbey (1905)

Falstaff is still drinking and engaging in petty criminality in the London underworld. He first appears followed by a new character, a young page whom Prince Hal has assigned him as a joke. Falstaff enquires what the doctor has said about the analysis of his urine, and the page cryptically informs him that the urine is healthier than the patient. Falstaff delivers one of his most characteristic lines: "I am not only witty in myself, but the cause that wit is in other men." Falstaff promises to outfit the page in "vile apparel" (ragged clothing). He then complains of his insolvency, blaming it on "consumption of the purse." They go off, Falstaff vowing to find a wife "in the stews" (i.e., the local brothels).

The Lord Chief Justice enters, looking for Falstaff. Falstaff at first feigns deafness in order to avoid conversing with him, and when this tactic fails pretends to mistake him for someone else. As the Chief Justice attempts to question Falstaff about a recent robbery, Falstaff insists on turning the subject of the conversation to the nature of the illness afflicting the King. He then adopts the pretense of being a much younger man than the Chief Justice: "You that are old consider not the capacities of us that are young." Finally, he asks the Chief Justice for one thousand pounds to help outfit a military expedition, but is denied.

Falstaff rebuked, Robert Smirke, c. 1795 Falstaff rebuked (Smirke, c. 1795).jpg
Falstaff rebuked, Robert Smirke, c. 1795

He has a relationship with Doll Tearsheet, a prostitute, who gets into a fight with Ancient Pistol, Falstaff's ensign. After Falstaff ejects Pistol, Doll asks him about the Prince. Falstaff is embarrassed when his derogatory remarks are overheard by Hal, who is present disguised as a musician. Falstaff tries to talk his way out of it, but Hal is unconvinced. When news of a second rebellion arrives, Falstaff joins the army again, and goes to the country to raise forces. There he encounters an old school friend, Justice Shallow, and they reminisce about their youthful follies. Shallow brings forward potential recruits for the loyalist army: Mouldy, Bullcalf, Feeble, Shadow and Wart, a motley collection of rustic yokels. Falstaff and his cronies accept bribes from two of them, Mouldy and Bullcalf, not to be conscripted.

In the other storyline, Hal remains an acquaintance of London lowlife and seems unsuited to kingship. His father, King Henry IV is again disappointed in the young prince because of that, despite reassurances from the court. Another rebellion is launched against Henry IV, but this time it is defeated, not by a battle, but by the duplicitous political machinations of Hal's brother, Prince John. King Henry then sickens and appears to die. Hal, seeing this, believes he is King and exits with the crown. King Henry, awakening, is devastated, thinking Hal cares only about becoming King. Hal convinces him otherwise and the old king subsequently dies contentedly.

The two story-lines meet in the final scene, in which Falstaff, having learned from Pistol that Hal is now King, travels to London in expectation of great rewards. But Hal rejects him, saying that he has now changed, and can no longer associate with such people. The London lowlifes, expecting a paradise of thieves under Hal's governance, are instead purged and imprisoned by the authorities.

Epilogue

Falstaff am Tisch mit Weinkrug und Zinnbecher, Eduard von Grutzner (1910) Eduard von Grutzner Falstatt am Tisch mit Weinkrug und Zinnbecher 1910.jpg
Falstaff am Tisch mit Weinkrug und Zinnbecher, Eduard von Grützner (1910)

At the end of the play, an epilogue thanks the audience and promises that the story will continue in a forthcoming play "with Sir John in it, and make you merry with fair Katharine of France; where, for all I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat". In fact, Falstaff does not appear on stage in the subsequent play, Henry V , although his death is referred to. The Merry Wives of Windsor does have "Sir John in it", but cannot be the play referred to, since the passage clearly describes the forthcoming story of Henry V and his wooing of Katherine of France. Falstaff does "die of a sweat" in Henry V, but in London at the beginning of the play. His death is offstage, described by another character and he never appears. His role as a cowardly soldier looking out for himself is taken by Ancient Pistol, his braggart sidekick in Henry IV, Part 2 and Merry Wives.

The 1587 edition of Holinshed's Chronicles 1587 printing of Holinshed's Chronicles.jpg
The 1587 edition of Holinshed's Chronicles

The epilogue also assures the playgoer that Falstaff is not based on the anti-Catholic rebel Sir John Oldcastle, for "Oldcastle died martyr, and this is not the man". Falstaff had originally been named Oldcastle, following Shakespeare's main model, an earlier play The Famous Victories of Henry V . Shakespeare was forced to change the name after complaints from Oldcastle's descendants. While it is accepted by modern critics that the name was originally Oldcastle in Part 1, it is disputed whether or not Part 2 initially retained the name, or whether it was always "Falstaff". According to René Weis, metrical analyses of the verse passages containing Falstaff's name have been inconclusive. [2]

Sources

Shakespeare's primary source for Henry IV, Part 2, as for most of his chronicle histories, was Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles; the publication of the second edition in 1587 provides a terminus a quo for the play. Edward Hall's The Union of the Two Illustrious Families of Lancaster and York appears also to have been consulted, and scholars have also supposed Shakespeare to have been familiar with Samuel Daniel's poem on the civil wars. [3]

Date and text

The title page of the Quarto version of the play 2H4 Q1 TP 1600.jpg
The title page of the Quarto version of the play

Henry IV, Part 2 is believed to have been written sometime between 1596 and 1599. It is possible that Shakespeare interrupted his composition of Henry IV, Part 2 somewhere around Act 3–4, so as to concentrate on writing The Merry Wives of Windsor , which may have been commissioned for an annual meeting of the Order of the Garter, possibly the one held on 23 April 1597. [4]

The play was entered into the Register of the Stationers' Company on 23 August 1600 by the booksellers Andrew Wise and William Aspley. The play was published in quarto the same year (printing by Valentine Simmes). Less popular than Henry IV, Part 1 , this was the only quarto edition. The play next saw print in the First Folio in 1623.

The first page of Henry the Fourth, Part II, printed in the First Folio of 1623 First-page-first-folio-2henry4.jpg
The first page of Henry the Fourth, Part II, printed in the First Folio of 1623

The quarto's title page states that the play had been "sundry times publicly acted" before publication. Extant records suggest that both parts of Henry IV were acted at Court in 1612—the records rather cryptically refer to the plays as Sir John Falstaff and Hotspur. A defective record, apparently to the Second part of Falstaff, may indicate a Court performance in 1619. [5]

The earliest extant manuscript text of scenes from Henry IV, Part 2 can be found in the Dering Manuscript (Folger MS V.b.34), a theatrical abridgment of both parts of Henry IV prepared around 1623.

Criticism and analysis

Henry IV part 2 act II scene 4, Henry Fuseli (1805) Fuseli Henry IV part 2 act II scene 4.jpg
Henry IV part 2 act II scene 4, Henry Fuseli (1805)

Part 2 is generally seen as a less successful play than Part 1. Its structure, in which Falstaff and Hal barely meet, can be criticised as undramatic. Some critics believe that Shakespeare never intended to write a sequel, and that he was hampered by a lack of remaining historical material with the result that the comic scenes come across as mere "filler". However, the scenes involving Falstaff and Justice Shallow are admired for their touching elegiac comedy, and the scene of Falstaff's rejection can be extremely powerful onstage.

The critic Harold Bloom has suggested the two parts of Henry IV along with the Hostess' elegy for Sir John in Henry V may be Shakespeare's greatest achievement. [6]

Adaptations

Falstaff choosing his recruits (Cawse, 1818) Falstaff choosing his recruits (Cawse, 1818).jpg
Falstaff choosing his recruits (Cawse, 1818)

There have been three BBC television films of Henry IV, Part 2. In the 1960 mini-series An Age of Kings , Tom Fleming starred as Henry IV, with Robert Hardy as Prince Hal and Frank Pettingell as Falstaff. [7] The 1979 BBC Television Shakespeare version starred Jon Finch as Henry IV, David Gwillim as Prince Hal and Anthony Quayle as Falstaff. [8] In the 2012 series The Hollow Crown , Henry IV, Part I and Part II were directed by Richard Eyre and starred Jeremy Irons as Henry IV, Tom Hiddleston as Prince Hal and Simon Russell Beale as Falstaff. [9]

Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight (1965) compiles the two Henry IV plays into a single, condensed storyline, while adding a handful of scenes from Henry V and dialogue from Richard II and The Merry Wives of Windsor . The film stars Welles himself as Falstaff, John Gielgud as King Henry, Keith Baxter as Hal, Margaret Rutherford as Mistress Quickly and Norman Rodway as Hotspur.

BBC Television's 1995 Henry IV also combines the two Parts into one adaptation. Ronald Pickup played the King, David Calder Falstaff, and Jonathan Firth Hal.

Gus Van Sant's 1991 film My Own Private Idaho is loosely based on both parts of Henry IV.

The one-man hip-hop musical Clay is loosely based on Henry IV. [10]

In 2015, the Michigan Shakespeare Festival produced an award-winning combined production, directed and adapted by Janice L. Blixt of the two plays, [11] focusing on the relationship between Henry IV and Prince Hal.

Pop culture

The Ultimate Edition of Monty Python and the Holy Grail features subtitles correlating scenes in the film to lines from the play.[ citation needed ]

A line from the play, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown", is frequently quoted (and misquoted, as "Heavy is the head that wears the crown").[ citation needed ] It appears in the opening frame of the movie The Queen .[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Falstaff</span> Character in three of Shakespeares plays

Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, where he is a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V of England. Falstaff is also featured as the buffoonish suitor of two married women in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Though primarily a comic figure, Falstaff embodies a depth common to Shakespeare's major characters. A fat, vain, and boastful knight, he spends most of his time drinking at the Boar's Head Inn with petty criminals, living on stolen or borrowed money. Falstaff leads the apparently wayward Prince Hal into trouble, and is ultimately repudiated after Hal becomes king.

<i>The Merry Wives of Windsor</i> Play by William Shakespeare

The Merry Wives of Windsor or Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a reference to the town of Windsor, also the location of Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England. Though nominally set in the reign of Henry IV or early in the reign of Henry V, the play makes no pretence to exist outside contemporary Elizabethan-era English middle-class life. It features the character Sir John Falstaff, the fat knight who had previously been featured in Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2. It has been adapted for the opera at least ten times. The play is one of Shakespeare's lesser-regarded works among literary critics. Tradition has it that The Merry Wives of Windsor was written at the request of Queen Elizabeth I. After watching Henry IV Part I, she asked Shakespeare to write a play depicting Falstaff in love.

<i>Henry IV, Part 1</i> Play by Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written not later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the battle at Homildon Hill late in 1402, and ending with King Henry's victory in the Battle of Shrewsbury in mid-1403. In parallel to the political conflict between King Henry and a rebellious faction of nobles, the play depicts the escapades of King Henry's son, Prince Hal, and his eventual return to court and favour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chronology of Shakespeare's plays</span> Possible order of composition of Shakespeares plays

This article presents a possible chronological listing of the composition of the plays of William Shakespeare.

<i>Sir John Oldcastle</i> 17th-century play sometimes attributed to William Shakespeare

Sir John Oldcastle is an Elizabethan play about John Oldcastle, a controversial 14th-/15th-century rebel and Lollard who was seen by some of Shakespeare's contemporaries as a proto-Protestant martyr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancient Pistol</span> Character in several plays by Shakespeare

Ancient Pistol is a swaggering soldier who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare. Although full of grandiose boasts about his prowess, he is essentially a coward. The character is introduced in Henry IV, Part 2, and he reappears in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry V.

<i>Chimes at Midnight</i> 1965 film by Orson Welles

Falstaff (Chimes at Midnight) (Spanish: Campanadas a medianoche) is a 1966 period comedy-drama film directed by and starring Orson Welles. The Spanish–Swiss co-production was released in the United States as Chimes at Midnight and in most of Europe as Falstaff. The film's plot centres on William Shakespeare's recurring character Sir John Falstaff and the father–son relationship he has with Prince Hal, who must choose between loyalty to his father, King Henry IV, and Falstaff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mistress Quickly</span> Character in several history plays by Shakespeare

Mistress Nell Quickly is a fictional character who appears in several plays by William Shakespeare. She is an inn-keeper, who runs the Boar's Head Tavern, at which Sir John Falstaff and his disreputable cronies congregate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doll Tearsheet</span> Character in Henry IV, Part 2

Dorothy "Doll" Tearsheet is a fictional character who appears in Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part 2. She is a prostitute who frequents the Boar's Head Inn in Eastcheap. Doll is close friends with Mistress Quickly, the proprietress of the tavern, who procures her services for Falstaff.

Sir John in Love is an opera in four acts by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The libretto, by the composer himself, is based on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor and supplemented with texts by Philip Sidney, Thomas Middleton, Ben Jonson, and Beaumont and Fletcher. The music deploys English folk tunes, including "Greensleeves". Originally titled The Fat Knight, the opera premiered at the Parry Opera Theatre, Royal College of Music, London, on 21 March 1929. Its first professional performance was on 9 April 1946 at Sadler's Wells Theatre.

<i>At the Boars Head</i> 1925 opera by Gustav Holst

At the Boar's Head is an opera in one act by the English composer Gustav Holst, his op. 42. Holst himself described the work as "A Musical Interlude in One Act". The libretto, by the composer himself, is based on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.

<i>The Famous Victories of Henry V</i> Anonymous 1580s English play

The Famous Victories of Henry the fifth: Containing the Honourable Battel of Agin-court: As it was plaide by the Queenes Maiesties Players, is an anonymous Elizabethan play, which is generally thought to be a source for Shakespeare's Henriad. It was entered by printer Thomas Creede in the Stationers' Register in 1594, but the earliest known edition is from 1598. A second quarto was published in 1617.

"Henry IV, Part I" and "Henry IV, Part II" are the second and third episodes of the first series of the British television series The Hollow Crown, based on the second set of plays in William Shakespeare's Henriad. The episodes were produced by Sam Mendes, directed and adapted by Richard Eyre and starred Jeremy Irons as King Henry IV, Simon Russell Beale as Falstaff and Tom Hiddleston as Prince Hal. Much of the cast and crew of both episodes overlap and the plot flows directly from the first to the second. The episodes were first broadcast on 7 July and 14 July 2012 on BBC Two.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bardolph (Shakespeare character)</span> Character in several plays by Shakespeare

Bardolph is a fictional character who appears in four plays by William Shakespeare. He is a thief who forms part of the entourage of Sir John Falstaff. His grossly inflamed nose and constantly flushed, carbuncle-covered face is a repeated subject for Falstaff's and Prince Hal's comic insults and word-play. Though his role in each play is minor, he often adds comic relief, and helps illustrate the personality change in Henry from Prince to King.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Shallow</span> Character in two of Shakespeares plays

Robert Shallow is a fictional character who appears in Shakespeare's plays Henry IV, Part 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor. He is a wealthy landowner and Justice of the Peace in Gloucestershire, who at the time of The Merry Wives of Windsor is said to be over 80.

<i>Falstaffs Wedding</i> Play by William Kenrick (1760 and 1766)

Falstaff's Wedding is a play by William Kenrick. It is a sequel to Shakespeare's plays Henry IV, Part 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Most of the characters are carried over from the two Shakespeare plays. The play was first staged in 1766, but was not a success. It was infrequently revived thereafter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corporal Nym</span> Character in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry V

Corporal Nym is a fictional character who appears in two Shakespeare plays, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry V. He later appears in spin-off works by other writers. Nym is a soldier and criminal follower of Sir John Falstaff and a friend and rival of Ancient Pistol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ned Poins</span> Character in Henry IV, parts 1 and 2

Edward "Ned" Poins, generally referred to as "Poins", is a fictional character who appears in two plays by William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2. He is also mentioned in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Poins is Prince Hal's closest friend during his wild youth. He devises various schemes to ridicule Falstaff, his rival for Hal's affections.

References

  1. Arden Third Series, ed. James C. Bulman, p. 155
  2. René Weis (ed), Henry IV, Part 2, Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 37.
  3. Humphreys, A. R., ed. (1981). King Henry IV, Part 2. The Arden Shakespeare, second series. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. xxxiii–xxxiv. doi:10.5040/9781408160350.40000045. ISBN   978-1-9042-7106-2.
  4. T.W. Craik (ed.), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), 1–13. See also H.J. Oliver (ed.), The Merry Wives of Windsor (London: Arden, 1972), lv and Leslie Hotson, Shakespeare versus Shallow (London: Kessinger, 1931/2003), 111–122.
  5. Halliday, F. E. A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964. Baltimore, Penguin, 1964; p. 215.
  6. The Anatomy of Influence, 2011.
  7. "BFI Screenonline: An Age of Kings" . Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  8. "BFI Screenonline: Henry IV Part 2 (1979)" . Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  9. "Cultural Olympiad 2012: Shakespeare's History Plays", BBC Media Centre, 24 November 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
  10. Jones, Kenneth (27 August 2008). "Matt Sax's Hip-Hop Musical 'Clay' Plays KC Prior to NYC". Playbill On-Line. Retrieved 10 September 2008.
  11. "Past Productions".