ENGL 4203/5583: Shakespeare: Histories and Comedies

John M. Mercer, Professor of English

Northeastern State University, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Study Guide 6: Henry IV, Part I (1 Henry IV)

 

Background

Study Guide 5 contains the answers to some of these questions.

  1. 1 Henry IV is considered to be the greatest of Shakespeare’s history plays.  To which of Shakespeare’s two tetralogies of history plays does 1 Henry IV belong?  What play precedes 1 Henry IV in this tetralogy?  What plays follow it?
  2. In addition to being a history play, is 1 Henry IV considered to be a comedy, a tragedy, or both?  Why?
  3. As we will do in this class, 1 Henry IV is often read and performed separately from 2 Henry IV.  What different theories explain the relationship between 1 Henry IV and 2 Henry IV?
  4. Although the Henry IV plays are named after the king, the title actually means something more like “Some of the Troubles of the Reign of Henry IV.”  Richard II describes the root of these troubles.
    1. By what name is Henry IV known in most of Richard II? 
    2. According to the Tudor myth, why is Henry’s reign so troubled?  In Richard II, who predicts these troubles?  Where in the play does this prediction appear?
  5. King Henry IV is not the main character of the Henry IV plays.  Who is the main character of the Henry IV plays and of Henry V?  What makes him the main character?  
  6. What is Shakespeare’s main source for the Henry IV plays?

 

Battles in 1 Henry IV

Use the following chart to help you follow the three battles of the play.  The first two battles are described near the beginning of 1.1.  The Battle of Shrewsbury is enacted in 5.3-4.

 

Date                Place                King’s supporter         King’s enemy              Result                         

June 1402        Wales              Mortimer                     Glendower (Welsh)     Mortimer is captured

& marries Glendower’s daughter

 

Sept. 1402       Homildon        Hotspur                       Douglas (Scots)           Hotspur captures

                        (Holmedon)                                                                             Douglas but refuses to

                        Hill                                                                                          release prisoners to                                                                                                                              king

 

July 1403         Shrewsbury     Henry IV &                 Hotspur, Douglas,       Hal kills Hotspur;

                                                Prince Hal                   & others                      Hotspur’s Rebellion is

                                                                                                                        defeated.        

 

  1. After Glendower captures Mortimer as a prisoner of war, what does Mortimer do in captivity that King Henry IV considers to be treasonous?
  2. What additional reason does the king have for not wanting Mortimer to be ransomed from captivity?  According to the footnotes in the textbook, which two different Mortimers do Holinshed and Shakespeare confuse?  (See the genealogical chart on page 630.)
  3. After Hotspur defeats the Scots under Douglas at the Battle of Holmedon Hill, what does Hotspur do that the king considers treasonous?  Why does Hotspur do this?  (This last question is also covered elsewhere in the study guide.)
  4. What offers do King Henry IV and Prince Hal make to try to prevent the Battle of Shrewsbury from being fought?  Why do the rebels not accept each of these offers?
  5. What rebel leaders do not show up with their troops at the Battle of Shrewsbury as planned?  Why?
  6. After the Battle of Shrewsbury, how is Prince Hal merciful toward Falstaff?  toward Douglas?  Why?

  

Prince Hal

Henry IV’s eldest son, Prince Hal, also called Harry, later becomes Henry V.  Because of his victories over the French, Henry V has the reputation for being the greatest of all English kings or, as Shakespeare puts it in Henry V, “the mirror of all Christian kings” (line 6 of Chorus at beginning of act 2).  According to the Tudor myth, Henry V’s victories can be attributed to a temporary stay of God’s judgment against England following the usurpation of the throne of Richard II by Henry IV, father of Henry V.   

 

In contrast with his exalted reputation as king, Prince Hal’s reputation as a wild youth grew into legends that were available to Shakespeare.  Many people believed—and still believe—that a great man needs to have an interesting, wayward youth so that his greatness in adulthood will be unexpected and thus all the more impressive.  (The title of a biography of the early life of President John F. Kennedy, for example, is JFK: Reckless Youth.)

  1. In Richard II, what is said about Prince Hal’s behavior (5.3.1-22)?
  2. Carefully study Prince Hal’s first soliloquy, beginning with “I know you all” (1H4 1.2.195-217).
    1. In this soliloquy, what explanation does Hal give for his present unruly behavior?  In what way will his present behavior serve as a foil to show off his later greatness?
    2. In what way does this soliloquy destroy suspense about what will happen later in the play?
    3. When Hal delivers this soliloquy, in what criminal action has Hal just agreed to participate?  Who first suggests this activity?  In what way does this soliloquy serve to reassure the audience about Hal’s character?
    4. How could this soliloquy be interpreted to suggest that Hal is a Machiavellian character—a cold, calculating, manipulative politician who will do whatever is necessary to gain and keep power?
    5. How do you respond to this soliloquy?  Does it make you view Prince Hal as a more sympathetic or less sympathetic character?  Why?
  3. What prank do Prince Hal and Poins play on Francis the drawer (who “draws” ale and serves it to the customers) at the Boar’s Head Tavern (2.4.1-79)?  How could Hal’s behavior in this scene be linked to his attitude in his first soliloquy?

 

The Education of the Prince

In the Renaissance, conduct books described desirable qualities for gentlemen, rulers, and would-be rulers.  These conduct books included A Mirror for Magistrates, Thomas Eliot’s The Book Named the Governor, and Machiavelli’s The Prince.  One interpretation of 1Henry IV sees the play as developing the theme of the education of the prince.  In this interpretation, the play is about the process of Hal’s coming of age by learning to accept responsibilities and demonstrate the qualities that are suitable for a prince. 

  1. In the context of the Renaissance, a “prince” can be either a ruler OR the son of a ruler.  How are both definitions applicable to Prince Hal?
  2. How could Prince Hal’s first soliloquy in 1 Henry IV be interpreted to undercut the idea that he needs to be educated in royal ways? 
  3. Besides the Renaissance conduct book, another genre that influences 1 Henry IV is a particular type of medieval morality play known as the Prodigal Son morality play.  After you have finished reading 1 Henry IV, explain how Prince Hal’s behavior conforms to each of the following elements of the plot of a Prodigal Son morality play:
    1. Just as the Prodigal Son in the parable leaves home, so the Everyman character acts on bad advice.
    2. Just as the Prodigal Son wastes his money in “riotous living,” so the Everyman character degenerates morally.
    3. Just as the Prodigal Son returns home at last, so the Everyman character finally turns from his evil ways.
    4. Just as the Prodigal Son is welcomed back by his father, so the Everyman character is accepted back into the fold.
  4. When viewed in the context of Prodigal Son morality plays, how is Prince Hal’s situation in 1 Henry IV like that of Francis the drawer in 2.4.1-79?
  5. What particular lines in Hal’s role-playing scene with Falstaff (2.4.276-481) serve as a turning point in the play in that Hal publicly acknowledges Falstaff’s unacceptability as a role model and states his intention to abandon his wayward lifestyle?
  6. When the stage direction says “A knocking heard” (2.4, between 481 and 482), who is knocking?  Why?  In terms of the “education of the prince,” what is the significance of the knocking?
  7. When King Henry summons Prince Hal to appear before him (3.2), what accusations does the king make against his son?  What promise does Hal make about his future behavior?  What courageous offer does Hal make?
  8. How does Prince Hal prove himself in the Battle of Shrewsbury?

 

Settings and Role Models in 1 Henry IV

1 Henry IV uses three primary settings, each of which provides an alternative environment for the education of Prince Hal:

  1. The court (palace) of Hal’s father, King Henry IV
  2. The Boar’s Head Tavern
  3. The camp of rebels against Henry IV

For each of the above settings in the play, answer the following questions:

    1. Who is a potential role model for Prince Hal in this setting?
    2. What is positive about the role model’s behavior?
    3. What kind of disorder or problem is present in this setting?
    4. What is negative about the role model’s behavior?
  1. What evidence from the play suggests that Prince Hal is highly adaptable, able to move freely between the court and the tavern?
  2. By the end of the play, Prince Hal must find a balance between the behavior of Falstaff at one extreme and that of Hotspur at the other extreme.  At the end of the play, after the Battle of Shrewsbury, Prince Hal stands up (literally and symbolically) between Falstaff and Hotspur, both of whom appear to be dead.  
    1. In what ways are both Falstaff and Hotspur appealing characters?
    2. In what ways are both Falstaff and Hotspur childlike and immature?
    3. In what ways do both Falstaff and Hotspur exhibit extreme behaviors?
    4. How can the names of both Falstaff and Hotspur be interpreted as phallic symbols?  How are these phallic symbols appropriate to each character’s view of honor? 
  3. Historically, Hotspur was 23 years older than Hal, but Shakespeare makes the two characters about the same age.  What is gained by this change?   What passages in the play establish the two as foils to each other?
  4. What is Hotspur’s view of honor?
    1. According to King Henry, why does he envy Northumberland for having a son like Hotspur (1.1.78-90)? 
    2. According to Hotspur’s explanation to King Henry IV, why does Hotspur initially refuse to release to the king the prisoners of war he took in his victory over the Scots under Douglas (1.3.29-70)?  What does Hotspur’s attitude reveal about his view of honor?
    3. According to what Hotspur says in 1.3.201-08, what would he be willing to do to gain honor?  How does he feel about sharing honor with others?
    4. In 2.4.101-12, what traits of Hotspur does Hal ridicule?  How does he ridicule these traits?  How does this passage relate to Hotspur’s concept of honor?
  5. What is Falstaff’s view of honor?
    1. What do particular scenes of the play reveal about Falstaff’s view of honor?  
    2. What does Falstaff reveal about his view of honor in his soliloquy before the Battle of Shrewsbury (5.1.127-41)?  Falstaff’s critique of honor, as he reveals in the last line of the soliloquy, is in the form of a catechism.  What is a catechism?  What other comic catechism have we studied in this class?

 

Evaluation of Hal’s Character

Overall, Prince Hal’s character has been evaluated in two quite different ways.

  1. The positive view of Hal’s character is that he is the ideal prince and (later) king.
    1. How could Hal’s inappropriate behavior as a youth be an asset to his image as “the mirror of all Christian kings”?
    2. How do the following two speeches of Vernon, one of the rebels against Henry IV, help to support a positive view of Hal’s character:

                                                              i.      4.1.98-110

                                                            ii.      5.2.51-68

    1. What other evidence (including evidence found elsewhere in this study guide) supports a positive view of Hal’s character?
  1. The negative view of Hal’s character does not criticize him for sowing his wild oats but rather for being a cold, calculating, Machiavellian schemer.  What evidence (including evidence found elsewhere in this study guide) supports a negative view of Hal’s character? 

 

Falstaff

Falstaff is one of Shakespeare’s greatest and most beloved characters.  He is a major character in three of Shakespeare’s plays: 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.  The end of 2 Henry V promises that Falstaff will be a character in Henry V, but instead the latter play reports the death of this character.  According to a persistent legend, Queen Elizabeth I asked Shakespeare to write a play about “Falstaff in love,” thus inspiring The Merry Wives of Windsor.  (The answers to many of the following questions are found in the editor’s introduction to 1Henry IV in our textbook.)

  1. Falstaff is very loosely based on—and was originally supposed to be named after—a  historical person.  What is the name of this person?  Where in 1 Henry IV does a pun on this person’s name appear?  Why did Shakespeare decide not to use the name of this historical person in the play?  How does the character of Falstaff in 1 Henry IV sharply contrast with each of the following traits of this original historical person?
    1. The historical person was a religious martyr before the Protestant Reformation whose beliefs resembled those of Protestants and Puritans.
    2. The historical person died at age 39.
    3. The historical person’s body was of average size.
    4. The historical person was a friend of King Henry IV but not of his son Prince Hal.
  2. What is the relationship between the old play The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth and the depiction of Falstaff in the Henry IV plays?  What is the content of this old play?
  3. What is a Vice or Iniquity character?  Where in Hal’s role-playing scene with Falstaff (2.4.376-481) does Hal acknowledge that Falstaff is this type of character?
  4. Falstaff also fits the stereotype of a miles glorious or braggart soldier from classical comedy.   How and to what extent does each of the following characteristics of a braggart soldier fit Falstaff?
    1. coward
    2. parasite
    3. braggart
    4. victim of practical jokers
  5. In a soliloquy (4.2.11-48), Falstaff explains how he has “misus’d the King’s press damnably.”
    1. What is “the King’s press”?
    2. How has Falstaff seriously abused “the King’s press”?
    3. How do Falstaff actions here relate to the stereotype of a braggart soldier?
  6. Falstaff also is a stereotypical hedonist.  What is a hedonist?
    1. In his first line of the play, what question does Falstaff ask Hal?  According to Hal’s response, what is ironic about Falstaff’s asking this question? 
    2. What are some of the specific lines of the play that reveal Falstaff’s physical size and appearance?  How could his appearance relate to hedonism?
    3. What is Falstaff doing when the sheriff comes looking for him at the tavern?  How does this scene relate to Falstaff’s hedonism?
    4. When Prince Hal picks Falstaff’s pockets while he is asleep, what does Hal find?  What hedonistic activities do these items reveal?
    5. At the Battle of Shrewsbury, what is Falstaff supposed to be carrying in his pocket?  What is he carrying instead?  How does this situation relate to Falstaff’s hedonism?
  7. As suggested by the previous questions in this section of the study guide, Falstaff has many characteristics that we usually consider to be negative or unsympathetic.  Why, then, is he such a beloved character?
  8. Support or attack each of the following assertions that have been made about Falstaff:
    1. Although Falstaff enjoys telling tall tales (lies), he does not really expect to be believed.
    2. Although Falstaff may seem to be a coward, he is actually a realist who wants to keep from getting killed.
  9. Extra-credit research:  What more can you learn about how critics have interpreted Falstaff’s character? How do you respond to these interpretations?

 

Famous Lines

Answer these questions about each of the following quotations:

a.       Who says it?

b.      To whom is it said?

c.       What is the situation in the play?

d.      What does the quotation mean?

 

  1. “If all the year were playing holidays,

To sport would be as tedious as to work;

But when they seldom come, they wish’d for come,

And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents. . . . (1.2.204-07 and the rest of this speech)

 

  1. “By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap,

To pluck bright honor from the pale-fac’d moon,

Or dive into the bottom of the deep . . .” (1.3.201-03)

 

  1. “Anon, anon, sir.” (throughout 2.4)

 

  1. “That villainous abominable misleader of youth, Falstaff, that old white-bearded [Satan]”  (2.4.462-63)

 

  1. “The nimble-footed madcap Prince of Wales” (4.1.95)

 

  1. “The better part of valor is discretion. . . .”  (5.4.119-20)