1 Henry IV
Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere;
Nor can one England brook a double reign,
Of Harry Percy and the Prince of Wales.
Where Richard II lays the groundwork, the Henry IV plays are where the real fun is, especially in Part 1.
1 Henry IV is probably Shakespeare’s most memorable history play, setting up such a perfect balance of tensions and such a memorable cast of characters that leaves the viewer/reader both delighted with the humor and moved by the pathos.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate a few reasons why this play works so well and is so much fun to read, through the three great tensions within the play:
Two likable young heroes who must face each other in a contest for the future of the nation.
The tension between the two young Henrys escalates throughout the story. Prince Hal pulls pranks on his friends in Eastcheap, while secretly developing his nobility for the moment when he needs to shine. Hotspur has the acts of valor already under his belt, but his temper and fiery independence lead him into rebellion. Hotspur appears to be the son Henry IV always wanted, but Prince Hal is poised to become the true inheritor of the crown both in spirit and in fact. Both characters are rich and vivid, and the play forces us to like both of them while also recognizing the looming and inevitable conflict between them. Only one Henry can survive to the end of the play, and we’re both enthralled, but also grieved by the certain loss of an excellent character.
The play contains Shakespeare’s most lovable rascal, Falstaff.
Falstaff is endlessly cheerful and quick-witted. No matter how often Prince Hal and Poins pin him in a prank, Falstaff comes up with a clever solution to excuse his bluster. In many ways, he’s both a false father figure and a Peter Pan, the delightful image of what it means never to grow up. However, Prince Hal’s knowledge that he must someday cast aside childish behavior and step up to the kingship flavors all his jokes and laughter with a kind of bittersweetness. As lovable (and wicked) as Falstaff is, he must someday be put aside for the sake of the kingdom, adding a potent resonance to the Eastcheap scenes.
Henry IV is tormented by the thought that his son will become another Richard II.
Henry Bolingbroke took the crown from Richard II, after watching Richard destroy the country in wastefulness and frivolity. Now, his own son, Prince Hal, seems determined to waste his youth and seems destined to become the same kind of poor ruler. Henry IV is tormented by this, and we see the struggle as he longs for the heroic kind of son he sees in Hotspur. However, he doesn’t realize what we know, that Henry is preparing himself to shine even brighter for his current dim appearance. He says almost immediately after he is introduced:
I know you all, and will awhile uphold
The unyoked humour of your idleness:
Yet herein will I imitate the sun,
Who doth permit the base contagious clouds
To smother up his beauty from the world,
That, when he please again to be himself,
Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at,
By breaking through the foul and ugly mists
Of vapours that did seem to strangle him.
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.
So, when this loose behavior I throw off
And pay the debt I never promised,
By how much better than my word I am,
By so much shall I falsify men's hopes;
And like bright metal on a sullen ground,
My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes
Than that which hath no foil to set it off.
I'll so offend, to make offence a skill;
Redeeming time when men think least I will.
Although Henry IV sees Hotspur as the hero and Prince Hal as the wastrel, notice that the real redemptive climax comes not from Prince Hal defeating Hotspur in battle (although we know he must), but in rescuing his father from The Douglas. At first, Hal thinks that defeating Hotspur is his path to honor. He says, just before fighting with Hotspur:
All the budding honours on thy crest
I'll crop, to make a garland for my head.
However, by showing his father that he truly honors and loves him in his rescue, Hal wins his father’s respect, more than the accolades he could have received from defeating Hotspur. He seems to realize this by the end, and even allows Falstaff to steal the glory of the kill.
I hope you enjoy this play as much as I do! For more fun, check out our bonus video and materials on Patreon, or some of the other videos below.
