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Inside Shakespeare’s mind :

Henry IV, presented as a glum neurotic

There are instances that Shakespeare is right historically but as the play gains momentum, he varies his stand. Historically Henry IV is 37 years old but he appears twice his age as the Bard puts him across.

The period of play is the summer of 1402 to the following summer and as the play opens Henry IV (Henry Bolingbroke) had reigned from 1399 to 1413 which means he had been on the throne for three years.

Hotspur (Henry Percy) was 23 years older than Prince Hal (his son, Prince of Wales) but Shakespeare for his own reasons and convenience, treats them as contemporaries. And Shakespeare is right because if ever there was a reign so short and complicated with so many Lords, Earls, Knights etc. bearing down on a king, it is then that of King Henvy IV. In the play, he had to extricate himself from so many situations and events found in history and Shakespeare came off unscathed.

Synopsis

Written in two parts from 1596 to 1598, he sites the play in England, and the King is deeply troubled with his domestic and national affairs. He has to face a rebellion raised by a Welshman named Glendower who is supported by the fiery Harry Percy (Hotspur) and his uncle (Worcester) and father (Northumberland). He is sad at the behaviour of his son, the Prince of Wales also known as Prince Hal who is always influenced by the dubious knight, Sir John Falstaff and the rest. But at the end of Act.

The youthful King IV dragged through the play unnecessarily by Shakespeare to fill the gaps he could not cover up historically.

1 in a solilquy; Hal swears to redeem himself if the necessity arise. A robbery is planned by the companions after which Hal and Poins disguised, scar away Falstaff and Bardolph and later, Falstaff boasts of his enterprise at the Boar's Head but Hal exposes him and impersonate the King and speaks in uncomfortable candour.

In Wales, the rebels are assembled with his former prisoner, Mortimer who is Hotspur's brother-in-law, presently Married to Glendower's daughter. Hotspur and Worcester plan to divide the kingdom when they win in the war. Unaware of this scheming in London, the King admonishes his son comparing his behaviour to that of Hotspur. He promises that there will be a change and before leaving with his father to fight the rebels, offers a command of foot-soldiers to Falstaff. The rebels find that their forces are depleted but Hotspur urges on:-

(The rebel camp hear Shrewsbury. Enter Hotspur, Worcester and Blunt)

Hotspur – The King is kind; and well we know the King. Know at what time to promise, when to pay. My father and my uncle and myself did give him that same royalty he wears. And when he was not six and twenty strong, sick in the world's regard, wretched and low. A poor unminded outlaw sneaking home, my father gave him welcome to the shore and when he heard him swear and vow to God.

He came but to be Duke of Lancaster ....

Act. V, Sce II

The King offers pardon to the rebels if they disband but Worcester keep the news from Hotspur. In the battle at Shrewsbury, Hal kills Hotspur in single fight though on a cynical solilquy, Falstaff claims responsibility and the honour of doing so. After the royal party has won the war and two of its rebels went for execution, Hal and his brother, Prince John set off on an expedition.

In performance

A much acted play though Henry IV is Falstaff's dominance, this fat and odd knight, steal the show from everyone on stage. However, the Prince of Wales and Hotspur contain grand theatrical parts. The fusion of high drama with dramatic verse, it is the condition of the play that pushes Henry IV to the surface. Its robust allure is unmatched in Shakespeare Folio.

Ion two senses, the Part 1 of King Henry IV has been first in more productions than its even finer sequel. However, we find them played together in consecutive performances. The sources here are Holinshed and the first half of an anonymous title called famous victories of Henry V (1598) Clearly there would have been very many performances. Macready was the first to become the radient King in Part II.

Roy Byford's laughing Falstaff was deeply appreciated by the Stratford audience in 1920. Two popular revivals were seen with Robert Atkins and George Robey at the Old Vic in 1935. They were followed by many stage production from both Parts of 1 and 11. Laurence Olivier who played Hotspur with flaming, darting fire, often stammering on letter ‘w’ is till unforgettable. Michael Pennington as Henry and John Woodvine as Falstaff was brilliant at the Old Vic in 1986-7 while Michael Stevens was Falstaff for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford in 1991-2.

The play was also mounted in Central Park for the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1981.


Credits

* Henry IV – He is 37 years old historically but in the play he appears twice age. He speaks nobly with much candour with the Prince, his wayward son.

* Henry, Prince of Wales – Determine to be a prince of all seasons. His brother is Prince John of Lancaster.

* Hotspur – He is the dominant Henry Percy, a man with a romantic passion. He has a great cry when he declares ‘By heaven, me thinks it were easy leap’ (1.3)

* Sir John Falstaff – Shakespeare’s fullest creation and prodigious repeater of phrases.

* Lady Percy – Hotspur’s wife, appears briefly.

* Sir Richard Vervon – Remembered for his speech describing the Prince. ‘I saw young Harry with his beacer on’ (IV-1)

* Glendower – We must assume that someone in Shakespeare’s company had a gift for Welsh character. That character is Owen Glendower

* Earl of Worcester – Hotspur’s uncle

* Earl of Northumberland – Hotspur’s father. Disappears after the first Act.

* Hostess Quickly – A voluble and angry character.

* Lady Mortimer – Edmund Mortimer’s English speaking wife and daughter to Glendower. In a wistful moment, she is miraculously evoked by Bridges-Adams at Straftford in 1930-2.

 

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