WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, KING HENRY IV, PART I. Key Moments in the Plot. Act I

Transcription

1 1 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, KING HENRY IV, PART I Key Moments in the Plot Act I Sc. I: In London, at the palace, Henry Bolingbroke, now King Henry IV after successfully overthrowing Richard II, is at first optimistic that the fighting is over and peace will prevail. He even considers undertaking a Crusade to free Jerusalem from the Saracens, like Richard I before him. Before long, however, various continuing threats to his hold on the crown are revealed. The Earl of Westmoreland reveals that Edmund Mortimer, the Earl of March, has been taken prisoner by the Welsh rebel Glendower while Harry Percy (aka Hotspur), the son of the Earl of Northumberland, has been locked in battle with the Scottish rebel Archibald, the Earl of Douglas; though the outcome is at first uncertain, Sir Walter Blunt arrives to announce Hotspur s victory. Henry reveals his respect and fondness for Hotspur and his concerns about his own son, young Harry. Henry learns that the Earl of Worcester, Hotspur s uncle and Henry s rival for the throne, has advised him not to turn over his prisoners to the King. Sc. II: In Prince Hal s (or Harry s) apartment, Falstaff and the Prince converse after a night of carousing and womanising in the brothels. As Harry has fun criticising, mocking and making scarcely veiled threats to his friend, one gets the impression that he is growing tired of this way of life. Poins enters and proposes that they rob some travellers. Falstaff ironically accuses Prince Hal of being a corrupting influence on him. After Falstaff departs, Poins reveals that the pilgrims have already been waylaid and begs Harry to join him as they in turn rob Falstaff and company. Harry states his intention to reform his ways. Sc. III: At the palace, Henry briefly confronts Worcester directly about his rebellious attitude. Northumberland defends Hotspur, saying that he did not refuse to handover the prisoners. Hotspur speaks in his own defence arguing that the King s man sent to get the had so offended him that he had reacted in anger. Henry reveals that Mortimer has married Glendower s daughter and thus betrayed the King, for which reason no ransom should be paid. Hotspur leaps to the defence of Mortimer, his wife s brother, saying that he fought Glendower bravely, something which Henry does not believe. Henry leaves warning Hotspur to had over the prisoners but Hotspur quietly refuses to do so. Worcester enters and Hotspur tells him of Henry s refusal to ransom Mortimer. When he learns that Mortimer was named as his successor by Richard II, Hotspur comes to believe that the King is reluctant to ransom Mortimer in order to keep him out of the picture. Worcester tries at this point to share with Hotspur his plans to revolt against the King, but Hotspur at first pays him little attention because he is over-emotional about the situation with Mortimer; he swears that he will not handover the prisoners and expresses his regret that he ever helped Henry ascend to the throne. Worcester finally is allowed to reveal his plans: he tells Hotspur to return the prisoners not to the King but to Douglas with whom he should join forces, and tells Northumberland to join forces with the Archbishop of York who is resentful towards Henry over the death of his brother Lord Scroop. Act II Sc. 1: Act II begins with a conversation between two carriers seeking to spend the night in a seedy inn in Rochester. Gadshill receives information from the Chamberlain (Chamber

2 2 assistant at the Inn) that a franklin (a rich freeholder of inferior rank to the gentry) from Kent is travelling with three hundred marks of gold. Gadshill plans a robbery and promises the Chamberlain a share of the loot because of the information which he has provided. Sc. 2: Somewhere on a highway, Prince Hal and Poins play a trick on Falstaff by hiding his horse from him. Gadshill, Bardolph and Peto enter and they all plan to rob a group of Travellers. The Prince and Poins disappear before Falstaff and company rob the travellers, and then reappear and rob the thieves of their takings. Sc. 3: At Warkworth Castle in Scotland, Hotspur enters reading a letter warning him of the danger of what they are planning to do. His wife, Kate, enters and asks why she has been banished from his bed for two weeks and what does he seem to be in such consternation. They share a tender moment of mutual affection but he refuses to reveal where he is going and what he is planning to do. Sc. 4: At the Boar s-head Tavern in Eastcheap (London), Prince Hal and Poins await Falstaff s arrival. The Prince passes the time at first by making fun of the servant Francis till Poins reports that Falstaff and company have arrived. Falstaff is angry that the Prince and Poins were nowhere to be seen when, after robbing the Travellers, they were in turn robbed. In a famous scene of comic exaggeration, Falstaff amplifies both the odds he faced (the number of his assailants increases exponentially as he talks) and his own courageous response. The Prince takes great delight in pointing out the contradictions in Falstaff s account before revealing that he and Poins were the attackers. Falstaff quickly does his best to save face by pretending that he knew that it was the Prince and Poins all along but, for that reason, had held himself back. At the point, the Hostess enters to announce that a Courtier, Sir John Bracy, is looking for him. Falstaff leaves to deal with him and returns to announce that the Prince has been summoned by the King because Hotspur, Northumberland, Worcester, et al. have joined together to overthrow the monarch. The Prince orders Falstaff to pretend to be the King and to examine him on the particulars of his life. Falstaff does so and uses the opportunity to sing the praises of his son s friend Falstaff. Then the Prince tells Falstaff to play the Prince while he plays the role of the King and uses the opportunity to criticise him at some length. Their extempore play is interrupted by the arrival of the Sheriff hot on Falstaff s trail and with orders to search the tavern. The Prince turns them away with a promise to turn over Falstaff if he has done the crime. Falstaff has by this time fallen asleep and the Prince decides to let him sleep but not without searching his pockets where he finds a bill for a lot of food and even more wine. Act III Sc. I: In the Archdeacon s House at Bangor in Wales, Hotspur, Northumberland, Worcester, and Glendower conspire to overthrow Henry IV. Hotspur takes delight in poking holes in Glendower s myths about himself and his martial exploits. He is warned by Mortimer of the consequences of so doing. They then discuss the Archdeacon s division of the kingdom between themselves. Hotspur feels that he has not been given an equal share of land and demands that Glendower give him some of the land which he has been assigned, but the latter refuses pointblank. Glendower enrages Hotspur who is once more warned by Mortimer of the dangers of riling up his rival. Glendower brings their wives to spend some time with them before hostilities commence. Mortimer and his wife, Glendower s daughter, share a tender moment, the former complaining that he cannot understand the language

3 3 which she speaks. Hotspur and Kate also share another tender moment. Sc. II: At the palace in London, the King confronts his son about his riotous life-style, warning him that the people have no respect for him as a result. Prince Hal admits that he has done many wrong things, begs forgiveness and pledges to be different. The King realises that the new challengers to his rule are doing exactly what he did when he sought to overthrow Richard II. Prince Hal reiterates his intention to turn overleaf, motivated in particular by the contrast drawn between Hotspur and himself. Blunt arrives with news that the rebels are gathering their forces. The King makes plans to send first Westmoreland with his other son Lord John of Lancaster, and then Prince Hal, before he himself goes. They arrange to meet Bridgenorth in twelve days time. Sc. III: Back at the Boar s-head Tavern, Falstaff is now awake and expresses to Bardolph that he has lost too much weight. Falstaff asks the Hostess who picked his pocket the night before. The Hostess demands that Falstaff settle his debt. At this point, the Prince returns. Falstaff complains to him that the Hostess robbed him of a lot of money the previous night while he slept, while the Hostess in turn reveals the negative things which Falstaff said about the Prince, including claiming that the latter owes him 1000 pounds. A different Prince now appears, dismissing Falstaff s accusation against the Hostess, letting the latter go about her business and appointing Falstaff to be in charge of a squadron of foot soldiers. The Prince sends Bardolph with messages to his brother and Westmoreland, sends Peto to get the horses as they have far to ride before dinner and orders Falstaff to meet him at 2 pm where he will be given money and equipment for his soldiers. Act IV Sc. I: At the rebel camp near Shrewsbury, Hotspur and Douglas are busy praising each other when a messenger arrives with news that the former s father is ill and cannot join up with them. Hotspur is concerned that this will have a negative impact on their campaign while Worcester worries that others may misinterpret this to mean that Northumberland has misgivings over the whole enterprise. Hotspur tries to read another interpretation into these developments: the struggle is all the harder but the glory will be accordingly greater. Vernon enters and reveals that Westmoreland and Prince John are on their way as is the King and Prince Hal. Hotspur s derisive comments about Hal in particular and his wasted youth are counterbalanced by Vernon s very admiring comments on the latter s warlike appearance. More bad news is announced at this point: Glendower s arrival is delayed resulting in the fact that the rebels being significantly outnumbered, in response to which Hotspur characteristically says, bring it on. Sc. II: On a public road near Coventry, Falstaff reveals that he has misused the money assigned to him by Prince Hall to raise an army, hiring a motley crew of useless types and pocketing the difference. At this point Prince Hal and Westmoreland enter and make jokes about the troops which Falstaff has assembled sand reveal that the King has encamped for the night. Sc. III: At the rebel camp, Hotspur has to be restrained by older and wiser heads from launching an attack on the King s camp until all the rebel forces have gathered. Blunt enters and asks on the King s behalf that they explain the reason why they have staged a rebellion against the rightful monarch. Hotspur replies that they helped Henry IV gain power and paints a negative picture of the King s ingratitude to his erstwhile supporters.

4 4 He defers giving an answer to the King s question and promises to send his uncle to the next morning with a response. Sc. IV: At his palace in York, Archbishop Scroop expresses fear that the rebels are badly outnumbered by the King who has quickly raised a huge army and is concerned that they will be the next target. He sends Sir Michael with messages to various allies asking them to come to his assistance. Act V Sc. I: Worcester arrives at the King s camp and is asked why they have mounted a rebellion. Worcester repeats Hotspur s spiel about the King s ingratitude (interrupted by one smart-alecky comment from Falstaff). The King makes a peace offer: all will be forgiven if they lay down their arms. Prince Hal offers, if there is no alternative to battle, to fight with Hotspur one on one. Worcester leaves to take the offer to the rebels but the King and Prince Hal expect that Hotspur and Douglas will not back down. After the King leaves, Falstaff has a brief chat with Prince Hal before revealing that he does not intend to die on the battlefield. Sc. II: Worcester decides not to convey the King s peace offer to Hotspur and Douglas because he suspects that the King cannot allow them to live because of the threat which they pose to his grip on the crown. He also conveys the Prince s offer to fight one on one with Hotspur. Messengers arrive but Hotspur cannot stop to read the letters they carry because the King s army is rapidly approaching. Sc. III: On the battlefield, Douglas meets up with and kills Blunt who is pretending to be the King. Douglas believes that the battle is accordingly over till Hotspur points out his error and the fact that the King has deployed many lookalikes to confuse the enemy. Falstaff discovers Blunt s dead body and opines that this is the wages of bravery. The Prince enters and asks for Falstaff s sword but finds only a bottle of wine in its sheath. Falstaff claims to have killed Hotspur but the Prince rightly does not believe him. Sc. IV: Elsewhere on the battlefield, the King reveals that Prince Hal has been wounded and begs Prince John to go with him to seek treatment. Prince Hal gallantly refuses to do so, dismissing his wound as a mere scratch. Prince John leaves to continue the fight and Prince Hal expresses his admiration for his brother. It is revealed that, though a mere boy, John fought Hotspur courageously. The King is attacked by Douglas but Prince Hal intervenes and chases Douglas away. The King expresses newfound admiration for his son who, it is stressed, has mended his bad former ways. Hotspur and the Prince then do battle in the course of which Hotspur is mortally wounded. At almost the same time, Falstaff and Douglas briefly have a fight which ends with the former pretending to be dead. Prince Hal pays tribute to his dead foe. He also sees Falstaff apparently dead on the ground and bids him farewell with some affection. He leaves him there next to Hotspur till his corpse can be collected and disembowelled. When the Prince leaves, Falstaff rises and stabs the dead Hotspur in his leg, hoping to take credit for his death. The two Princes arrive and, to the surprise of Hal, find Falstaff alive. The latter claims to have killed Hotspur for which he thinks he deserves an earldom or dukedom. Prince Hal reveals that he was the one who killed Hotspur but Falstaff claims that Hotspur came back to life and that he killed him once more. In the spirit of the moment, Prince Hal agrees to accept Falstaff s tale at face value. At this point, the rebels sound the retreat and the two Princes

5 5 go to see who has survived the battle. Falstaff indicates that if he gains the rewards he hopes to receive, he intends to mend his ways and live like a gentleman should. Sc. V: The King remonstrates with Worcester for not bearing his peace offer to the other rebels and orders his and Vernon s execution forthwith. Prince Hal reveals that Douglas tried to flee when he saw that Hotspur had fallen but was captured and brought to his tent. He successfully begs his father for the opportunity to dispose of Douglas whom he then hands over into his brother s care, advising him to recognise Douglas valour and set him free. The play ends with the King ordering Prince John to launch an attack on Archbishop Scroop and Northumberland in York while Prince Hal is to deal with Glendower and Mortimer in Wales, thereby setting the stage for the events depicted in King Henry IV, Part II. Term Paper Questions Referring closely to the play, answer ONE of the following questions: 1. Discuss the comic elements in King Henry IV, Part I, focusing in particular on the role played by Falstaff. 2. A time / Of pellmell havoc and confusion ( ). Does King Henry IV, Part I illustrate the view that politics is merely war by another name? 3. Thus ever did rebellion find rebuke (5.5.1) at the hands of anointed majesty (4.3.40). Would you agree that King Henry IV, Part I is Shakespeare s paean of praise to the Tudor dynasty and, thus, his own monarch Elizabeth I? 4. The transformation of Prince Hal from nimble-footed madcap Prince of Wales (4.1.95) to the point where he can confidently assert to Hotspur that I am the Prince of Wales (5.4.63) is one ultimately designed to stress his suitability to be king. Do you agree? 5. 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 ( ). Is Hotspur a fully developed tragic hero in his own right or simply Prince Hal s dramatic foil? 6. Loveable rogue or fall guy for the Prince s youthful misdeeds? With which description of Falstaff would you concur? 7. He plays, strangely, a very minor role in a play that is, after all, named for him. Discuss the portrayal of King Henry in the light of this quotation. 8. A political action thriller rather than a detailled character study. Discuss with regard to King Henry IV, Part I. 9. The world of King Henry IV, Part I is largely a patriarchal world in which women, as well as issues of concern to women, are almost non-existent. Discuss. (For precise instructions, please download the Term Paper PDF itself.)