Synopsis
The second play in William Shakespeare’s tetralogy of plays which also includes “Richard II”, “Henry IV, Part 2”, and “Henry V”, “Henry IV, Part 1” is believed to have been written no later than 1597. A history play, the drama concerns the unquiet reign of Henry Bolingbroke. Following the usurpation of the throne, Henry IV is plagued with guilt over his role in the imprisonment and death of King Richard II. In order to resolve himself of this internal conflict Henry IV leads a crusade to the Holy Land. Meanwhile the King is troubled by his son’s behavior. The future King Henry V, the Prince of Wales, nicknamed Prince Hal, has forsaken the Royal Court in favor of spending his time in taverns with lowlifes, which brings into question his royal worthiness by the fellow nobleman of the royal court. Prince Hal is particularly captivated by Sir John Falstaff, a charismatic old drunk. The action of the play revolves around three groups. First there is the King and his council. Secondly there is a group of rebels comprised principally of the Percys and the Mortimers. Thirdly there is the Prince and his companions, who provide a comic relief from the serious action of the play. Ultimately the Prince abandons his carousing ways and assumes his royal duty as the conflict between the King and the rebels comes to a head at the Battle of Shrewsbury. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper, includes a preface and annotations by Henry N. Hudson, and an introduction by Charles Harold Herford.
About the Author
William Shakespeare was from Stratford-on-Avon England, and baptized on 26 April 1564. His family had lived in Stratford-on-Avon for generations. Shakespeare's father John Shakespeare was the Catholic mayor, and a leading figure of Augustinian Catholicism in England. In this capacity John Shakespeare was responsible for the trust funds in which British Augustinians concealed investments that would otherwise have been subject to confiscation if left in the hands of private individuals. For years William Shakespeare himself was involved in legal proceedings to determine the proceeds of such funds. Shakespeare's father was driven out of public office and into a kind of political underground by persecution organised by militant proponents of predestination in the Calvinist church and their Jesuit allies. For the first nearly two centuries after his death in 1616, William Shakespeare's plays were not performed in England. Were it not for the role of Friedrich Schiller, the great German dramatist of the late 1700s, William Shakespeare might now be unknown. Through his plays, William Shakespeare opened the mind of his audiences to the tragedy of history and realities of human behaviour, introduced in the English language the concept of irony, and metaphor. Shakespeare's work had, in Shakespeare's lifetime, an uplifting influence on the capabilities of human reason benefiting the entire population of England.
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