Henry IV, Part II
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Henry IV, Part II Details
The third part of Shakespeare's impressive 'Henriad,' this play follows "Richard II" and "Henry IV, Part 1," and precedes "Henry V." In this portion of the tetralogy of history plays, Prince Hal is once again out of favor with his father the king, who is in his last months of life. Falstaff, the comical criminal, is further rejected by Prince Hal, who believes he must disassociate himself with the London underworld before becoming king. This is certainly a more somber play, for Henry IV dies, and Falstaff reflects on his own approaching death. A credible play worthy of the Shakespeare's early writings, "Henry IV, Part 2" is a work of conflict, reconciliation, and musings on life and death that attest to the universal nature of the Bard of Avon's canon.
Reviews
Henry IV, Part 2, is seldom performed today. The story, which continues the action that more or less concluded in Henry IV, Part 1, is a bit anti-climatic. So why bother? And why Five Stars? Well, first it is Shakespeare, and Shakespeare is always worthwhile, and second, one of the characters is Shakespeare's greatest comic invention, Sir John Falstaff. The Fat Knight, who also appears in Henry IV, Part 1, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and who dies in Henry V, has been amusing playgoers for 400-hundred years. He is no less funny today. Equally worthwhile is the introduction by Claire McEachern, a Shakespeare scholar and professor at UCLA. Her analysis of Henry IV, Part 1, is the finest I've ever come across. Her brilliant essay on Prince Hal's transformation is a veritable training course in leadership. She sets the stage for Henry IV, Part 2, showing us that a change has taken place in English society since the battle at Shrewsbury, that concluded Part 1. The teaming universe of valiant young men in possession of high and often misguided ideals, has been exhausted and largely decimated by war, replaced by "a country of old men," where "politics is no longer a matter of high ideals and high tempers, but an ignoble and repetitive motion of declining momentum." Indeed, she tells us that the thrilling confusion, the risk-taking of Prince Hal, and the heroic sacrifice of Hotspur at Shrewsbury, has been replaced with diminished expectations and leaders of lesser scruples, such as "the subtle scheming of Prince John, who violates the terms of truce once the rebel army deserts its leaders. Glorious death has become ignominious capture, and daring combat, cold scheming."Even Falstaff has been affected. He's no longer as funny. Writes McEachern: "The vitality, energetic wordplay, and improvisational mockery of power that endeared him to us earlier have dwindled to a few stale jokes about his girth." It is Prince Hal who has changed the most, having shown himself in battle as a fierce warrior and an effective leader. He no longer has time to banter with Falstaff in an Eastcheap saloon, but is fully prepared to assume leadership of the English people--too ready. In one memorable scene, thinking his father has died, he tries on the crown only to be severely reprimanded by his father who is in fact still alive. At the play's conclusion, with his father buried and Hal now Henry V, king of England, he refuses to recognize his old friend in public, Sir John Falstaff. "I know thee not, old man," he says. It's one of the key moments in the play. Says McEachern: "The rejection of Falstaff by Henry V may be the most painful moment in Shakespeare."McEachern has more to say about Henry IV, Part 2, which makes The Pelican Shakespeare edition worthwhile. The play isn't bad either. Which begs the question: why spend 10-hours reading today's novelists who are here today and gone tomorrow, when you can read one of immortal Shakespeare's plays in 90 minutes? It's food for the brain, not candy.