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Henry IV

 

            
             In the beginning of Henry IV, King Henry seems pre-occupied with re-establishing his moral legitimacy to the throne. He talks of atoning for Richard II's death by going on a crusade, "to chase these pagans from those holy fields" (I.i.24). He never actually does anything to atone for Richard's death, the most he ever actually accomplishes is mentioning it, before the threat of other wars distracts him. The King is supposedly contrite about killing Richard, and realizes his own guilt, but he accuses his son of "riot and dishonor." The King seems more than a shade hypocritical, for the worst thing that Prince Hal ever does is commit a robbery as a joke. Hal is the adolescent prankster. He is dissolute and rude, but unlike his father, he has no ghosts to haunt him. He doesn't seem kingly in the bar-room scenes with Falstaff, but those scenes show Hal's good humor and humanity, which his father doesn't seem to admit room for in his zealous guard to keep the throne. Shakespeare seems to set up the dichotomy of humanity versus authority throughout this play. Hal is accused of debauchery and wild behavior by his father, which never truly harms anyone in the play, while the King praises Hotspur for his chivalrous deeds, most of which involve killing and capturing various people. Though of course, by the end of Henry IV: Part Two, Hal's change has become quite tangible. As soon as he is coronated, he refuses to recognize his old friends from the tavern. He becomes the king his father had wanted, and disowns his own friends, preferring wars over jokes, and in a sense, denying his own humanity in this act. .
            


Essays Related to Henry IV

1. Henry IV

If "all the best critics" of more recent times have been somewhat less willing to grant 1 Henry IV absolute pre-eminence in the Shakespeare canon, they have generally shared this admiration. ... Both write about the two plays on the reign of Henry IV as if they formed a single, coherent dramatic conception. ... And, if they are equally interesting, unquestionably Henry IV has regularly been the more admired and popular of the two. Even in its own time, Henry IV was less well received, never reprinted after its initial publication in 1600 until its appearance in the 1623 Folio. ... In its very...

  • Word Count: 1901
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Henry iv

The outlook and actions of King Henry IV (Shakespeare, Henry IV Part 1) and Joseph Strorm (Wyndham, The Chrysalids), suggest characters who do not match the mould of the archetypical ideal father. King Henry IV was a father who thought not much of his son. ... It shows King Henry's lack of trust and grasp of his son through conversations with others. ... Both King Henry and Joseph Strorm lacked the ability to look eye to eye with their children. ... Both King Henry IV and Joseph Strorm are miserable fathers and should reevaluate the way they deal with their chil...

  • Word Count: 378
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Defining the Principles of Honor in Henry IV

In the Shakespeare's play Henry IV the word honor is used in various forms thirty two times. ... However, the four major characters in Henry IV; Henry IV, Prince Harry (Hal), Henry Percy (Hotspur), and Falstaff; seem to have come to determine their own separate stance on how honor works and to what degrees this idea holds an importance to them personally. ... First off, the rebel king Henry IV brings up the introductory discussion of honor. ... To Henry IV, this is a highly regarded way of proving oneself through bravery and regal duty. ... What Hotspur in his one-mindedness fails t...

  • Word Count: 1335
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Henry V: A Historical Background

- Henry of Lancaster, born Henry of Bolingbroke, became Henry IV through some lucky odds and foolish mistakes made by Richard II. ... A campaign to regain lost land became a usurpation of the crown (though Henry IV did have a relation to Edward III, and thus an arguable claim to kingship)... - Henry IV spent most of his reign fighting small uprisings attempting both to keep the crown and prove his legitimacy by brute force. ... - Henry IV, parts I and II dramatize much of Hal's carousing and his close relationship with the fat, jolly drunkard, Falstaff. ... This dramaticall...

  • Word Count: 565
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Henry V

Henry was most likely brought up by his uncle Henry Beaufort. ... At a mere fourteen years he was a member of the Welsh forces who fought against Owen Glendower, who was leading a rebellion against Henry's father, Henry IV (Owen) . ... The conspirators urge Henry to punish the man, but Henry concedes to release the man. ... Henry declares war on France and the saga of his invasion begins (Henry V) . ... The events surrounding Henry's...

  • Word Count: 2049
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

6. King Henry IV

Henry IV, Part 1 The effect of scenes from the two plots in Acts I, II, III is how the scenes of Prince Hal and his somewhat common life with his life of prostitutes, thievery and severe alcoholism with his leech like friends Poins, Peto, Bardolph and of course the laughter provoking likes of Sir John Falstaff which is compared with prince Hals fathers (King Henry) life of leading England towards victory over the rebels, who at the current point of focus is Hotspur, the impetuous young knight who King Henry himself commended for his gallant behavior in the battle at Homledon against the Sco...

  • Word Count: 499
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Henry IV of France

Henry IV was a popular king who ruled France during the religious strife of the Reformation. ... After the death of his mother, he was crowned king of Navarre, in 1572 as Henry III, and in 1589 he was crowned king of France and took the name Henry IV. ... Henry saved his own life by converting to Roman Catholicism, but he remained a prisoner at court until 1576. ... Henry's first marriage was not a happy one, and the couple remained childless. ... I do not think anything led to Henry IV's fall, because he died in the best moment of his rule, of course if he had lived he would have d...

  • Word Count: 762
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Henry V

Is Henry the Fifth the consummate hero-king of English history? ... Scroop, in particular, had been a bosom friend of Henry who "knew'st the very bottom of my (Henry's) soul" (line 97). ... After his rousing St Crispian's Day speech at Agincourt, and leading his 'happy few, band of brothers' to near victory over the French troops, we are transported to the battlefield scene of the lamenting French nobles in Act IV, scene 5. ... At the end of Act IV, scene 8, Henry commands the singing of Non Nobis and Te Deum in honour of the God of battles The Non Nobis is Psalms 115:...

  • Word Count: 1754
  • Approx Pages: 7
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  • Grade Level: High School

9. Henry V

In Henry V, Shakespeare uses Henry to show that a leader must put duty and fairness above friendship. King Henry has been known as a wild misfit, and someone who has no regard for the world around him, as it is shown in Henry IV, Part I, and Henry IV, Part II. ... Henry's father, Henry IV, suggests that Hotspur, the son of his enemy and rival to the throne, would be a better candidate for the throne than Henry. ... Shakespeare continues this questing of Henrys ability in Henry IV,Part II. ... In Henry IV, Part II, Henry shows his advisors that he can be a good king and mend his d...

  • Word Count: 1466
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School