THEMES OF POWERShakespeare focuses on the anxieties surrounding succession and the transfer of power between father and son. The London lowlifes, expecting a paradise of thieves under Hal's governance, are instead purged and imprisoned by the authorities. But Hal rejects him, saying that he has now changed, and can no longer associate with such people. Hal convinces him otherwise and the old king subsequently dies contentedly.ĬOMING TOGETHERThe two storylines meet in the final scene, in which Falstaff, having learned that Hal is now King, travels to London in expectation of great rewards. King Henry, awakening, is devastated, thinking Hal cares only about becoming King. Hal, seeing this, believes he is King and exits with the crown. King Henry then sickens and appears to die.
Another rebellion is launched against Henry IV, but this time it is defeated, not by a battle, but by the duplicitous political machinations of Hal's brother, Prince John. His father, King Henry IV, has apparently forgotten his reconciliation with his son in Henry IV, Part One, and is again disappointed in the young prince. THE PLOT, PART 2In the other storyline, Hal remains an acquaintance of London lowlife and seems unsuited to kingship. There he encounters Mouldy, Bullcalf, Feeble, Shadow and Wart, a band of rustic yokels who are to be conscripted into the loyalist army, with two of whom, Mouldy and Bullcalf, bribing their way out. He is followed by a new character, a young page whom Prince Hal has assigned him as a joke.When news of a second rebellion arrives, Falstaff joins the army again, and goes to the country to raise forces. THE PLOTFalstaff is still drinking and engaging in petty criminality in the London underworld. The play mixes history and comedy, moving from "high" scenes of kings and battles to "low" scenes of city taverns and country life.ĭRAMATIC CHARACTERSTHE KINGS COURTKing Henry IVPrince Hal later King Henry VPrince John of Lancaster Henry's sonDuke of Gloucester Henry's sonDuke of Clarence Henry's sonEarl of WarwickEarl of SurreyEarl of WestmorlandHarcourtSir John BluntREBELSArchbishop of YorkLord BardolfLord Mowbray Earl MarshalLord HastingsSir John ColevilleEarl of NorthumberlandLady Northumberland Northumberland's wifeLady Percy widow of Henry 'Hotspur' Percy, Northumberlands's sonĬOMEDIC CHARACTERSEASTCHEAPSir John FalstaffBardolphPistolPoinsPetoMistress Quickly hostess of the tavernDoll Tearsheet prostituteRECRUITSRalph MouldySimon ShadowThomas WartFrancis FeeblePeter BullcalfOTHERRobert Shallow country justiceSilence country justiceDavy Shallow's servantSnare sergeantFang sergeant Its focus is on Prince Hal's journey toward kingship, and his ultimate rejection of Falstaff. The play picks up where Henry IV, Part One left off. THE STORYThe events of Henry IV, Part 2 take place in the early 1400s, about two centuries before Shakespeare's own time. Edward Hall's The Union of the Two Illustrious Families of Lancaster and York appears also to have been consulted, and scholars have also supposed Shakespeare familiar with Samuel Daniel's poem on the civil wars. It is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1 and succeeded by Henry V.Shakespeare's primary source for Henry IV, Part 2, as for most of his chronicle histories, was Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles the publication of the second edition in 1587 provides a clue to the date for the play. HISTORY & SOURCESHenry IV, Part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed written between 15. KING HENRY IV, PART 2BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
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