Questions on
Shakespeare’s History Plays
Shakespeare, William. The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, Continuing to His Death, and Coronation of Henry the Fifth. Quarto. (The Norton Shakespeare: Histories, 3rd ed. 710-78.)
ACT 1
1. In lines 1-22 of the Induction, the prologue-speaker, Rumor personified, offers us some thoughts about its nature and effects. What, then, does this figure suggest about its role in human affairs? What ideas may be drawn from the figures Rumor uses to describe its own “person” and qualities?
2. In the Induction after line 23 and then in Act 1, Scene 1, what is the present state of the rebellion against King Henry IV? What source or sources do the conspirators, chief among them Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland (father of Hotspur, whom Prince Harry killed in Act 5 of 1 Henry IV), use to gather their sense of where they stand? What is the cause of Northumberland’s rage from 715-16, 1.1.136-60, and what do his angry words suggest to us about the origin and consequences of rebellion?
3. Act 1, Scene 2, what is the argument between the Chief Justice and Sir John Falstaff? What is Falstaff trying to accomplish or gain at this point? How does this scene reflect on the ones preceding and following it, in which we hear the rebels assessing and debating their own prospects for success?
ACT 2
4. In Act 2, Scene 1, in what difficulty is Sir John embroiled with Hostess Quickly of the Boar’s Head Tavern, Eastcheap? How does he resolve it, if indeed what happens amounts to a resolution at all? What is the Hostess’ own perspective on the quarrel?
5. In Act 2, Scene 2, what is Prince Harry’s plan to expose Falstaff’s “true colors” (731, 2.2.147)? Reflect back to Harry’s practical joke and raillery at Falstaff’s expense in Act 2 of 1 Henry IV: in consideration of Harry’s present reflections and devices throughout the scene, what change might we find in his way of evaluating Sir John’s shortcomings, and his own consorting with low-born, common people?
6. In Act 2, Scene 3, Lady Percy (the slain Hotspur’s wife) and Lady Northumberland (the Earl’s wife) try to talk Northumberland out of taking part in the imminent battles against the King. What arguments do they use, and in the process what contrast between Hotspur and his father the Earl emerges to the latter’s disadvantage?
7. In Act 2, Scene 4, Falstaff’s abuse of Prince Harry’s reputation and friendship is made plain. Consider the sweep of this scene in its entirety — the women’s exchanges with Falstaff, his driving out of fiery Pistol, and then Prince Harry’s exposure and mockery of Falstaff’s ungenerous and overly familiar prating. What basic error does such prating betray in Falstaff’s way of thinking about Harry? And more generally, what figure does Sir John cut as a man in this scene, with regard both to his sentimental appeal for us and his stark limitations?
ACT 3
8. In Act 3, Scene 1, the King (Henry IV), steeped now in experience, meditates on the burdens of his exalted status. Aside from the famous remark, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” (741, 3.1.31), what can we learn from his thoughts on the subject of royal power and pomp, both when he is alone and when he speaks with Warwick?
9. In Act 3, Scene 2, we are introduced to Justice Robert Shallow. What is this character’s personal mythology; i.e., what view of his past has he built up for himself and for retail to others? What habits of speech reinforce his self-representation, and what motives might we suppose have led to his construction of such a narrative? How does How does Falstaff assess this old acquaintance, and what advantage does he expect to gain from his brief reunion with Shallow?
10. In Act 3, Scene 2, while conversing with Justice Shallow, Falstaff sets about choosing some soldiers to serve under his charge in the fight against the rebels. Who are these prospective soldiers? What attitudes do they manifest about the wars, and as in 1 Henry IV (and/or Henry V if you are familiar with that play), what resemblances and contrasts are thereby underscored between the common person’s view of military violence and the views of their aristocratic “betters” (i.e., superiors by birth or blood)?
11. In Act 3, Scene 2, how do Sir John Falstaff’s observations about choosing soldiers to serve in his military unit compare to his words and conduct in 1 Henry IV? (In particular, see Act 4, Scene 2 and Act 5, Scenes 1, 3, and 4 of that play.) What is he looking for in his “soldiers”? In addition, what opinion does he offer concerning his old acquaintance Justice Shallow? How does this opinion reflect on Falstaff himself?
ACT 4
12. In Act 4, Scene 1, King Henry IV’s supporter the Earl of Westmorland argues about the uprising with the rebellious Archbishop of York (Richard Scroop) and Lord Mowbray. What points do these two men advance in favor of their struggle against the King, and how does Westmorland answer those points? Moreover, what error in military judgment does it soon become clear that the rebels have allowed themselves to commit?
13. In Act 4, Scene 2, Falstaff takes the rebel Sir John Coleville prisoner. We have heard Falstaff talk about military honor before, in 5.1 and 5.3 of I Henry IV. How does the rascal address this issue in the present scene? In addition, how do he and the King’s brother, Prince John, appear to regard each other?
14. In Act 4, Scene 3, what advice does King Henry IV give the Duke of Clarence (i.e., his son Thomas) about Prince Harry? How does Warwick assure the King that all will be well with the heir apparent? In responding, consider the connection between Warwick’s response and what Prince Harry himself has said about his conduct thus far, for example in 2.2 and 2.4 of the present play, or 1.2 of 1 Henry IV? What continuity do you find?
15. In Act 4, Scene 3, from 761-62, 4.3.152-74 Prince Harry reflects on his father’s crown, somewhat as the King himself had done in Act 3, Scene 1. How does Prince Harry’s emphasis differ from that of the King? Moreover, as the scene progresses with the King awakening to find his crown missing, what anxieties beset him about the reign to be expected of his seemingly reckless heir? How does Prince Harry convince his mortally sick father that his fears are groundless?
16. In Act 4, Scene 3, a reassured King Henry IV offers his heir Prince Harry a striking piece of advice about how a ruler may avoid the worst kind of trouble. What is that advice? What does it suggest about the king’s understanding of his subjects, and, more broadly, about human nature? (See 4.3.305-48; “Come hither, Harry; sit thou by my bed ….”) Consider also what the king does immediately after giving this advice — how does it reflect on or alter your perception of the political counsel he has just given?
ACT 5
17. In Act 5, Scene 1, what theory about “wise bearing or ignorant car- / riage” (767, 5.1.64-65) does Sir John Falstaff set forth? What happens subsequently, in Scene 2, between the Lord Chief Justice and Prince Harry to call this theory into question? In the course of this interaction, what does Prince Harry say to demonstrate his grasp of the legal and formal or ceremonial aspects of his supreme position, now that his father the King has died and left him the crown?
18. In Act 5, Scenes 3 and 5, what are Sir John Falstaff’s expectations now that his onetime associate “Prince Harry” is the new King? In Scene 5, what happens to his expectations when the King’s April, 1413 coronation procession passes him by? Consider the manner in which the meeting between these two men unfolds: to what extent does “Harry” recognize his former companion as he makes his way towards the scene that marks his new life as England’s sovereign? What can we learn about the tenor of the reign that Harry means to have from the way he treats his rascally onetime mentor and other such “misleaders”?
19. In Act 5, Scene 4, it seems that Doll Tearsheet and the Hostess (Mistress Quickly) are being hauled in by the beadles over certain allegations of serious criminality. How does this nasty, violent domestic scene connect to and, possibly, reflect upon the wartime context of so much that has happened in both 1 and 2 Henry IV?
20. In the Epilogue, the speaker (probably Shakespeare’s comic actor Will Kemp), makes amends for an offense given by the previous play, 1 Henry IV. What was that offense, and what amends do the Epilogue–and presumably Shakespeare the playwright–make? In responding, see the section of Jean E. Howard’s Norton introduction to 1 Henry IV from 623-25, and pg. 705 of her Norton introduction to 2 Henry IV. What does this literary tussle over a long-dead knight suggest about the sway that the period of England’s history covered by Shakespeare’s “Second Tetralogy” ( Richard II, 1-2 Henry IV , and finally Henry V) continued to have for its citizens at all social levels?
Edition. Greenblatt, Stephen et al., editors. The Norton Shakespeare: Histories + Digital Edition. 3rd ed. W. W. Norton, 2016. ISBN-13: 978-0-393-93859-3.
Copyright © 2012, revised 2024 Alfred J. Drake