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King Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

31,381 ratings
King Henry IV, Part 1 | William Shakespeare

King Henry IV, Part 1

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King Henry IV, Part 1 is the second of Shakespeare’s eight Wars of the Roses history plays, with events following those of King Richard II. As the play opens, King Henry IV (formerly Henry Bolingbroke) and Henry Percy (Hotspur) argue over the disposition of prisoners from the Battle of Holmedon. The King’s attitude toward Mortimer and the Percy family prompts them to plot rebellion. In the meantime, his son Prince Hal is living the low life in the company of Sir John Falstaff. As the time of battle nears, Prince Hal joins his father and is given a high command. The play’s climax is the Battle of Shrewsbury, in which Prince Hal and Hotspur meet and fight, with Prince Hal and the forces of the King prevailing. The action continues in King Henry IV, Part 2. From the start this has been an extremely popular play both with the public and with critics.
foot, thou still lett'st slip.

HOT.
Why, it cannot choose but be a noble plot:—
And then the power of Scotland and of York
To join with Mortimer, ha?

WOR.
And so they shall.

HOT.

In faith, it is exceedingly well aim'd.

WOR.
And 'tis no little reason bids us speed,
To save our heads by raising of a head;
For, bear ourselves as even as we can,
The King will always think him in our debt,
And think we think ourselves unsatisfied,
Till he hath found a time to pay us home:
And see already how he doth begin
To make us strangers to his looks of love.

HOT.
He does, he does: we'll be revenged on him.

WOR.
Cousin, farewell: no further go in this
Than I by letters shall direct your course.
When time is ripe,— which will be suddenly,—
I'll steal to Glendower and Lord Mortimer;
Where you and Douglas, and our powers at once,
As I will fashion it, shall happily meet,
To bear our fortunes in our own strong arms,
Which now we hold at much uncertainty.

NORTH.
Farewell, good brother: we shall thrive, I trust.

HOT.
Uncle, adieu: O, let the hours be short,
Till fields and blows and groans applaud our sport!

[Exeunt.]

ACT II.

Scene I. Rochester. An Inn-Yard.

[Enter a Carrier with a lantern in his hand.]

1. CAR.
Heigh-ho! an't be not four by the day, I'll be hang'd:
Charles' wain is over the new chimney, and yet our horse' not
pack'd.—What, ostler!

OST. [within.] Anon, anon.

1. CAR. I pr'ythee, Tom, beat Cut's saddle, put a few flocks i

Tim 11/16/2022
Bill, Hank, and I done good on this one.
Michael 04/06/2022
The introduction of the old, lecherous Oldcastle (later renamed Falstaff due to complaints from the real Oldcastle family) was a real pleasure here. He offered a comedic respite to the bloodshed and politic intrigues which the Bard was describing from the later years of Henry IV's reign after his co
Bill 11/16/2019

I have read this play many times, and--although Shakespeare always shows me something new--this reading gave me little insight and few surprises. I was struck with two parallels, however--one within the play itself, and one within Shakespeare's body of work.

First of all, I appreciated the subtle pa
Sean Barrs 05/10/2016
How hard it must be to fight an enemy you admire; how hard it must be to realise your enemy is a stronger, and perhaps more worthy, man than your son, and how great it must be to realise that you are such a hypocritical fool, and that your son is more than you ever dreamed. But first, you must lamen

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