Henry IV Part 2: ‘We Have Heard the Chimes at Midnight’

The History Of European Theatre

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18d ago 35:29

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Episode 168:

Although Shakespeare's completion of the events of Henry IV’s reign is very much a continuation of the story from part one it is a play with a very different vibe. The vigour of the battle scenes and the exuberance of prince Hal and Falstaff’s relationship are replaced in part two with a more sombre and elegiac tone. The effects of old age and the passing to time hang over the play and even at its ending, where the coronation of Henry V could have been treated as a big party full of hope, it is the final rejection of Falstaff that dominates as once again Shakespeare provides an ending that many would have found surprising.

The dating of the play

The early publishing history of the play

The early performance history of the play

Shakespeare’s sources for the play

A Synopsis of the plot

How the play functions without much dramatic action

Was the play a hurriedly written sequel?

Foreshadowing and references to history

The presence of the king and his illness in the play

The nature of the comedy in the play

The final split with Falstaff

Falstaff the dangerous conman

The Justices Shallow and Silence

Mistress Quickly and the other comic characters

The Epilogue

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