Infirmity in King Henry IV Part 2 : The Body and the Body Politic

Shakespeares second tetralogy contains many intricately interwoven images,

metaphors, and microcosms. Among these is the motif of sickness. In 1 Henry IV, there is
little language relating to illness, and what little there is comes primarily from the lower
class, associated with the filthiness of their lifestyle rather than any deeper cause. In 2
Henry IV, however, as the rebellion continues and Henry IVs reign draws to a close, the
language of disease permeates every one of the plays worlds, and prominent figures
among the rebels, the tavern, and the court fall ill. The infirmity of these characters is
merely a reflection of the infirmity of the kingdom as a whole.
In the first scene of Act IV, the Earl of Westmoreland accuses the rebels of
banding together behind an unreasonable cause. The Archbishop replies using disease
imagery to express his view of the state of the kingdom, and thereby to argue that he is in
the right.
Wherefore do I this? so the question stands.
Briefly to this end: we are all diseased;
And, with our surfeiting and wanton hours
Have brought ourselves into a burning fever,
And we must bleed for it: of which disease
Our late king, Richard, being infected, died. (2 Henry IV IV.i.53-8)
The long e sounds that run throughout this passage, appearing in briefly, we,
and diseased in the second line, fever in the fourth line, and we, bleed, and
disease in the fifth, ensure that the idea of disease remains ever-present in the listeners
consciousness not only through imagery but also through sound. The voiced plosives in
briefly, brought, burning, bleed, diseased, and died give the passage a
percussive quality, accenting the hostile nature of the Archbishops address.

The speech is an extended metaphor, wherein the entire English populace is

reduced to a single body, capable of contracting an illness. There is a double meaning in
we must bleed for it. As bloodletting was a common method for treating many
ailments, it serves to extend the fever metaphor, but the Archbishop also sees a need for
the inhabitants of England to spill their blood on the battlefield in order to cure the
kingdom of its insidious disease. In Richard II, King Richard uses similar imagery when
he stops the duel between Bolingbroke and Mowbray, saying Lets purge this choler
without letting blood./This we prescribe, though no physician (Richard II I.i.153-4).
However, his action clearly does not have the desired effect in the long run, as halting the
duel does not allow them to purge the choler without letting blood, but rather leads to a
prolonged period of civil war, ending with this confrontation between the Archbishops
rebels and the kings forces. His second line, This we prescribe, though no physician, is
echoed in the later part of the Archbishops speech, in the line I take not on me here as a
physician, which serves to strengthen the connection.
In addition, the reference to Richards death by this metaphorical fever calls to
mind the Duke of Yorks words as Bolingbrokes forces gathered to oppose the king:
Now comes the sick hour that his [Richards] surfeit made (Richard II II.ii.84). The
surfeit to which he refers is Richards excessive spending, which drove the country into
debt and caused the king to fall out of favor with his people. The surfeit that the
Archbishop sees infecting Henrys England is of a different nature not a lavishness that
alienates the people, but rather an excess of happiness with the state of affairs. It was this
that killed Richard, for it was popular opinion that catapulted Bolingbroke to the throne
in the first place. The Archbishop elaborates on this surfeit when he continues:

But, my most noble Lord of Westmoreland,

I take not on me here as a physician,
Nor do I as an enemy to peace
Troop in the throngs of military men;
But rather show a while like fearful war,
To diet rank minds sick of happiness
And purge the obstructions which begin to stop
Our very veins of life. (2 Henry IV IV.i.59-66)
It is clear from the Archbishops desire to diet rank minds sick of happiness that
the disease of the kingdom, in his mind, is the peoples complacency with regard to
Henrys reign. For this reason, he says, a show of civil unrest is necessary, for if the king
goes entirely unopposed, those he wishes to punish or neglect will not survive, as there
will be no way to purge the obstructions which begin to stop/[Their] very veins of life.
Throughout the passage, there is no irregularity in the meter at all, which strengthens the
Archbishops assertion that his reasons for rebelling are purely rational, since breaking
from the poetic form often indicates an excess of emotion.
Like the Archbishop, Henry IV also perceives a sickness in the state, but to him
the infection is not due to his own reign, but rather the wars that plague it. This is clear
when, on his deathbed, he laments [his] poor kingdom, sick with civil blows (IV.v.133)
passing into his sons care.
Since the king is the human representation of his nation, Henrys infirmity most
clearly reflects the health of the kingdom. In the second Henry IV play, Henry does
nothing but lie in bed, leaving the defeat of the rebels to his son and other noblemen. This
is in stark contrast to the previous play, where he not only ruled over the court but also
led his followers into battle. His illness is short and his death rather sudden, cutting off
his plans for the future. Though everything has been prepared for his crusade, he want[s]

a little personal strength (2 Henry IV IV.iv.8) his body is rebelling against his minds
desires.
When Henry hears of the rebels defeat, his condition only worsens: I should
rejoice now at this happy news,/And now my sight fails, and my brain is giddy (2 Henry
IV IV.iv.110-1). Though this may seem contradictory if his health is an indicator of the
state of the kingdom, it is important to remember that it is the health of the king, and not
specifically of Henry IV, that is this indicator. Once the issue of civil war the central
problem of Henry IVs reign is resolved, his era is over. Though the elder Henry does
not survive this play, his kingdom passes into the hands of his young, healthy heir, and
the troubles that plagued his reign die with him.
Henry IVs illness reaches all corners of the kingdom. The only court scenes in
the play are set in his bedchamber, and his sons carry the thought of his illness to the
plays other worlds. After their sneaky triumph over the rebel forces, John of Lancaster
expresses to several lords his urgent desire to return home, since he has heard that the
king [his] father is sore sick (IV.iii.76). Even when with Poins, Hal cannot shake the
thought of his fathers illness. Though he manages to banter for a while, he becomes
somber, and twice confides to Poins, I tell thee, my heart bleeds inwardly that my father
is so sick (II.ii.44-5).
But it is not only Henrys sickness that infects the other worlds. In the first scene
of the first act, we see Northumberland, who fell ill in the fourth act of the previous play.
He is ill, but regains some strength at the news of the rebels defeat at Shrewsbury, and
the loss of his brother and son. His words In poison there is physic; and these
news,/Having been well, that would have made me sick,/Being sick, have in some

measure made me well (I.i.138-40) parallel Henry IVs later query, wherefore should
these good news make me sick? (IV.iv.102), which connects Northumberlands illness to
the well-being of the kingdom at large through language. Though Northumberland
himself does not appear again after this scene, his infirmity still plays a tangible role in
the outcome of the wars. In 1 Henry IV, Hotspur connects Northumberlands illness to the
stability and security of the rebellion, saying [t]his sickness doth infect/The very
lifeblood of our enterprise./Tis catching hither, even to our camp. (IV.i.28-30). Though
many other factors contribute to the rebels defeat, Northumberlands sickness and his
inability to fight in the Battle of Shrewsbury certainly affect the health of the enterprise.
The world of the tavern, though generally not as somber as the other worlds, still
functions as a microcosm of the political scene, and so cannot escape the touch of
disease. As Hals surrogate father figure, Falstaff parallels King Henry throughout the
two Henry IV plays. Accordingly, his health begins to fail in 2 Henry IV, deny it though
he may. In the second scene of Act I, he complains of pains caused by gout and pox. The
pox comes up again in Falstaffs exchanges with the prostitute Doll Tearsheet in the
fourth scene of Act II, when he jokes about venereal diseases, which are caught of
prostitutes, and so may also be said to come of wanton hours, albeit a different kind of
wantonness than the Archbishop means. Falstaff obviously also suffers from maladies
brought on by surfeiting, since he drinks an intolerable deal of sack (1 Henry IV
II.iv.524) and hath eaten [Mistress Quickly] out of house and home (2 Henry IV II.i.72)
and is so fat that he must needs be out of all reasonable compass (1 Henry IV
III.iii.21-3). In a later scene, after both Poins and Hal inquire after Falstaff, Bardolph

responds that he is in bodily health (II.ii.96), but his complaints of pain and his death of
heart failure in Henry V would indicate otherwise.
The disease imagery that is so pervasive in 2 Henry IV clearly touches not only
individuals but the kingdom as a whole. As diseases ravage the bodies of the leaders of
the court, the rebels, and the tavern, the sickness of civil discord spreads through the land.
Henry IVs illness is the central force around which the motif revolves, as both Falstaff
and Northumberland parallel him in their own infirmities, and his health is most closely
tied to the health of the kingdom. All the imagery of disease leads up to Henrys death,
and does not appear again afterwards the rebellions, both of bodies and the body politic,
die with him. As Hal begins his reign as the hero king Henry V, the kingdom returns to
health, and Henry IV, Falstaff, and Northumberland no longer have a place in it.