HENRY IV PART 2

PLOT SUMMARY:

Rumour appears on stage wearing a robe that's "painted full of tongues" and tells us to open

our ears because they're about to be "stuff[ed]" with a bunch of lies, compliments of Rumour.

Rumour likes to hitch rides on the wind as it blows around the world, spreading nasty rumors

about war in every language. First stop, the Earl of Northumberland's castle (Warkworth),

where Northumberland has been pretending to be sick while his son Hotspur and the rebel

army have been getting slaughtered by King Henry IV's forces.

As Rumour has promised, the Earl of Northumberland hears conflicting news about the

outcome of the battle at Shrewsbury. When he finally learns that his son is dead, he gets all

riled up (miraculously overcoming his recent illness) and calls for bloody and apocalyptic

revenge. But, before he can do anything silly, his pals convince him to hook up with the

Archbishop of York (a.k.a. Scroop) who happens to be plotting another rebellion against King

Henry IV.

Meanwhile, in London, the Lord Chief Justice confronts Falstaff about his role in the robbery

at Gads Hill (which went down earlier in Henry IV Part 1). Falstaff worms his way out of

trouble by pointing out that he happens to be an important guy, a war hero in fact, and he's

needed in the king's army since there's more civil rebellion brewing. While Falstaff is busy

being saucy with the Lord Chief Justice, the rebel leaders gather at the Archbishop's

(Scroop's) palace in York to discuss their strategy against King Henry IV. (Henry IV has

appointed his son, Prince John of Lancaster, to lead the king's army.) The rebels decide it's
probably not such a good idea to run headlong into battle. Hotspur tried that at Shrewsbury

and it didn't work out so well for him. (Prince Hal stabbed Hotspur in the guts and then

Falstaff came along, after Hotspur died, and stabbed him the thigh for good measure.)

Later, in London, Mistress Quickly files a legal suit against Falstaff, who has managed to

swindle her out of a bunch of money by promising to marry her. Falstaff, of course, manages

to worm his way out of yet another jam by sweet talking Mistress Quickly and making

promises he'll never keep.

Meanwhile, Prince Hal laments to his friend Poins that he's in a tough spot. On the one hand,

Hal's grown fond of his low-life pals (especially the cheap beer they drink). Yet, it's not

appropriate for him to hang with the commoners anymore because he's about to be king. Plus,

he's feeling bummed that his old man, King Henry IV, is so sick. (Did we mention that the

king is ill?) Hal says he can't even show his sadness about his father's illness in public because

it would make him look like a big hypocrite (since he's spent most of his life acting like a

hoodlum and thumbing his nose at his dad).

Up in Northumberland at Warkworth castle, Lady Percy (Hotspur's widow) lays into her

father-in-law for not backing up his son at the battle at Shrewsbury. After giving the old guy a

major guilt trip, Lady Percy and her mother-in-law, Lady Northumberland, manage to

convince him to run away to Scotland instead of participating in the new rebellion. He can

always come back to England once the other rebels have done most of the dirty work.
Meanwhile, over at the Boar's Head Tavern in Eastcheap London, Falstaff parties it up with

Mistress Quickly and his favorite prostitute, Doll Tearsheet. The three end up getting into a

brawl with a guy named Pistol before Prince Hal and Poins reveal that they've been disguised

as waiters and have been spying on Falstaff the entire time.

Over at the castle, the ailing King Henry IV confides in his trusty pal, Warwick, about his

depressing life and his troubled reign as king. Henry recalls King Richard's prophesy that

Henry's rule would be plagued by civil strife and betrayal and then goes on to say that it's not

his (Henry's) fault that Richard was deposed – the guy was a lousy king, etc. (Hmm. Sounds

like somebody's feeling pretty guilty about bumping King Richard off the throne but doesn't

want to come out and admit he did anything wrong.)

Falstaff arrives at Justice Shallow's pad in Gloucestershire to draft some men into the king's

army. (Given Falstaff's recruiting track record, we know there's going to be some corruption

involved.) After shooting the breeze with Shallow and Silence, two old justices of the peace

who spend all their time remembering the good old days of their youth, Falstaff recruits three

guys named Shadow, Wart, and Feeble, who are all ridiculously unfit to serve in the military.

Falstaff also takes bribes from two other men, Mouldy and Bullcalf, and lets them off the

hook before heading off to meet up with the king's army.

Soon after, the rebels and the king's forces gather at Gaultree Forest in Yorkshire and prepare

to battle. Westmoreland arrives at the rebel camp and sets up a meeting between Prince John

and the rebel leaders, who lay out their beef with the king to Prince John. Prince John pretends
to be sympathetic and convinces the rebels to lay down their arms and make nice. Once the

rebels dismiss their army, Prince John says, "Surprise! You're all under arrest and you're going

to be executed for treason." That settles that.

Back at the royal palace in Westminster, King Henry is doing what King Henry does best –

complaining to Warwick about his good for nothing son, prince Hal, who is still hanging out

with commoners. (Apparently, Henry has forgotten all about Hal saving his life at the battle at

Shrewsbury in Henry IV Part 1 and he worries about what will happen to his kingdom when

Hal gets his hands on the crown.) Warwick defends the prince and points out that Hal's just

studying the commoners so he will know how to rule them when he's king.

When Prince Hal finally shows up at the castle, he sits by his father's bed and watches the

king sleep. When it appears that Henry has died, Hal is saddened but, life goes on, so Hal

takes his father's crown, places it on his head, and leaves the room. Then, surprise! King

Henry wakes up. (He's just a very deep sleeper, apparently). When King Henry realizes that

Hal has prematurely helped himself to the crown, he flips out and accuses the prince of

wanting him dead.

Hal and the king eventually reconcile and Henry gives his son some advice about ruling the

kingdom. It would be a good idea, says Henry, for Hal to drum up a nice little foreign war to

distract everyone from civil strife at home on English soil. If Englishmen are busy slitting the

throats of foreigners, they won't have time to think about overthrowing their king. Henry then
notices that he's in a room of the castle called the Jerusalem chamber, which seems fitting to

him since he once heard a prophesy that he would die in Jerusalem.

After King Henry dies (off stage) Prince Hal becomes King Henry V. The Lord Chief Justice

is a smidge worried about this because he once threw the wild prince in the slammer for being

a punk and boxing him, the Lord Chief Justice, on the ears. Turns out he has nothing to worry

about. Hal has truly reformed and embraces the Lord Chief Justice as a "father" and advisor.

Meanwhile, Doll Tearsheet and Mistress Quickly are arrested and charged with murdering a

man. Falstaff, who has heard that Hal is now king, makes his way to London for the

coronation ceremony. When Falstaff approaches Hal on the street, the new king banishes the

old knight. Prince John and the Lord Chief Justice are pleased as punch and predict that

England will be at war with France soon. The story of King Henry V will be continued…

But wait, there's more! One of the actors (probably the guy who played Falstaff) runs out on

stage and delivers an Epilogue (a final speech to the audience). There's the usual hemming

and hawing about how terrible the play was and how he hopes the audience will forgive him

for being part of such a lousy play, but maybe they'll be kind enough to clap anyway, and so

on. Then there's a promise to continue the story of Falstaff in the next play and a little

disclaimer about how Falstaff is not based on the historic figure, Sir John Oldcastle.

THEMES:
POWER:

Both Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2 offer an elaborate meditation on kingship. In Part 2,

Shakespeare focuses on the anxieties surrounding succession and the transfer of power

between father and son. For Henry IV, kingship has been an exhausting and draining

experience. Because Henry usurped the crown in Richard II, he spends most of his reign

defending his position and worrying about what will happen when his unruly son, Hal, takes

over. When Hal replaces his father and becomes Henry V, his position is more legitimate

because he's inherited the throne by lineal succession. At the same time, Hal must prove that,

despite his wild youth, he's fit to rule the country.

FAMILY:

Throughout the tetralogy, Shakespeare is interested in family bonds (especially father-son

relationships), particularly when they intersect with politics. Even though Prince Hal saved his

father's life at the battle of Shrewsbury in Henry IV Part 1, the troubled relationship between

the king and his heir continues to parallel the civil rebellion in England. It also threatens the

possibility of reestablishing any kind of political unity and order. As King Henry IV nears his

death, he accuses Prince Hal of wanting him dead, an issue that Shakespeare also explores in

plays like King Lear. Hal's success as a king seems contingent upon his making amends with

his father and rejecting his surrogate father-figure, Falstaff. Hal's banishment of Falstaff and

his acceptance of the Lord Chief Justice as a new "father" confirm his "reformation" from a

wayward son to a monarch who will uphold civil order.

RULES AND ORDER:

In Henry IV Part 2, the king's reign continues to be troubled by civil rebellion. The difference,

however, is that the rebel leaders proceed with more caution than we saw in Part 1 (mostly

because the impetuous Hotspur has been killed). The rebels' careful deliberation, however,

doesn't prevent them from being suppressed – Prince John easily tricks them into laying down

their arms before any battles can be waged. The riotous antics of Falstaff continue in Part

2 and Shakespeare introduces new and rowdy characters (like Pistol and Doll Tearsheet) who

thumb their noses at authority. However, Prince Hal doesn't participate much in the revelry, as

he looks forward to his future as king. By the play's end, order is restored – the rebels are put

to death and Falstaff is banished by his beloved Hal as the play looks forward to civil order

and unity.

WARFARE:

There's a whole lot of talk about warfare, but very little action in Henry IV Part 2. Instead, the

play looks back on the events surrounding the battle at Shrewsbury (from Part 1) and even

looks ahead to the war Henry V will wage against France in the play Henry V. Like the other

Henry plays, Part 2 reminds us that civil war is a family affair – civil strife is frequently

associated with domestic abuse. The play also reveals that King Henry IV's unfulfilled plans

for a crusade are hardly more than a diversionary tactic. At other times, Shakespeare points to

the kinds of corruption and deceit that inevitable accompany war – Falstaff is up to his old

tricks again, taking bribes from recruits and devising a scheme to defraud the military so he

can receive a wounded soldier's pension. Even Prince John, the military leader in charge of the

king's forces, manages to avert a bloody battle only after he deceives the rebel leaders.
LIES AND DECEIT:

Henry IV Part 2 is full of acts of deception. When the play opens, Rumour announces that it

plans to "stuff" the ears of men with "lies." Soon after, Falstaff swindles Mistress Quickly out

of money and breaks his promise to marry her. Prince John then deceives the rebel leaders at

Gaultree Forest and sentences them to death for treason. We're also reminded that Prince Hal's

public persona is built on a lie – he's been hiding behind a disguise since Henry IV Part 1. It

seems that nobody in this play can be trusted (except, perhaps, the Lord Chief Justice, who

seems to be the only straight-shooter in the entire lot). And it's no wonder, given that the

monarch, King Henry IV, took a "crooked" path to the throne. Shakespeare makes us wonder

if the only difference between the commoners and the nobility is that the nobles justify their

deception as a form of "political strategy."

CHARACTERS

Rumor, the Presenter:

Rumor, the Presenter speaks the Prologue of the play, reminding us of what occurred

in Henry IV, Part One and setting the scene for the confusion of the first scene. 

Dressed in a costume covered in wagging tongues, Rumor is quite proud of itself and its effect

on the world, and delighted at the opportunity to spread false news about the result of the

battle of Shrewsbury. 

LORD CHIEF JUSTICE:

At first, Prince Hal is set in opposition to King Henry IV's Lord Chief Justice (LCJ), the guy

appointed to uphold "the majesty and power of law and justice" .Apparently, the LCJ once

threw the prince in the slammer for boxing him on the ears. This is just an old fashioned way

of saying Hal once smacked the Lord Chief Justice upside his head and has been at odds with

the guy ever since. After King Henry IV dies and Prince Hal officially becomes King Henry

V, the LCJ is worried that the new monarch will punish him.

When Hal becomes the King Henry V, he needs a trusty advisor and new BFF, especially

since being friends with the degenerate Falstaff is now out of the question. This job calls for

the Lord Chief Justice, wouldn't you say? The Lord Chief Justice seems to be the only honest

and impartial guy in the entire kingdom, which is why Hal thinks it's a good idea to have him

on his side. He says to the LCJ "My voice shall sound as you do prompt mine ear / And I will

stoop and humble my intents / To your well-practiced wise directions" .In other words, from

here on out, the LCJ has got the king's ear. Hal also embraces the LCJ as a "father" figure,

which means that the Lord Chief Justice has taken the place of Falstaff, who was Hal's

surrogate father figure in Henry IV Part 1.

Richard Scroop:

The Archbishop of York leads the rebellion against the king in Henry IV Part 2. The

Archbishop uses his religious authority to his advantage. He attracts a sizable following

because it seems to many that God is on his side.

When Prince John meets with York at Gaultree Forest, he accuses the Archbishop of abusing
his position in the church: "You have ta'en up, / Under the counterfeited zeal of God, / the

subjects of His substitute, my father, / And both against the peace of heaven and him / Have

here up-swarmed them" . In other words, Prince John reminds York that the king is God's

"substitute" on earth, which is a reference to a political theory, know as the doctrine of "divine

right." According to this political theory, kings are appointed by God to be earthly

representatives and, therefore, subjects should never challenge the monarch's authority. In

fact, rebelling against the king was considered a sin against God in addition to being

treasonous.

Doll Tearsheet:

Doll tearsheet a smart, saucy, knife-wielding, prostitute, who hangs out at the Boar's Head

Tavern. She's Mistress Quickly's BFF and Falstaff's favorite "companion." Unlike Mistress

Quickly, Tearsheet is pretty smart and can definitely hold her own in a verbal smack down.

She can also hold her own in a bar brawl, which she does in Act 2, Scene 4, when she gets

into a little dustup with Pistol. All of these activities make Doll Tearsheet an unruly figure –

she flouts male authority, civil order, and social convention. Though the Henry plays seem to

celebrate this kind of disorder and rebellion, it ultimately restores order at the conclusion

of Henry IV Part 2, when Doll and the other Eastcheap rowdies are put in their places. At the

end of Act 5, Scene 4, Doll and Mistress Quickly are arrested for murder on the streets of

London.

Pistol:
Pistol is a "swaggering" officer (or "Ensign") who serves under Falstaff in the king's army.

Despite Pistol's military duties in the service of the crown, like the rest of the rowdy

Eastcheap crew, he is a significant figure in the play's portrayal of civil disorder.

Pistol's favorite hobbies include brawling in taverns (with men and women) and talking trash,

which famously results in him being thrown out of his favorite bar, the Boar's Head Tavern in

Act 2, Scene 4. By the end of the play, Pistol is also implicated in the murder of a man (we're

not given much information about this) when two officers arrest Doll Tearsheet and Mistress

Quickly in Act 5, Scene 4. So, we might say Pistol is kind of a "pistol" – that is, he's

explosive, violent, dangerous, and we never know when he might "go off." He's also kind of

fun, in a "gosh he's not a good guy, but happens to be entertaining" kind of way.

Mowbray:

Mowbray is a rebel leader. He's arrested at Gaultree Forest and is later executed for treason.

Hastings:

Hastings is a rebel leader. Like the Archbishop of York and Mowbray, he's arrested at

Gaultree Forest and later executed for treason. 

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester:

Humphrey is one of King Henry IV's sons and Hal's little brother. He's a minor character in

the play with few speaking lines.

Justice Shallow:

Shallow is a justice of the peace who lives in Gloucestershire, where Falstaff visits to recruit
soldiers for the king's army. Shallow likes to spend his time with his cousin, Silence,

reminiscing about the good old days when the two men were back in law school together.

Justice Silence:

Justice silence is Justice Shallow's cousin and is also a justice of the peace who lives in

Gloucestershire. Silence is quiet most of the time but after he has a few drinks, he turns out to

be a dirty man who likes to sing bawdy songs.

IMPORTANT QUOTES

1) KING
God knows, I had no such intent,
But that necessity so bowed the state
That I and greatness were compelled to kiss— (ACT 3, SCENE 1)

2) RUMOR
Why is Rumor here?
I run before King Harry's victory,
Who in a bloody field by Shrewsbury
Hath beaten down young Hotspur and his troops,
Quenching the flame of bold rebellion
Even with the rebels' blood. (ACT 1,PROLOGUE)

3) NORTHUMBERLAND
The times are wild. Contention, like a horse
Full of high feeding, madly hath broke loose
And bears down all before him. (ACT 1,SCENE 1)

4) RUMOR
Upon my tongues continual slanders ride,
The which in every language I pronounce,
Stuffing the ears of men with false reports. (ACT 1,PROLOGUE)