Henry IV, Part I by William Shakespeare (Illustrated)

William Shakespeare, Delphi Classics

• Publisher: Delphi Classics (Parts Edition)
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781786562838
• Topic: Literatur
• Subtopic: Altertumswissenschaften

This eBook features the unabridged text of 'Henry IV, Part I' from the bestselling edition of 'The Complete Works of William Shakespeare'.

Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Shakespeare includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

eBook features:
* The complete unabridged text of 'Henry IV, Part I'
* Beautifully illustrated with images related to Shakespeare's works
* Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook
* Excellent formatting of the text
Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

Henry IV, Part I

Believed to have been written no later than 1597, this is the second play in Shakespeare’s tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V.  This popular play covers events that begin with Hotspur’s battle at Homildon against Douglas late in 1402 and culminates with the defeat of the rebels at Shrewsbury in the middle of 1403.  However, the play is most treasured for its ‘show-stealing’ comedic character Sir John Falstaff, who would become Shakespeare’s most popular creation.  Though used for comedic effect, Falstaff’s famous comments on honour and his criticism of contemporary society are telling signs of the playwright’s more serious genius.

Shakespeare’s primary source for Henry IV, Part 1 was the 1587 edition of Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles, which in turn drew on Edward Hall’s The Union of the Two Illustrious Families of Lancaster and York.

 

The real life Henry IV

The title page of the first quarto copy, 1598

CONTENTS

Dramatis Personæ

Act I. Scene I.

Act I. Scene II.

Act I. Scene III.

Act II. Scene I.

Act II. Scene II.

Act II. Scene III.

Act II. Scene IV.

Act III. Scene I.

Act III. Scene II.

Act III. Scene III.

Act IV. Scene I.

Act IV. Scene II.

Act IV. Scene III.

Act IV. Scene IV.

Act V. Scene I.

Act V. Scene II.

Act V. Scene III.

Act V. Scene IV.

Act V. Scene V.

 

Jeremy Irons as Henry IV in the 2012 TV series ‘The Hollow Crown’

Dramatis Personæ

KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
HENRY, Prince of Wales, & JOHN OF LANCASTER, Sons to the King.
EARL OF WESTMORELAND.
SIR WALTER BLUNT.
THOMAS PERCY, Earl of Worcester.
HENRY PERCY, Earl of Northumberland.
HENRY PERCY, surnamed Hotspur, his son.
EDMUND MORTIMER, Earl of March.
RICHARD SCROOP, Archbishop of York.
ARCHIBALD, Earl of Douglas.
OWEN GLENDOWER.
SIR RICHARD VERNON.
SIR JOHN FALSTAFF.
SIR MICHAEL, a Friend to the Archbishop of York.
POINS.
GADSHILL.
PETO.
BARDOLPH.
LADY PERCY, Wife to Hotspur, and Sister to Mortimer.
LADY MORTIMER, Daughter to Glendower, and Wife to Mortimer.
MISTRESS QUICKLY, Hostess of the Boar’s Head Tavern in Eastcheap.
Lords, Officers, Sheriff, Vintner, Chamberlain, Drawers, two Carriers, Travellers, and Attendants.

SCENE. — England.

Act I. Scene I.

London. The Palace.

Enter KING HENRY, WESTMORELAND, and Others.

K. Hen. So shaken as we are, so wan with care,
Find we a time for frighted peace to pant,
And breathe short-winded accents of new broils 5
To be commence’d in stronds afar remote.
No more the thirsty entrance of this soil
Shall daub her lips with her own children’s blood;
No more shall trenching war channel her fields,
Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoofs 10
Of hostile paces: those opposed eyes,
Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,
All of one nature, of one substance bred,
Did lately meet in the intestine shock
And furious close of civil butchery, 15
Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks,
March all one way, and be no more oppos’d
Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies:
The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife,
No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends, 20
As far as to the sepulchre of Christ, —
Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross
We are impressed and engag’d to fight, —
Forthwith a power of English shall we levy,
Whose arms were moulded in their mother’s womb 25
To chase these pagans in those holy fields
Over whose acres walk’d those blessed feet
Which fourteen hundred years ago were nail’d
For our advantage on the bitter cross.
But this our purpose is a twelvemonth old, 30
And bootless ’tis to tell you we will go:
Therefore we meet not now. Then let me hear
Of you, my gentle cousin Westmoreland,
What yesternight our council did decree
In forwarding this dear expedience. 35

West. My liege, this haste was hot in question,
And many limits of the charge set down
But yesternight; when all athwart there came
A post from Wales loaden with heavy news;
Whose worst was, that the noble Mortimer, 40
Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight
Against the irregular and wild Glendower,
Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken,
And a thousand of his people butchered;
Upon whose dead corpse’ there was such misuse, 45
Such...