Henry IV Analysis
Henry IV Analysis
Henry IV Analysis
he nature of the audience has changed throughout history, evolving from a participatory crowd to a group of people sitting behind an imaginary line, silently observing the performers. The role of the audience is continually evolving. There has always been a need for human beings to communicate their wants, needs, perceptions and disagreements to others. This need to communicate is the foundation of art and the foundation of theatres relationship to its audience. In the Beginning Theatre began as ritual, with tribal dances and festivals celebrating the harvest, marriages, gods, war and basically any other event that warranted a party. People all over the world congregated in villages. The dancers would be joined by the villagers, because they believed that their lives depended on a successful celebrationensuring a bountiful harvest, victorious battle or simply to be in good graces with their god or gods. Sometimes these festivals would last for days and the village proved tireless in its ability to celebrate. Many of these types of festivals survive today in the folk history of areas such as Scandinavia, Asia, Greece and other countries throughout Europe. Its Greek to Me The first recorded plays come from the Greeks (4th and 5th Centuries BCE). Their form of theatre began in much the same way as previous forms did. It stemmed from the celebration of the wine harvest and the gods who brought citizens a fruitful harvestspecifically Dionysus, the god of wine. Spectators had a great deal of respect for their gods, and thousands would flock to the theatre to experience a full day of celebration. The day of drama and song made for a lively crowd. Staff-bearers patrolled the aisles to keep the rowdies under control. While theatre was free, your seat was determined by your station in life. The rich had cushioned seats at the front, while the peasants, artisans and women were forced to take seats at the back. After a full day of drink, Greek audiences were not above showing disapproval at a less-than-spectacular performance. Stones were thrown, hissing was popular and loud groanings of discontent could usher any actor into early retirement. The Romans, or the inspiration for Gladiator The Romans took the idea of spectator an inch or so further. Their theatre (1st3rd Centuries BCE) developed in much the same way as the Greeks; with comedy, tragedy and festivals, but unfortunately ended with what the Christians called morally inappropriate dancing, mimes, violent spectator sports such as gladiator fights, and the public executions for which the Romans were famous. Romans loved violence and the audience was a lively crowd. Because theatre was free, it was enjoyed by people of every social class. They were vocal, enjoyed hissing bad actors off the stage and loved to watch criminals meet large ferocious animals. Soon after, audiences enjoyed watching those same criminals meet their deaths. The Far East In Asia, theatre developed in much the same way it has elsewhere, through agricultural festivals and religious worship. Chinese and Japanese audiences have always been tireless, mainly because their theatre forms, such as the Japanese Kabuki and Noh plays and Chinese operas, could last anywhere between a full day, if not three days, beginning between six to nine in the morning! In China, the audience was separated; the higher classes sat closer to the action of the play and the lower classes, generally a louder, more talkative bunch, would be placed in stalls at the back. The audience expected a superior performance and if it lacked in any way, the audience could stop the production and insist on a different presentation. In Japan, theatre began with all-day rice festivals and temple plays sponsored by priests. These evolved into street performances where the performers led the audience on a trip through the village. In theatre houses, the upper classes sat in constructed boxes and women in disguise (it was not considered proper for a respectable woman to be seen at the theatre) and lower classes would stand below, with the inspector standing on a high platform in the middle, keeping a strict eye on everyone. A Couple Hundred Years Without Art Tolerance takes a holiday during the period of European history known as the Dark Ages. During this time culture of
all kind goes on hiatusmost especially that frivolous, godless display of lewd and licentious behavior known as theatre. Fortunately, it reemerges with severe restrictions during the Middle Ages. Pageant Wagons Western theatre further develops from the Greek and Roman traditions through the Middle Ages with Mystery Plays sponsored by the church. Organized theatre was frowned upon, as it was a place for congregation of the lower classes, encouraging disease and immoral behavior. Church leaders would allow performances of bible scenes, however, for the people who could not read. These productions moved to different locations much like traveling the stations of the cross. To spread the good word to the broadest section of the population these plays left the confines of the church building and began to travel on what were known as pageant wagons. These wagons held one entire location and a series of wagons hooked together permitted a company to tell an entire story just about anywhere. Troupes of actors would roam the countryside setting up make-shift theatres in inns, pubs, public squarespretty much anywhere they could park. Within This Wooden O During Shakespeares erathe Elizabethan period theatre companies were awarded status and privilege based on patronage from wealthy landholders or the royal family. With patronage came money so the companies began building theatres. The theatre of Shakespeares day was attended by all, was inexpensive and known to be an incredibly good time. Surrounding the stage was the pit where the lower classes congregatedcalled the groundlingsand above, octagonally surrounding the pit, were the stalls reserved for the upper classes. If you were stationed in the pit, it was not uncommon to have a goblet of wine dumped on your head, to be drooled upon or spat upon by the more civilized people above you. Elizabethan audiences did not know what it meant to be quiet for a performance and would talk back to the actors. Thought to be involved in spreading the Black Plague, the good time abruptly ended with the closing of the theatres in 1592. Look at Me, Look at Me... During the Restoration, theatre became a luxury. For the almost entirely upper class audience, the purpose of going to the theatre was to see and to be seen. The stage was a rectangular area between a long hallway of boxes. The best seats in the house were often right on stage! The house lights were up full so the audience could see each other better, not the action on stage. The theatre of the Restoration consisted mainly of light, fluffy comedies performed in an oratory styleactors posing, wearing big
2
costumes and practically screaming over the din of the audience. Theatre companies still existed on the patronage of the very wealthy, and often performed plays exclusively in the salons of the rich, famous and powerful. A few hundred years later, opera composer Richard Wagner figured out that to focus the audiences attention away from themselves and onto the stage, the lights needed to be off forcing the audience to watch the performance. Since that time the audience takes its cue that the performance is about to begin when the lights overhead begin to dim. This small adjustment in lighting effectively erected a permanent barrier between the action onstage and the audience. Freud...Tell me About Your Mother While dimming the house lights has drastically changed the overall aesthetic of theatre, another modern movement has had even greater impact on theatre in the 20th century. Psychoanalysisid, ego, super-ego and subconscious desiresmade theatre more introspective in its search for truth. As theatre became more psychological, more a representation of real life, the audience felt they were eavesdropping. 20th century theatre-goers spent a great deal of time and thought pondering the psychological motivations of characters. There is now an imaginary wall, called the fourth wall, separating the performers and the audience. It affects how we view the performance and how actors portray characterswe can observe the people onstage as they relate their problems, fears and desires without them noticing us at all. Now the Options are Endless Today, for the audience, just about anything goes. History has shared with us many types of theatre and we, the spectators, bring our own experiences and histories to the event causing us to react differently to different productions. Unlike movies or television, the actor-audience relationship is a live relationship: each is in the others presence, in the same place at the same time. It is the exchange between the two that gives theatre its unique quality. As audience members we have an obligation to be attentive, allowing the performers to fulfill their obligationto entertain and enlighten us. There is always a dialogue between audience and performer, whether visual or vocal. All individuals participating in the theatrical event, whether as audience or performer, bring to it a personal background and experience which becomes vital to their response to the interaction. In the same way, every participant leaves the performance enriched both by their own individual experience and that of the larger community to which they belong for a brief moment within the confines of the theatre walls. We must listen to capture and understand what the performers are trying to communicate and, at the same time, they must listen to us.
On William Shakespeare
London to avoid prosecution in Stratford. Another holds that he left home to work in the city as a school teacher. Neither is corroborated by contemporary testimony or public record. Whatever the truth may be, it is clear that in the years between 1582 and 1592 William Shakespeare did become involved in the London theatre scene as a principal actor and playwright with one of several repertory companies.
o mans life has been the subject of more speculation than William Shakespeares. For all his fame and celebration, Shakespeares personal history remains a mystery. There are two primary sources for information on the Bardhis works, and various legal and church documents that have survived from Elizabethan times. Unfortunately, there are many gaps in this information and much room for conjecture. We know a man named William Shakespeare was baptized at Stratford-upon-Avon on April 26, 1564 and was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford on April 25, 1616. Tradition holds that he was born three days earlier, and that he died on his birthdayApril 23but this is perhaps more romantic myth than fact. Young William was born of John Shakespeare, a glover and leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a landed heiress. William, according to the church register, was the third of eight children in the Shakespeare household, three of whom died in childhood. We assume that Shakespeare went to grammar school, since his father was first a member of the Stratford Council and later high bailiff (the equivalent of town mayor). A grammar school education would have meant that Shakespeare was exposed to the rudiments of Latin rhetoric, logic and literature. In 1575, John Shakespeare suddenly disappears from Stratfords political records. Some believe that his removal from office necessitated his sons quitting school and taking a position as a butchers apprentice. Church records tell us that banns (announcements) were published for the marriage of a William Shakespeare to an Ann Whatley in 1582 (there are no records indicating that this arrangement was solemnized, however). On November 27 of the same year a marriage license was granted to eighteen-year-old William and twenty-six-year-old Anne Hathaway. A daughter, Susanna, was born to the couple six months later. We know that twins, Hamnet and Judith, were born soon after, and that the twins were baptized. We also know that Hamnet died in childhood at the age of 11, on August 11, 1596. We dont know how the young Shakespeare came to travel to London and how he first came to the stage. One theory holds that young Will was arrested as a poacher (one who hunts Portrait of Shakespeare engraved by Martin Droeshout, found on the illegally on someone elses title page of the First Folio edition of property) and escaped to
The Chandos portrait of Shakespeare, which is the only one known to be produced during his lifetime.
By 1594, Shakespeare was listed as a shareholder in the Lord Chamberlains Men, one of the most popular acting companies in London. He was a member of this company for the rest of his career, which lasted until approximately 1611. When James I came to the throne in 1603, he issued a royal license to Shakespeare and his fellow players, inviting them to call themselves the Kings Men. In 1608, the Kings Men leased the Blackfriars Theatre in London. This theatre, which had artificial lighting and was probably heated, served as their winter playhouse. The famous Globe Theatre was their summer performance space. In 1616 Shakespeares daughter Judith married Thomas Quiney, the son of a neighbor in Stratford. Her father revised his will six weeks later; within a month he had died. The revised version of William Shakespeares will bequeathed his house and all the goods therein to his daughter and her new husband; his wife, who survived him, received the couples second best bed. In the years since Shakespeares death, he has risen to the position of patron saint of English literature and drama. In the 1800s especially, his plays were so popular that many refused to believe that an actor from Stratford had written them. To this day some believe that Sir Francis Bacon was the real author of the plays; others choose to believe Edward DeVere, the Earl of Oxford, was the author. Still others would prefer to believe Walter Raleigh or Christopher Marlowe penned the lines attributed to Shakespeare. While most people are content to believe that genius can spring up in any social class or rural setting, the gap between the known facts and the myths that surround Shakespeares life leaves ample room for speculation.
3
Elizabethan England
The public theatres were located across the Thames from London proper.
he age of Shakespeare was a great time in English history. During the reign of Elizabeth I (15581603) England emerged as the leading naval and commercial power of the Western world; consolidating this position with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Elizabeth I firmly established the Church of England (begun by her father Henry VIII after a dispute with the Pope) during this time. London in the 16th century underwent a dramatic transformation; the population grew 400% between 1500 and 1600, swelling to nearly 200,000 people in the city proper and outlying region by the time an emerging artist from Stratford came to town. A rising merchant middle class was carving out a productive livelihood, and the economy was booming. During Shakespeare's lifetime, England also experienced a tremendous cultural revival. This so-called English Renaissance found expression in architecture, music, literature and drama. Shakespeare both drew inspiration from and enhanced high and popular culture of the English Renaissance. Popular entertainment during the 16th century tended to be boisterous and often violent. Many men, women and children attended public executions of criminals that took place on a regular basis, and persons of all social classes and genders attended theatre performances. The trade of book-making flourished during the period as public education fueled the appetite for great works in print.
During the years 1590-1593, England suffered from an outbreak of terrible proportions; the bubonic plague or Black Death claimed so many lives that English society stood on the verge of collapse. Many businesses, including theatres, closed, in part to keep people from spreading the disease and in part because of the labor shortage that resulted from such widespread illness and death. Once the epidemic subsided, the theatres re-opened and quickly regained their former popularity. This explosion of commerce and culture lasted throughout Elizabeths reign and into that of her successor, James I. James rule brought many changes to English life; the two most pivotal were a bankrupt economy and an intense dissatisfaction from a minority religious groupthe Puritans. In September 1642, the Puritan Parliament issued an edict that forbade all stage plays and closed the theatres; an act which effectively brought to a close the Elizabethan Renaissance. Theatres rapidly fell into disrepair and neglect until the Restoration in 1660. In writing his plays and sonnets, William Shakespeare drew ideas from many different sources. His keen eye for detail and his sharp understanding of human nature enabled him to create some of the most enduring works of drama and poetry ever produced. But his work also provides an insightful commentary on 16th-century English values, life, history and thought.
4
Shakespeares Works
illiam Shakespeare, in terms of both his life and body of work, is the most written-about author in the history of Western civilization. His canon includes 38 plays, 154 sonnets and 2 epic narrative poems. During his lifetime, many of his plays were published in what are known as Quarto editions, frequently without receiving the playwrights permission. The Quartos are mostly flawed versions containing added material or missing entire passages from the original works. The first collected edition of Shakespeares works is called the First Folio and was published after the playwrights death in 1623 by two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell. Since then the works of Shakespeare have been studied, analyzed, translated and enjoyed the world over as some of the finest masterpieces of the English language. Establishing the chronology of Shakespeare's plays is a frustrating and difficult task. It is impossible to know in what order the plays were written because there is no record of the first production date of any of his works. However, scholars have decided upon a specific play chronology based on the following sources of information: 1) several historical events and allusions to those events in the plays; 2) the records of performances of the plays, taken from such places as the diaries of other Shakespeare contemporaries; 3) the publication dates of sources; and 4) the dates that the plays appear in print (remembering that a play was produced immediately after it was written in the Elizabethan age, but may not have been published for years following the first production). Despite the fact that we have an accepted play chronology, we must keep in mind that the dating is conjectural, and there are many who disagree with the order of plays listed on the next page. Drawing distinctions between Shakespeares plays and categorizing his works has been a focus of scholars for hundreds of years, and the criteria used to differentiate the plays into types or genres has changed over time. The distinction between tragedy and comedy became particularly important during Shakespeare's life. During that time writers of tragedy conformed to Aristotles definition, relating the tale of a great man or woman brought down through hubris or fate. Comedy in this time, much like in our own, descended from the Roman "New Comedy" of Plautus and Terence, which kept away from politics and focused on love, domestic troubles and family affairs. In the First Folio, some of Shakespeares plays are divided by their theatrical genreeither Tragedies or Comedies however some of the tragedies protagonists or heroes, like
5
The Dewitt sketch of the Swan Theatre is thought to be the only contemporary visual account of an Elizabethan playhouse.
Romeo, Timon or Macbeth, do not easily accommodate Aristotle's definition. Plays are also categorized in the First Folio as Histories, done so because these works chronicled the lives of English Kings. These plays tended toward tragedy (Richard II or Richard III, for instance) or comedy (the Falstaff subplots of both parts of Henry IV and the Pistol-Fluellen encounters of Henry V). Through the effort to categorize Shakespeares plays in publication, we can see that his writing style mingled the antagonistic visions of comedy and tragedy in ways that still seem novel and startling. The recognition of this has led scholars since the publication of the First Folio to add additional genres problem plays, romances, tragicomediesto help classify the works of Shakespeare. Still other scholars have augmented these genres by grouping the plays chronologically, separating by time periods. The first period, pre-1594 including Richard III and The Comedy of Errors, has its roots in Roman and medieval dramathe construction of the plays, while good, is obvious and shows the author's hand more so than his later works. The second period, 1594-1600 including Henry V and A Midsummer Nights Dream, shows more growth in style and a less labored construction. The histories of this period are considered Shakespeare's best, portraying the lives of royalty in human terms. He also begins the interweaving of
genres that would become one of his stylistic signatures. His comedies mature in this period, developing deeper characterization and subjects than previously. The third period, 1600-1608 including Macbeth and King Lear, includes the great tragediesthe principal works which would earn Shakespeare his fame in later centuries. The comedies of this period show Shakespeare at a literary crossroadsthey are often darker and without the clear comic resolution of previous comedieshence, the term "problem plays" to describe them. The fourth period, post1608 including The Winters Tale and The Tempest, encompasses what has been referred to as the romances or tragicomedies. Shakespeare at the end of his career seemed preoccupied with themes of redemption. The writing is more serious yet more lyrical, and the plays show Shakespeare at his most symbolic. Scholars argue whether this period owes more to Shakespeare's maturity as a playwright or merely signifies a changing trend in Elizabethan theatre. It is important for scholars, teachers and students to keep in mind that these genre classifications were not determined by Shakespeare during the writing of each play but imposed after his death to help readers better understand his work.
Shakespeares Plays
First Performed
1590-91 1590-91 1591-92 1592-93 1592-93 1593-94 1593-94 1594-95 1594-95 1594-95 1595-96 1595-96 1596-97 1596-97 1597-98 1597-98 1598-99 1598-99 1599-1600 1599-1600 1599-1600 1600-01 1600-01 1601-02 1602-03 1604-05 1604-05 1605-06 1605-06 1606-07 1607-08 1607-08 1608-09 1609-10 1610-11 1611-12 1612-13 1612-13
Henry VI, Part II Henry VI, Part III Henry VI, Part I Richard III The Comedy of Errors Titus Andronicus Taming of the Shrew The Two Gentlemen of Verona Love's Labour's Lost Romeo and Juliet Richard II A Midsummer Night's Dream King John The Merchant of Venice Henry IV, Part I Henry IV, Part II Much Ado About Nothing Henry V Julius Caesar As You Like It Twelfth Night Hamlet The Merry Wives of Windsor Troilus and Cressida All's Well That Ends Well Measure for Measure Othello King Lear Macbeth Antony and Cleopatra Coriolanus Timon of Athens Pericles Cymbeline The Winter's Tale The Tempest Henry VIII The Two Noble Kinsmen*
Title
*The Two Noble Kinsmen is listed although a few scholars do not believe it is an original Shakespeare work. The majority of the play was probably written by John Fletcher, Shakespeare's close friend who succeeded him as foremost dramatist for the King's Men.
uring the Elizabethan period, English was a relatively young language (only about 160 years old) combining Latin, French and Anglo-Saxon. There was no dictionary or standardized literacy education. People in Shakespeares London spoke much more than they read, causing the rules of grammar and spelling to be quite fluid. Writers created new words daily and poets expressed themselves in a new form of writing known as blank verse, first appearing in 1557 in Certain Bokes of Virgiles Aenis by the Earl of Surrey:
They whistled all, with fixed face attent When Prince Aeneas from the royal seat Thus gan to speak, O Queene, it is thy will, I should renew a woe can not be told:
It was this new tradition of blank verse in iambic pentameter that Shakespeare inherited as he embarked on his career as playwright and poet. Similar to the human heartbeat, a horse gallop or the beat of a piece of music, iambic pentameter drives and supports Shakespeares verse, moving the language along in a forward flow that emulates the natural speech and rhythms of life. Here is a standard line of verse in iambic pentameter from Romeo and Juliet:
But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? (II.ii.2)
That the verse was blank simply meant that the poetry did not rhyme, allowing rhyme-less poets such as Virgil and Ovid to be translated and Elizabethan playwrights to emulate the natural rhythms of English speech within iambic pentameter. A typical line of verse from this time contains five units of meter or feet. Each foot contains two syllables. When the first syllable is unstressed and the second syllable is stressed (dee DUM), it is an iamb (iambic meaning push, persistency or determination). The prefix penta means five, as in the five-sided shapea pentagon. Iambic pentameter is therefore one line of poetry consisting of five forwardmoving feet.
If we were to say the rhythm and not the words, it would sound like this: When we scan a piece of text (marking it with a for the unstressed and / for stressed), we simply tap out the rhythm of the line, based on dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM, to see if the line is structured in iambic pentameter:
/ / / / / But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM
Embracing the rules of this new verse, Shakespeares early writing operated almost entirely within strict iambic pentameter.
Prose in Shakespeares work is not in iambic pentameter and relies more heavily on other literary devices for its speed and rhythm. These devices include: antithesis (setting opposite words against each other), lists (series of actions or descriptive words that build to a climax) and puns (the use or misuse of a word to mean another word). Shakespeare used prose to express conversation between the lower classes, like the Mechanicals in A Midsummer Nights Dream, or familiar or intimate scenes, as with Henry and Katherine at the end of Henry V. He also utilized prose to express madness or vulgarity, as in the nunnery scene of Hamlet. The exact meaning of a shift from verse to prose is not constant, but it always signals a change in the situation, characters or tone of a scene. Only Much Ado About Nothing and The Merry Wives of Windsor rely almost entirely on prose. In the following passage from The Merry Wives of Windsor, note antithesis in Fords comparison of himself with Page and of other mens possessions with Mistress Ford, see the list of things Ford would rather trust others with than his wife with herself and observe the pun on effect:
Ford Page is an ass, a secure ass; he will trust his wife, he will not be jealous. I will rather trust a Fleming with my butter, Parson Hugh the Welshman with my cheese, an Irishman with my aqua-vitae bottle, or a thief to walk my ambling gelding, than my wife with herself. Then she plots, then she ruminates, then she devises; and what they think in their hearts they may effect, they will break their hearts but they will effect. God be praised for my jealousy! (II.2.300-314)
or feminine ending. He also utilized more and more enjambed or run-on lines, allowing thoughts to continue from line to line, rather than finishing a thought per line. He grew to express the inner life of his characters and the size of their thoughts within the structure and the scansion of the text. In this famous passage from Hamlet, notice the overflow in the first line of Hamlets huge thought beyond the regular pentameter, forming a feminine ending:
/ / / / / To be, or not to be: that is the question: (III.1.55)
With this overflow, Shakespeare expresses the enormity of Hamlets thought, his situation and the uneasy exploration of this argument. (It is important to remember, however, scanning is subjective and must be decided by the individual actor or reader.) This line might also be scanned:
/ / / / / To be, or not to be: that is the question: (III.1.55)
This creates a trochee, or an iamb of reversed stressDEE dum. Eventually, in Othello, King Lear and Macbeth, Shakespeare became a master of building, breaking and reinventing rhythms and language to create an entire tone or world for a play. Continuously experimenting and exploring the combination of form, meaning and language, he used short and shared lines between characters more and more, as in Macbeth, allowing the speed and rhythm of characters thoughts to meet and collide.
Lady Macbeth I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. Did not you speak? Macbeth When? Lady Macbeth Now. Macbeth As I descended? (II.ii.15-19)
As his writing skill level increased, Shakespeare gradually employed alliteration (the repetition of a vowel or consonant in two or more words in a phrase), assonance (resembling vowel sounds in a line) and onomatopoeia (words with sounds imitating their meaning) to create deeply poetic, vibrant images on stage for the characters and his audience. Examples of these three literary devices are found in the following four lines:
Chorus From camp to camp through the foul womb of night The hum of either army stilly sounds, That the fixed sentinels almost receive The secret whispers of each other's watch. (Henry V, IV.4-7)
The hard C is repeated in the first line (alliteration), the O is heard in through, foul and womb (assonance) and the word whispers in the last line imitates the sound whispers produce (onomatopoeia). By the time Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, he sometimes allowed a characters thoughts to overflow their usual pentameter lines with an extra beat, often ending with a soft
8
By the time Shakespeare gives his final farewell in The Tempest, believed by many to be his last play, his verse is so varied and specific to character and situation that it is extremely difficult to scan. Shakespeare broke, rebuilt and reinvented the verse form so many times that he plays the equivalent of jazz in the rhythms of Cymbeline, The Winters Tale and The Tempest. At the end of The Tempest, in Prosperos powerfully simple epilogue, Shakespeare brings his work full circle by returning to the simplicity of regular verse. Having created almost 1,700 words, timeless characters and the greatest poetry in the history of the English language, Shakespeare buries his art and returns to the form with which he began.
Coined by Shakespeare
gems-turned-clichs as neither a borrower nor a lender be, brevity is the soul of wit and to thine own self be true (I. iii.75; II.ii.90; I.iii.78). Shakespeare created words in four specific ways: new spellings of old words or foreign words, adding prefixes or suffixes to existing words, combining two words to form a compound word with a new meaning and creating new words out of sounds. The word anchovy, the salty little fish found on pizza, is a new spelling of the Spanish anchova. It first appeared in print in Shakespeares Henry IV, Part 1. Another word found first in Romeo and Juliet is alligator (V. i.43), which can be traced back to the similar-sounding Spanish el lagarto, which means lizard. Shakespeare changed the verb lug into the noun luggage by adding a suffix. The word is first found in Henry IV, Part 1, and originally referred to the dead Hotspur borne on the back of Falstaff at the end of the play. Other words Shakespeare created by adding prefixes and suffixes are misquote, mountaineer, retirement and premeditated. Shakespeare combined words to create the new words upstairs and downstairs; these were first used in Henry IV, Part 1 as well, when Prince Hal compliments a servant by saying His industry is up stairs and down stairs (II.iv.99-100). Other compound words Shakespeare coined that are currently in common usage are skim milk, roadway, lackluster, leapfrog, watchdog, farmhouse, eyeball and moonbeam. Then there are words that have no recognizable origin that Shakespeare likely created himself. Puke is one of those words, first used in the play As You Like It. Jacques spoke the word, describing an infant Mewling and puking in the nurses arms (II.vii.144). Because Shakespeares writing is so entrenched in the vocabulary of English, you may use more Shakespearean language on a daily basis than you realize. Other words coined by Shakespeare: advertising Measure for Measure bloodstained Titus Andronicus dislocate King Lear fashionable Troilus & Cressida fortune-teller Comedy of Errors gnarled Measure for Measure gossip Comedy of Errors investment Henry IV, Part 2 love letter Two Gentlemen of Verona swagger A Midsummer Night's Dream wormhole The Rape of Lucrece
illiam Shakespeare did more than just write 37 plays, 154 sonnets and 6 longer poems, he also coined a significant portion of the English language itself. Over 1,000 words invented by Shakespeare are a part of our every day language. Shakespearean quotes and phrases are often used in conversations, magazine articles, cartoons, song lyrics and even in titles to books and motion pictures. Shakespeare created many new words. The dictionary is approximately 1,700 words larger thanks to the Bard of Avon. Shakespeare was writing at a time when the English language was very youngin the process of being written. English vocabulary grew more in Shakespeares time than in any other period of the recorded history of the language. The literacy rate was extremely low during the Elizabethan periodmost people did not know how to read or write. They learned and used language by hearing and speaking: if they heard a word, they used it. The theatre was a hugely popular form of entertainment for all classes, so a word or phrase used on Shakespeares stage reached a great number of ears. When Shakespeares plays were printed, they were often the first record of words that had never been used before. Have you ever heard someone say something is rotten in the state of Denmark and wondered just why Denmark is so rotten? Its because things were pretty bad for Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the title character of Shakespeares play whose uncle killed his father and married his mother. Now when a situation is fishy, people use Shakespeares words. When someone doesnt understand something and says its Greek to me they are actually quoting Casca, a conspirator from Julius Caesar who didnt understand something that was spoken in Greek. The mother of a teenage boy might say that he will eat us out of house and home. The first person to be accused of this was Falstaff in Shakespeares Henry IV, Part 2, when Mistress Quickly, the proprietress of the tavern, cries, He hath eaten me out of house and home; he hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his (II.i.74). The phrase dead as a doornail was first uttered by the warrior Cade in another history play, Henry VI, Part 2 (IV.x.41). The proverb all that glitters is not gold is from Shakespeares comedy The Merchant of Venice (II.vii.65). Macbeth gave us the phrases milk of human kindness and be-all and end-all (I. v.17; I.vii.4-5), Romeo and Juliet gave us wild-goose chase (II.iv.71), As You Like It gave us neither rhyme nor reason (III.ii.387), Othello provided green-eyed monster as a metaphor for jealousy (III.iii.168) and Hamlet gave us such
1564 William Shakespeare born to John and Mary Shakespeare in Stratford-UponAvon. 1570 John Shakespeare first applies for a family coat of arms. His application is denied.
1582 William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway. 1583 Shakespeares daughter Susanna born. 1585 Shakespeares twins Judith and Hamnet born. 1587 Shakespeare goes to London to pursue life in the theatre. 1593 Shakespeare writes Venus and Adonis. Also begins writing the Sonnets. 1594 Shakespeare becomes a founding member of the Lord Chamberlains Men. 1596 Hamnet Shakespeare dies at age 11. 1597 Shakespeare purchases New Place in Stratford. 1599 Shakespeares family is granted a coat of arms. 1601 Shakespeares father dies. 1603 The Lord Chamberlains Men are renamed the Kings Men. They perform at the Court of King James I more than any other company.
1605 Shakespeare purchases more land in Stratford. 1608 The Kings Men begin playing at the Blackfriars Theatre, a prominent indoor theatre. 1609 Shakespeares Sonnets published.
1611 The King James Bible first published. 1616 In March, Shakespeare, apparently ill, revises his will. On April 23rd he dies and 1618 The Protestant German princes and their 1616 Ben Jonsons Workes published in folio. is buried at Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. foreign supporters begin their struggle against the Holy Roman Empire. This marks the start of the Thirty Years War. 1623 Shakespeares First Folio published. 10
Prince Hal takes control of the royal army, appointing Falstaff as the leader of a company of foot soldiers. Under this new leadership, the Kings army meets the rebels at the Battle of Shrewsbury. Glendower and Northumberland have deserted the cause, leaving Hotspur to face Prince Hals forces alone. King Henry offers to pardon the rebels if they will disband but Worcester, the messenger, refrains from informing the others. On the battlefield, the rebel Earl of Douglas engages King Henry in combat, getting the better of the King until Prince Hal comes to the rescue, causing Douglas to flee. Hotspur enters the scene and clashes swords with Hal in one-on-one combat that will determine the winner of the battle. During their fight, Douglas re-enters and wounds Falstaff, who plays dead in an effort to avoid being killed. Hal succeeds in killing Hotspur, but Falstaff later tries to take credit for the slaying. With the rebel forces defeated and scattered, the play ends with King Henry and Prince Hal departing side-byside to battle Glendower and Mortimer.
Credit: Museum of Modern Art
Orson Welles as Falstaff and Keith Baxter as Hal in the film Chimes at Midnight, (1965).
11
Rebels Against the King Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland (1342 1400): The brother of the Earl of Worcester, Earl-Marshal under Richard II and father to Hotspur. He conspired with Owen Glendower and Edmund Mortimer against Henry IV and was killed on Bramham Moor. In the play Percy does not go to battle due to illness, leaving Hotspur to fight alone against the Kings forces. Henry Percy surnamed Hotspur (1364 1403): The eldest son of Percy, Earl of Northumberland, and at first a nobleman fighting for Henry IV, defeating the Scots at Humbledon Hill in 1402. He joined the rebellion against Henry IV when forbidden to ransom his brother-in-law, Sir Edmund Mortimer. Shakespeare credits Hal for killing Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury, but no historical evidence supports this. Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester (1344 1403?): Admiral of the North Fleet under Richard II and created Earl of Worcester in 1397. With his brother the Earl of Northumberland he rebelled against Henry IV. In the play, Worcester fails to inform Hotspur of King Henry's generous terms to the rebels to avoid war and is put to death after the Battle of Shrewsbury, along with Sir Richard Vernon. Sir Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March (1376 1409?): Richard dies naming as his official heir Edmund Mortimer, who is the great-grandson of Lionel, Duke of Clarence. Edmund is named as Richard's heir because he is the son of Lionel, the next surviving son of Edward III after Edward the Black Prince. Shakespeare seems to confuse two Mortimersthe heir to Richard II and the man who supposedly fights Glendower on Henry IV's behalf. In the play it is later revealed to the king that Mortimer married Glendower's daughter and led a thousand men to their deaths to join his enemy.
Statue of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, located at the Beverly Minster in Yorkshire, England.
12
Richard Scroop (1350 1405): The Archbishop of York who supported the rebellion against Henry IV and was later executed for treason. At the end of the play, Scroops forces are gathering with those of Northumberland's for future war against the king. Archibald, Earl of Douglas (1376? 1439): Guardian of Scotland and a rebel against Henry IV, Douglas was at first Hotspurs opponent. In the play, Douglas and Hotspur join forces against the kings army. Douglas almost kills King Henry until Hal drives him off, and nearly kills Falstaff. After his defeat, he was pardoned by Hal for his noble manner, though there is no historical evidence to support this claim. Owen Glendower (1359? 1416?): Father to Lady Mortimer and a potent figurehead of Welsh nationalism since he rose up against the occupying English in the early 15th century. He was of aristocratic stock and laid claim to the title of Prince of Wales. Little is known about this man depicted by Shakespeare as a magician who rebels against Henry IV. Glendower's forces do not make it to the final battle, dooming Douglas and Hotspur to certain defeat against the kings forces in Act V. Sir Richard Vernon (? 1451): A rebel against Henry IV. Not much is known about the historical figure. In the play, Vernon opposes Worcester's plan to deny Hotspur any knowledge of King Henry's terms for ending the rebellion, leading to Vernons execution after Hotspurs forces have been defeated. Lady Percy (Kate) (1371 1417): Historically, Elizabeth Mortimer, wife to Hotspur and sister to Mortimer. She was born at Monmouth and is reported to be an ancestor of Winston Churchill. Lady Mortimer: The daughter of Glendower and wife to Mortimer. In the play, she has no scripted lines, as she speaks only Welsh. Not much is known about her historically.
Tavern Folk Sir John Falstaff: A fictional character based on the historical figure Sir John Oldcastle, who died in 1417. Oldcastle, later Lord Cobham, was probably a friend of the historical Prince Hal. He was executed for his heretical Wycliffite beliefs, later to be designated a blessed martyr by Bale and Foxe. Shakespeares Falstaff is the witty leader of a gang of petty thieves and close friends with Hal. Falstaff leads a group of troops against the Percy rebellion, fakes his own death and later claims that he killed the already dead Hotspur. Gadshill, Poins, Peto, Nym and Bardolph: Fictional characters in a band of petty thieves who are associates of Falstaff and Prince Hal. Mistress Quickly: A fictional character, Mistress Quickly is the Hostess of the Boar's Head Tavern in Eastcheap.
13
ecoming the King of England is no easy task, but keeping the crown once you had it was even harder in 15thcentury England. During that time the Wars of the Roses tore the nation in two. The conflict centered around two opposing sides of the same Plantagenet family the Houses of York and Lancaster, both descendents of King Edward IIIwho fought for possession of the crown for 100 years. The name Wars of the Roses comes from the traditional use of the red rose as a symbol for the House of Lancaster and the white rose as a symbol for the House of Edward III York. Shakespeare dramatizes the conflict in a series of eight plays: Richard II, parts one and two of Henry IV, Henry V, the three parts of Henry VI and Richard III. Although the first battle of the war was officially fought in 1455, the roots of the war can be traced to a question of succession in 1377. The rules of succession were strict and male-oriented. Heirs to the throne were chosen according to royal bloodlines, following the concept of Divine Right of Kings. Divine Right is based on the belief that God selected the kings family to rule England, therefore only members of the royal bloodline or direct descendants of the king could become the next monarch. The order of inheritance was based on primogeniturethe right of the eldest son to inherit his parents estate. Primogeniture, the rule of inheritance for both citizens and sovereignty, included many provisions in case an eldest son did not exist or died prematurely. In primogenitures most basic form, when a king died, the crown passed to his eldest son. If his eldest son predeceased him and had no heir, the crown passed to the next oldest son, and so on through the sons. If no male child was born to the monarch, the crown then passed to his eldest daughter. If the deceased monarch had no children, the crown would go to his oldest brother. If this brother died before the king, the crown passed to the kings next oldest brother. The order of succession stretched far beyond siblings and children to guarantee an undisputed heir to the throne, even if the kings entire immediate family died before him.
According to Divine Right, any attempt to remove a proper monarch would be seen as acting against Gods willa mortal sin deserving divine punishment. A question of succession and a potential violation of Divine Right incited the Wars of the Roses and began with the death of Edward III. Edward III outlived four of his seven sons including his eldest, who was also named Edward. Young Edward earned the nickname the Black Prince during his conquests in continental Europe, where he overpowered armies and won lands for England. According to Divine Right, the Black Prince should have succeeded Edward III. When his eldest son died suddenly, the grief-stricken Edward III fell ill and died shortly after. Even though Edward III still had surviving sons, the Black Prince had a son, Richard, who inherited the throne (through primogeniture, the descendant of the deceased assumes succession rights). At ten years old, some noblemen claimed Richard was not ready to assume the throne; many supported one of his adult unclesJohn of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, or Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, the fourth and fifth sons of Edward III. King Edward IIIs Privy Council (his advisory group of wealthy, powerful lords) decided that the boy should be crowned King Richard II and that his uncles should act as regents, or primary advisors. The Dukes of York and Lancaster Richard II accepted this decision and maintained their regent status well into Richards adulthood. In his thirties, King Richard II began ruling England on his own, but failed to appease frequently feuding English lords. Political squabbles and frequent battles created chaos and unrest; eventually even Richard IIs own Privy Council began to doubt his ability to rule. These negative opinions of the king led the descendents of Lancaster and York to consider usurping the crown. Shakespeares Richard II begins at this point in history, with an unpopular Richard II beset with battling noblemen and many enemies at court, including Henry Bolingbroke (the son of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster), whom
14
Richard exiled to France. While Bolingbroke was in exile, John of Gaunt died, and Richard illegally and unfairly claimed Bolingbrokes inheritance for himself. When the Lancastrian Bolingbroke returned to England to claim his inheritance, the support he garnered was enough to seize not only his inheritance but also the throne itself, and Henry IV he became King Henry IV. Richard was deposed (removed from the monarchy) and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Bolingbrokes claim to the throne was tenuous and certainly not as strong as Richards; even when Richard died childless, heirs remained whose right to the throne superseded Bolingbrokes. Richards deposition defied Divine Right; many citizens believed that the newly crowned King Henry IV had gone against Gods will by removing Richard and God would eventually take revenge. Fifty years later, when the Wars of the Roses began, many citizens saw what they believed was that prophecy coming true.
overthrew Margarets army and was named Edward IV. Edwards brother Richard Duke of Gloucester, the future Richard III, killed Henrys only son to ensure Edwards claim to the throne. These battles are dramatized by Shakespeare in the three parts of Henry VI. Edward IV is on the throne, but very ill, at the beginning of Shakespeares Richard III, and he is survived by two sons, the eldest another Edward. After the kings death, rumors surfaced that the young heir to the throne was conceived illegitimately. It remains unclear whether Richard himself orchestrated these claims to promote himself to the throne, where he was invested in 1483. Shakespeares Richard is an evil man who usurps the throne from his nephews and has them murdered in the Tower. This view of Richard, Richard III though popular, is unsubstantiated in history, and his path to the throne remains a cloudy one. The Wars of the Roses ended with Richard IIIs defeat by Henry Tudora descendant of the Duke of Lancaster, son of Edward IIIwho claimed the throne and married Elizabeth of York, uniting the two houses and beginning the Tudor dynasty as King Henry VII. The couples oldest son succeeded as Henry VIII, who in turn was succeeded by his three children: Edward VI, Mary and Shakespeares own Elizabeth I.
Despite Henry IVs troubles attaining the crown, he was a capable ruler. As we see in Shakespeares Henry IV, Part 1, Henry dealt with frequent uprisings during his reign from noblemen still contesting his usurpation. His son Henry V had a smooth succession to the throne when his father died and enjoyed a successful reign during which he conquered lands in France and married the French princess, Katherine. When he died tragically, his one-year-old son became King Henry VI. In Shakespeares dramatization of the Wars of the Roses we can see a bias beginning to form when the incompetent Henry VI had a rocky and Plantagenet Richard II is overthrown by the bravery of ultimately unsuccessful reign; Lancastrian Henry IV, a combination of mental illness followed by the scheming and a domineering wife bloodthirsty Yorkists taking fostered much uncertainty the throne from mentally ill about his abilities to rule, and Henry VI and ending with when he temporarily left the conquering Lancastrian throne during a mental Henry VII killing the evil breakdown, his substitute Richard III. Of course, as Richard Duke of York (a Henry VII is Queen descendent of Edmund of Elizabeths grandfather, it is Langley, Duke of York) was unsurprising that Henry VI accused of attempting to usurp Shakespeare would have the throne. The result of this accusation officially started the painted history in a light that bloody battles of the Wars of the Rosesthe Yorks led by f a v o r e d t h e s i t t i n g Henry VII Richard and the Lancasters led by Queen Margaret and monarch. Henry VI. When Richard died in battle, his son Edward took over the fight and eventually
15
Richard II (1377-1399) Henry IV (13991413) Duke of Somerset (John Beaufort) Earl of Somerset (John Beaufort)
Henry V (14131422)
16
Henry VI (14221461)
M AG RI AR E
Edward IV (14611483)
Edward V (1483)
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
Painting of Henry IVs coronation ceremony by Jean Froissart, early 15th century.
uring the reign of Henry IV (1399-1413), English society was nearing a point of transformation that would mark the end of the Medieval era and 500-some years of the political and economic system known as feudalism. The feudal system was a strict social structure in which wealthy landowners allowed farmers to work a piece of their property in exchange for the farmers pledge of loyalty to the landowner in times of armed conflict. The lords supposedly provided protection to the farmerscalled vassalsbut the advantage was held by the lords or feudal principles who constantly leveraged economic and political power over their vassals. Feudalism shaped English society into a strict hierarchical structure, in which a select, privileged few held power and most people were left to survive as best they could. Society of Men Historian Kate Mertes summarized in her essay Aristocracy that members of Medieval society fit into three groups as a result of the feudal system: men of war, men of prayer and men of work. The rigidity of this structure was solidified by the belief that God ordained it, placing those who could best represent Gods work and words at the top of the hierarchy. The men of war included the king, who ruled in the name of God, and the aristocracy, who classed into the category because they were able to pull together resourceshuman resources, an army of vassalsto fight for king and country. This eventually resulted in the formation of Englands parliamentary monarchy in the mid-15th century. Before this time, the king consulted only with a select group of nobles and advisors; in the parliamentary monarchy, the monarch was required to consult with Parliament, the legislative body, before mandating changes in government. This ensured the
17
people, at least those with money, a small say in national decisions. Men of prayer were the clergy, who assisted the people in finding, hearing and remaining close to the word of God. While not a part of the nobility, the clergy were not men of workthe largest grouping, which encompassed most of the English population. Excluded from all of these groupings were women and merchants who had no formal voice or standing in society. At Englands helm was one rulera monarch. The English monarchy was part of a long tradition of single-ruler government systems in Europe, North Africa and West Asia in which the ruler reigned usually for life and obtained power through hereditary right. This right was considered by many cultures to be of divine origin; some cultures even claimed the monarch was a god. English monarchs were thought to be selected by God, providing them the divine right to hold the throne, which would pass on to other members of the family should the monarch die. In order to preserve royal families God-given right to rule, complex laws of inheritance and systems of succession were instituted. Challenging a monarchs rule, therefore, questioned Gods will as well as English lawmaking for a serious, treasonous act of rebellion. Some say Henry IVs rule came about through such an act; he usurped the throne from Richard II in 1399. Henrys reign was marked by numerous revolts: Richard IIs supporters fought back after his deposition in 1400, Owen Glendower led the Welsh in an eight-year uprising, the Percy and Mortimer familiesoriginally supporters of Henryrose against the king in 1403. Quelling so much rebellion across the country greatly taxed Henry IV and left England in enormous debt. His ultimate success as king maintaining his hold on the crownresulted in large part from the military prowess of his sonPrince Henry, later Henry V.
From Father to Son A persons roles and responsibilities in daily life were predomi nantl y shaped by family relationships. Families functioned much like English society: the father or patriarch ruled the family and all the other members served him working to uphold the fathers name, and so the familys honor. At all Head of Prince Hal, painted by Charles Robert Lesslie, (1851). societal levels this translated to the continuation of the family name. This created a dire need to produce male heirs to ensure the family legacy and pass on the family name for generations. Ties between family name and place in society were particularly important for the aristocracy. Sustaining the family legacy was the key to securing high-standing in the English social order. Law and society worked hand-in-hand to ensure the hierarchys stability. Inheritance law was based on the rule of primogeniture, or the right of the firstborn son to the entire estate of the father. For noblemen this meant money, property and social standing, and for the prince this meant the crown; in either case the familys standing was preserved. Primogeniture did not ensure stability inside the family however; fathers had to watch over-eager sons, sons took mothers to court when they wouldnt relinquish the purse strings, and brother fought brother over the right to be next in line. The English aristocracys system of education was designed around further solidifying a familys hierarchical place. Sons, especially firstborn, were instructed in hunting and politics two important forms of fighting for men of warand proper behavior in court and manners, particularly dining etiquette. These physical and social skills were highly regarded in Medieval England where might equaled right. A more humanist education, including virtues, morals and nobility of the mind, was unheard of until the fall of feudalism. Men had yet to see the value in upholding the common good for the sake of everyone, not just themselves. An heir-apparent, like Prince Henry, received similar schooling to the sons of aristocratslittle book learning but plenty of combat training and royal protocolbut also had the educational burden of learning about his lands and population. Then, as now, people wanted a leader who was knowledgeable about domestic issues and upheld their
beliefs. Future kings were expected to travel through the country to become acquainted with the people and places they would eventually come to rule. These trips were also diplomatic in nature; seeing the prince assured the public of the monarchys power and stability. This component of a princes training was of particular importance when questions arose around his familys right to rule, since a good leader in 15th-century England was too often defined by being the divinely ordained ruler. Honor and Loyalty Men were loyal to God, king and family. Honor to family and the understanding of Gods will often superceded loyalty to the kingparticularly when the kings right to the throne was openly questioned. The early Medieval period was dominated by the code of chivalry: a set of principles, customs and rules of behavior tightly connected with knights and knighthood. Honor and its preservation formed the foundation for chivalry, giving way to certain virtues that chivalric men were expected to upholdbravery, valor, perseverance, righteousness, courtesy (particularly toward women) and dexterity with weapons. This system of honor was linked to possession of horses. The derivation of the word chivalry is the Latin word callabus, meaning horse, especially a riding horse or packhorse, and chivalric men were often dressed in complex and heavy armor, inhibiting them to move far or quickly without the aid of a horse. Ironically, it was these iron-clad men with horses who owned land and were in power, and so the last to actually enter into battle.
18
Pen and ink drawing of a Medieval combat with swords from a College of Arms Manuscript, (c.1565).
Armed Conflict When conflict arose in feudal England, it was around the stability of the hierarchy; and in the 15th century the greatest dilemma centralized on the king. People relied on having a stable monarchy and a king who rightly wore the crown. Questioned claims to the throne resulted in more civil wars than battles on foreign soil. If a king sent soldiers into other countries, it was a two-fold tactic: to divert attention from challenges to his rule and solidify his claim to the throne through victory abroad. Battles in civil warfare were fought by attritioneach side trying to wear down their foe to weaken them to the point of surrender, or rub them out altogether. This was preferred by commanders over the more dangerous pitched battles, during which opposite forces fought in fixed positions and predetermined formations at close range. Men were sure to die in pitched battles. The result of a war of attrition indicated Gods will, the battle serving as a trial by combat. In civil wars, opponents could be neighbors, and those fighting did not have much choice in their service. Vassals were expected to fight for the lords who supported them. The poorest members of society were often drafted to be soldiers because they could not bribe or buy their way out of service. Soldiers were low paid, had no retirement provisions and often turned to stealing and looting upon their
19
return home. Advancement within the military was extremely limited since officers often received their positions through favoritism or by purchase; those in positions of power frequently abused it. In wartime, an English captain was responsible for recruiting new soldiers, which often led to abuses such as padding the muster-rolls or falsifying the enlistment records to collect extra salaries. Captains would accept bribes from men with financial means and enroll a peasant in his place, enlist a man into two different military units (known as bands) and pocket the additional salary, as well as neglect to report a death to scam the dead mans paycheck. Toward the end of the 15th century, the feudal system declined, and concepts of chivalry dissipated. With Tudor rule in England came great transformation in politics and religion, and by Shakespeares time the English were experiencing a period of rebirth known as the Renaissance. This change in attitude toward society, war and fellow man is obvious when looking from Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part 1 to King Henry in Henry V; the young prince matures into a caring, honorable and humble king, leading his countrymen, his brothers-in-arms.
n Henry IV, Part 1, Shakespeare explores the counterculture of Elizabethan England through life in the Boars Head Tavern. Although the play takes place in the early 15th century, Shakespeare is clearly also exploring issues of his own society. Drinking, for example, was certainly the central form of entertainment in Shakespeares England, coupled with gaming, dancing and bearbaiting. The public drinking house was central to Elizabethan society as the place that people met, socialized, did business, committed crimes or simply wiled away their free time. Though moral and social evils existed almost everywhere in Elizabethan London, most of London society singled out brothels, theatres and taverns (or alehouses) as the centers of criminal activity. As the primary socializing space of Elizabethan England, public drinking houses were divided into three different settings: the inn, the alehouse and the tavern. The inn was the most respectable of these three venues; a place where persons of a higher social status might spend the night and where people from various social levels gathered and conducted business. Inns also played a vital role in the economic growth of Elizabethan England as they replaced the old open-air markets as the primary setting for trade and business. They usually had a formal host, either male or female, welcoming and tending to guests, taking care of their luggage and servants upon arrival as well as fulfilling their every need during their stay. The inn could also offer luxuries such as drinking glasses, still fairly uncommon and costly in Shakespeares time, rather than wooden cups. Due to its higher legal, social and economic status as well as its mostly upperclass patrons, the inn enjoyed much more freedom from statutory controls imposed on alehouses in the 16th century.
20
The alehouse, as the bottom of drinking house society, offered only the cheapest of English ale and the most dangerous of crowds. Alehouses were dark, dirty, often violent places patronized mostly by the lower classes, including their fair share of criminals and prostitutes. It was also, however, a place that allowed for public drinking (and therefore socializing) by all classes and created a place where anyone could meet. In Shakespeares London, vagrancy or homelessness was at an all time high. Many men who became members of tradesmen guilds and came to London to practice their trade were often detached from their homes in the big city. The alehouse or tavern provided a perfect home away from home, in which men could gather and even sleep away the nights, giving them a sense of belonging and community. It provided cheap meals and good company for any lonely souls in London. The tavern, just below inns and above alehouses on the social ladder, would invite a mix of people from both the middle and lower classes, a place where those higher in society could publicly mix with lower classes and lower classes could more easily pick the pockets of the drunken middle class. Taverns offered wines instead of malt liquor, including sack, the Spanish wine enjoyed by Falstaff. The actual Boars Head Tavern also served as a theatre or itinerant playhouse before public amphitheatres became available to acting companies. The portrayal of this Eastcheap tavern in Henry IV, Part 1 may therefore also reflect some of the history of playing venues for Shakespeares company, from a time before they had their first resident theatre. Taverns contained within them several different rooms, each delineating a different social grouping. In his Micro-Cosmographie (1628), John Earle writes that in
a tavern customers are carefully segregated into rooms ranging from the bottom of the cellar to the great chamber. Notably Hal does not mix much into various groups or rooms in the play, mostly observing and enjoying other lower levels of society but not actually intermingling with them, sticking close, instead, to the Drunken Knight. The combination of alehouse and tavern does, though, provide an environment in which Hal can be exposed to a variety of social classes, from the knight Falstaff (who might not deign to enter an alehouse) to Mistress Quickly (who could, presumably, be found in either an alehouse or a tavern) and Bardolph or Poins (both perhaps often found in the alehouse but never the inn). As in Henry IV, Part 1, Hal can also explore criminal activity in this tavern/alehouse while remaining relatively safe. He is able to enter the growing Elizabethan subculture of vagrants that he must explore before truly understanding the country he will someday lead as king. Time had very little meaning in the alehouse, and certainly one of the preoccupations of its inhabitants was to waste time, a habit that began to come under attack with Elizabethans increased awareness of time. The public dissemination of clocks and watcheswhich had only become compact and cheap enough for most people to own by the end of the 16th centuryhad heightened the Elizabethans sense of time and increased their ire towards those who sought to waste it. It also highlighted the fact that taverns and alehouses had always been a place for spending and wasting time. Shakespeares use of a tavern or alehouse rather than an inn enhances our sense of Hal wasting his time. Violence and theft also pervaded these alehouses and taverns. Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeares fellow playwright, was stabbed to death in a barroom brawl. Prostitution openly flourished, as the mistress or master of the house would hold rooms just off the main hall for prostitutes to quickly do their business with customers without having to leave the alehouse. Ironically, many alehouses as well as taverns were run by women, or the mistress of the alehouse, such as Mistress Quickly, one of the few jobs open to women during Shakespeares time. Although women often ran them, an alehouse or tavern was always a male-dominated space. More often than not, running an alehouse or tavern was actually a family affair, with every member working in some way, similar to many English pubs today. As the 16th century came to a close, the culture of taverns and alehouses clashed with the Protestant ideas of sobriety and the work ethic embraced by Elizabethan society. As dangerous, disorderly and subversive places, alehouses needed to be controlled and monitored. Hals behavior
21
reflects a social trend in Elizabethan England towards an adolescence of fun and freedomseeking enjoyment that is still prevalent in our society today. This subculture of riotous and criminal behavior in Elizabeths realm, however, was becoming more problematic to this Drawing by David Loggan of Mother Louse, emerging Protestant an old-style alehouse keeper, (c. 1650). nation. As a kingdom that was swiftly moving forward technologically, ideologically and militarily, England could no longer afford an entire populace of criminals and drunkards roaming the city and country unhindered. By the early 17th century, English society became so worried about the wasteful culture of the tavern that it passed the 1604 Act against inordinate Haunting and Tipling in Inns, Alehouses and other drinking places and announced that the purpose of drinking houses was for Receit, Relief and Lodging of Wayfaring People traveling from Place to Place and not meant for Entertainment and Harbouring of lewd and idle People to spend and consume their Money and their Time in lewd and drunken Manner. Although only a minor movement towards eliminating the wastefulness of tavern life from English society, this act clearly signaled the beginning of the end of this period in Englands social life. Life in the tavern as Hal and Falstaff know it was slowly being snuffed out by the Elizabethan Protestant work ethic and the growth of an empire.
Credit: Museum of Modern Art
Photo of Orson Welles as Falstaff from the movie Chimes at Midnight, (1965).
Sir John Falstolfe is recorded in English history as a cowardly commander in the French wars and briefly mentioned in an earlier play by Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, when his cowardice causes the wounding and capture of a fellow commander. The Falstaff of Henry IV, Part 1, however, was originally named Sir John Oldcastle. Oldcastle first appeared in The Famous Victories of Henry IVa rabble-rousing patriotic play that may have been worked on by the young apprentice playwright Shakespeare around 1587in which the young Prince Hal eventually reforms and rejects his wicked companion Sir John Oldcastle. The real Sir John Oldcastle, however, died a Protestant martyr, and his family was not happy to see their famous forefather portrayed as a wicked glutton and a buffoon on the Elizabethan stage. Under pressure from the family, Shakespeare changed the name to Falstaff, but still allows Hal, as an inside joke, to refer to Sir John as my old lad of the castle in their first scene together. Shakespeare also protected himself from any future confusion with a disclaimer during the Epilogue of Henry IV, Part 2: for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is not the man. As with many of his creations, Shakespeare took what had already been written many times as Sir John Oldcastle and created a character that surpasses anything that had come before in his language, his depth and his freedom. Sir John Falstaff symbolizes the freedom and fun sought by Elizabethan audiences in their own time.
Drawing of Eastcheap market from Hugh Alleys A Caveat for the City of London, (1598).
Eastcheap in London was the site of the Elizabethan beef market, an especially appropriate place for Falstaff to patronize, where domestic animals were slaughtered and heretics were burned, making a connection between the fat knight and the Protestant martyr that partially inspired the character of Falstaff. His drunken revelry and laziness would have allowed audiences to laugh at their own worst behavior in the pub and at the presumed lazy lifestyles of their social betters. Falstaff also, however, reflected a burgeoning Elizabethan society that sought to find freedom from its current class system. As English critic A.C. Bradley described him, Falstaff is the Elizabethan dream of freedom from constraints:
The bliss of freedom gained in humour is the essence of Falstaff. His humour is not directed only or chiefly against obvious absurdities; he is the enemy of everything that would interfere with his ease, and therefore of anything serious, and especially of everything respectable and moral. For these things impose limits and obligations, and make us the subjects of old father antic the law, and the categorical imperative, and our station and its duties, and conscience, and reputation, and other peoples opinions, and sorts of nuisances. I say therefore he is their enemy; but I do him wrong; to say that he is their enemy implies that he regards them as serious and recognizes their power, when in truth he refuses to recognize them at all.
Tavern life and Falstaffs lifestyle are seemingly celebrated in Henry IV, Part 1, though they are soon to be rejected and dismissed in Henry IV, Part 2. Just as England can no longer afford the wasteful hours and days spent in alehouses and taverns, Hal can no longer afford wasting time with Falstaff. His tavern education is complete, and he must move on to lead his country, just as Elizabethan England will move on to lead the world.
Title page of John Bales Brief Chronicle Concerning Sir John Oldcastle, (1544).
22
hakespeares history plays can be read as a window into English history and culture; however, they should not be taken as strict historical fact. Shakespeare shaped history into fiction, fabricating scenes and altering character details to fashion a more dramatic account of history. In his article The Historical Background of the History Plays, Peter Saccio writes:
Above all, Shakespeare personalizes. Whether or not history is really governed by the characters and the choices of individual men and women, the dramatist can only write as if it were. Social conditions, cultural habits, economic forces, justice and the lack of it, all that we mean by the times, must be translated into persons and passions if they are to hold the stage.
Yet, these strategies executed by Shakespeare were perfectly in line with historiography of the time. The practice of changing details of historical records permeated 16thcentury chronicles as rulers and writers alike recognized the power that history could have over people. Shakespeare looked to historians of his time for inspiration, borrowing from several different accounts of the Wars of the Roses when writing his history plays. Shakespeare did not credit these historians as we would expect today; during Shakespeares time this apparent act of plagiarism was not seen as a condemnable practice. The 16th century in England was a time of widespread interest in history. The country experienced change socially and economically, and its citizens and rulers looked to the past for clues on how to live and rule. Historians of the time placed more importance on the lessons that could be ascertained from history than on the actual facts. In order to inspire, historians would create pictures of brave, moral men, hoping that the reader would aspire to the same behavior. This interpretive or allegorical way of representing history complemented Medieval chroniclers notion that history was completely influenced by fateevery incident fit into fortunes plan. This concept included the Medieval idea of Fortuna, the goddess whose whims decided who won battles or which nation would rise above others. This belief can be traced to Christianity and divine providence. It was thought that only when events had completely played out, could the meaning of an event be understood. According to Shakespeare scholar Barbara Hodgdon in Historiography and the Uses of History, English historians view of history was teleological: seeing events as directed toward an ultimate purpose, they wrote history accordingly, tracing outcomes back to their beginnings.
As well as providing a moral center, history also provided a tool for political manipulation. English monarchs recognized historys influence and saw it as a way to authenticate their own claim to the throne. The resulting historical accounts generated loyalty among citizens, ultimately resulting in a national unity that had been previously shaken by the Wars of the Roses. Henry VII sponsored the first in a string of accounts of Englands history with his commission of a play from Polydore Vergil that would trace Henrys own ancestry back to King Arthur. Vergils account maintained Henry IVs right to the throne over Richard II, supporting the Lancaster line over the York. It is the first history written that chronicles the Wars of the Roses, important because it set the trend of writing history criticallyincluding interpretation of events and lessons that could be learned from these events.
Borrowing heavily on Vergils account is Edward Halls Union which puts side by side the claims of the Lancasters with those of the Yorks. Halls The Union of Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York (1548) is seen as a possible source for Shakespeares Henry IV, Part 1, but it is Raphael Holinsheds Chronicles of England, Ireland, and Scotland (1578) and Samuel Daniels The Civil Wars, both of which incorporate Halls account, that are Shakespeares main sources. These works all have differing points of view throughout, making for an inconstant view of history during the Wars of the Roses. Some believe Shakespeare enforced the Tudor Myth through his treatment of the Lancasters and Yorks. Since Shakespeare wrote during Queen Elizabeth Is reign, it is highly possible that he favored the Lancasters in order to please his queen. Another of Shakespeares history sources is the anonymous work The Famous Victories of Henry V, Shakespeares foundation for the scenes with Falstaff.
23
Perhaps this fear of being seen as a heretic prompted Holinshed to cite others opinions rather than his own. In any case, it is one of the few instances of a writer of this time period giving credit to his sources; atypical, as the emphasis placed on plagiarism today was not a concern in the 16th century. When writing Henry IV Shakespeare took liberties with his sources to instill his historical tale with dramatic qualities. One specific change from historical fact concerns Hotspur. Shakespeare makes the character of Hotspur younger in his play to compare the outwardly ambitious and brave Hotspur with Hal, who possesses these qualities but withholds them from his father. These supposed inadequacies are amplified when compared with Hotspur. When Hal throws aside his youthful demeanor and takes on one of bravery and responsibility, he is proving to the reader/audience that he can be a capable ruler of England. By enforcing the idea that ability, rather than inheritance, makes an able ruler, Shakespeare asserts the Tudor claim to the throne as well as pleases his Tudor Queen. It is Shakespeares responsibility to instill dramatic qualities into historical narrative. As a playwright, Shakespeare is given license to shape the historical figures into characters of depth and meaning, giving his audience not only the heroes they desire but also creating a stronger connection to history than narrative can create. It was understood that the final result of the play, and the influence it could have on the audience, was more crucial than adherence to historical fact.
Holinsheds work provides the most complete account of the Wars of the Roses, and it is the second edition of this work that Shakespeare relied on for plot details. Shakespeare even went so far as to paraphrase speeches from Holinsheds Chronicles in his history plays. Holinshed relies mainly on Halls account, and he recognizes this in his writing by often acknowledging where he borrows Halls and other writers opinions. In his preface, Holinshed emphasizes that his work is assembled from many different sources, including differing views and opinions. Rather than forming his own opinions, Holinshed preferred to offer those of other historians and invite the readers to make their own judgments. There was a very real reason for Holinshed to take this tactic and defer to the reader, as allegations of heresy had become widespread. Halls work had been added to the list Prohibiting Seditious, Heretical Books and Holinsheds work was even censored by the Privy Council.
Derek Smith as Hal and Edward Gero as Hotspur in The Shakespeare Theatres 1995 Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2.
24
Classroom Connections
IMITATING THE SUN In Henry IV, Part 1 the audience watches Prince Hal change from a reckless and irresponsible youth to a more mature and dependable young man. Ask students to imagine themselves in Hals position: instead of living up to responsibilities, they spend their days partying with friends and disappointing their family. Students should write a journal entry debating whether or not they should grow up and assume more responsibility in the adult world. What are the reasons for deciding this? What will they lose? What will others say about this transformation? After journaling, read Hals monologue from I.ii. How does Hals description of his plan compare with the students? Do they agree with his assessment of the situation? STRUCTURING HENRY IV, PART 1 Shakespeare divides this play fairly evenly into two worlds: the world of King Henry, the nobles and civil strife, and the world of Falstaff, Prince Hal and tavern life. Examine this choice in dramatic structure with your students from two perspectives: How does Shakespeare make these two worlds distinctive? Why is it important to the story of Henry IV, Part 1 for Shakespeare to include characters and plotlines outside of Henrys court? Encourage students to consider the arrangement of the plays scenesthe balance of serious scenes of impending rebellion with the more-jovial tavern scenes. Then examine each scenes primary language formverse or prose. Ask students to imagine that they are a member of the Lord Chamberlains men and compose a letter to Shakespeare either supporting the inclusion of Falstaff and the tavern world or attempting to persuade the Bard to cut those scenes from the play.
In Henry IV, Part 1, Hotspur is known for his fiery temper, which in some instances he is able to control and at other times controls him. Starting with Hotspurs first scene, I.iii, focusing on the monologue that begins My liege, I did deny no prisoners, investigate how Hotspur communicates his anger. How is he able to convey his emotions without openly stating how he feels? What words or sounds does he use to portray anger? Read the monologue aloud as a class and have students search the text circling words or phrases that show Hotspurs temper. Select a gesture to represent anger (e.g. a raised fist) then read the monologue a second time with students gesturing when anger words are read. Reflect on the similarities and differences between students choices, having them explain why they circled a particular phrase or word. WRITE LIKE SHAKESPEARE Divide students into groups. Ask each group to rewrite one of the horoscope passages below using iambic pentameter. Friends find you difficult to pin down for making plans. Keep playing hard-to-get; lovers will certainly want you more. Get focused on money: bargain-hunting, clipping coupons and budget highlighted. This is your year for high hopes and big rewards. An ex returns with apologies it's all up to you, but call on a friend for support. Ask each group to share in front of the class. WHY ART? Ask students to discuss the role of art in society. How does it affect, reflect, enhance a society, a culture or a community? What is the purpose of theatre? To entertain or to educate? Split the class in half and ask the students to debate theatres purpose as either entertainment or education. Which do they expect when they go to the theatre? To the movies?
25
Classroom Connections
CROSSING WORLDS
After Hal and Poins reveal to Falstaff it was they who robbed him in the woods, Falstaff informs them he knew it all along. Read aloud Falstaffs response (II.iv.221-231) in its entirety. How truthful is his declaration? What might Falstaff be feeling? What might he want Hal and Poins to do as a result of speaking to them about the dangers of instinct? Ask students to imagine a time when Falstaff and Hal are reminiscing about this event. Write a monologue for Falstaff in which he reveals his true feelings about Hal robbing him and then outing Falstaffs cover-up in front of friends at the alehouse. Have students share their monologues with the class.
TEMPER TANTRUM
In Henry IV, Part 1 Shakespeare created two unique and contrasting worldsthe court and the tavernand characters rarely crossover from one world to the other. Discuss with students how the characters from these two worlds intermix throughout the play. How do they behave differently? How does their language (prose, verse) change? What happens when both worlds collide during the final battle scenes? In small groups have students select a character that exists in the play solely in one world and script a new scene in which s/he finds her/himself in the other world (Hotspur in the tavern, Falstaff in Henrys court). How does her/his attitude, behavior or language change? Have students read their scripts aloud to the rest of the class upon completion.
INTERPRETING HISTORY
Have you ever considered how a situation might have turned out better had you either controlled or lost your temper? Give students a short period of time to reflect on a moment in their lives where they either lost or controlled their temper, and wished in retrospect they had done the opposite. Who were the players in that situation and what were their relationships? What were the circumstances? What happened in the end? What might have happened differently had tempers flared or been controlled? Then, working in small groups, ask students to change the outcome of one of the following scenes: I.iii, III.i, IV.i. Analyze Hotspurs actions in the scene using the same questions above. Rewrite the scene and share the new result with the class.
HISTORICAL CHARACTERS
Distribute the names of characters in Henry IV, Part 1 from the court and the rebels, repeating characters if necessary so that each student has one character. Have them write a character sketch/biography, describing the characters personality, lineage, relationship to the throne, good and bad deeds, etc. using Shakespeares play as the sole source. Then allow time for students to research the characters from a selection of historical, non-fiction sources from various time periods. Have them write another character sketch/biography using only their historical research. Compare the two biographies; did students get the same view of the character from the play as their historical sources?
Over the years, there has been scholarly debate about the accuracy of Shakespeares portrayal of historical figures and the motives for reworking specific events for his history plays. Have the class brainstorm the major events in the lives of one of the following figures: George Washington Martin Luther King, Jr. Queen Elizabeth I Napoleon Ghandi King Arthur Divide the class into groups to write a scene-by-scene outline or storyboard for a play about the life of this historical figure. Groups may take artistic license to adjust events and character traits where necessary to fit their message. Have each group present their play to the class and discuss the role of the playwright as an historian.
26
Books or Essays on Henry IV, Part 1 Green, J. R. Town Life in the Fifteenth Century, Vol 1. Macmillan and Co, 1894. Hicks, Michael. English Political Culture in the Fifteenth Century. Routledge, 2002. Hodgdon, Barbara. The First Part of King Henry the Fourth: Texts and Contexts. Bedford Books, 1997. Hodges, C. Walter. Enter the Whole Army. Cambridge University Press, 1999. Horrox, Rosemary (Ed.). Fifteenth-Century Attitudes. Cambridge University Press, 1994. Meehan, F.J.G. Contrasts in 1 Henry IV, Readings on the Histories of William Shakespeare. Greenhaven Press, 1998. McFarlane, K.B. (Ed.) England in the Fifteenth Century (Essays). Hambledon Press, 1981. Mertes, Kate. Aristocracy, Fifteenth-Century Attitudes. Rosemary Horrox, ed. Cambridge University Press, 1994. Saccio, Peter. The Historical Background of the History Plays, Readings on the Histories of William Shakespeare.
Greenhaven Press, 1998.
Smallwood, R.L. Shakespeares Use of History, The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Studies. Cambridge
Books on Shakespeare and Teaching Shakespeare Asimov, Isaac. Asimovs Guide to Shakespeare. Doubleday, 1978. Epstein, Norrie. The Friendly Shakespeare. Penguin Books, 1993. Gibson, Janet and Rex Gibson. Discovering Shakespeares Language. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1999. Gibson, Rex. Teaching Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, 1998. Kermode, Frank. Shakespeares Language. Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, 2000. Linklater, Kristin. Freeing Shakespeares Voice. Theatre Communications Group, 1992. McQuain, Jeffrey and Stanley Malless. Coined by Shakespeare: Words & Meanings First Penned by the Bard. MerriamWebster, 1998.
Pritchard, R. E. Shakespeares England. Sutton Publishing Limited, 1999. Papp, Joseph and Elizabeth Kirkland. Shakespeare Alive. Bantam Books, 1988. Reynolds, P. Teaching Shakespeare. Oxford Univ. Press, 1992. Websites daphne.palomar.edu/shakespeareMr. William Shakespeare and the Internet. www.bardweb.netThe Shakespeare Resource Center. www.shakespeare.uiuc.eduShakespeare Globe USA.
27