Henry IV, Part 1

The First Part of King Henry the Fourth · 1 Henry IV

William Shakespeare · c. 1596 (printed 1598) · English

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What it is

King Henry IV, who took his crown by force, faces a rebellion led by the Percy family and their fiery young Hotspur, while his heir, Prince Hal, idles in an Eastcheap tavern with Sir John Falstaff, a fat, boastful and endlessly inventive old knight. Court and tavern, civil war and comedy, meet on the battlefield at Shrewsbury.

Why it matters

The history play at its fullest, mixing high politics and low comedy on one stage. Falstaff, coward, liar and irresistible talker, became Shakespeare's most popular comic creation, and the play was one of his most reprinted in his lifetime.

Reading it

About 130 pages. Medium difficulty: it asks for steady attention, but stands on its own.

Where to buy

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Your notes

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Influenced by0

No influences recorded yet.

Influenced2

Built on it
The Tempest · William Shakespeare · 1611
Among the stage magicians behind Prospero is Owen Glendower, the Welsh rebel who claims supernatural powers in Shakespeare's own Henry IV, Part 1.
Wikipedia, The Tempest, Sources
Built on it
Our Friends in the North · Peter Flannery · 1996–1996
In TV shows
Peter Flannery conceived the story, first staged by the RSC, while watching rehearsals of Henry IV, whose scale moved him to write his own historical epic.
Wikipedia, Our Friends in the North, Stage play

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