Leonard Gaya's Reviews > Henry IV, Part 1

After Richard II, this is the second episode of Shakespeare’s major Histories (the events that will lead up to the Wars of the Roses). This play is not so much about Bolingbroke/Henry IV, as it is the first of a vast trilogy on Prince Hal/Henry V — from Eastcheap to Azincourt. The first part of Henry IV tells the events of the rebellion of the barons, following the lead of young Harry Percy, against the king they initially placed on the throne of England. Simultaneously, it is also a captivating and cheeky chiaroscuro on the low-ranking people, the nobodies, living in a dodgy tavern, at the same time as the king and nobility. It is, to my knowledge, the first time Shakespeare includes the commoners to such a large extent, into one of his history plays, and it is brilliant.

It is probably the endearing relationship between Prince Hal and John Falstaff, at the start, that makes this one of my favourite plays of William Shakespeare. It is difficult to explain in rational terms what makes this odd friendship and, especially, Falstaff — a chronic liar, drunkard and thief —, one of the sweetest, most memorable, most human, most touching characters of all literature. Only a couple other friendships between two men come to mind as energetically and emotionally as these two: Don Quijote and Sancho Panza, and maybe Tintin and Capitaine Haddock. (I even suspect that Falstaff directly inspired Haddock, both divine drunkards and hilarious insults mongers.) The end of Act V, when Harry pays homage to his foe Hotspur, and wrongly believes his gargantuan friend dead on the battlefield — which was probably intended as a comical scene — always makes my eyes water.

However, things take a very different turn after the battle of Shrewsbury. Stay tuned, review to be continued in Henry IV, Part 2…

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