English 154 - Harlan

 

Discussion Questions for HENRY IV, PART 1

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Introduction:

  1. What was happening in Shakespeare’s career around the time he wrote this play?
  2. What is the historical connection between Shakespeare’s first tetralogy and the second?
  3. Explain the “dramatic arc” of the second tetralogy of history plays.
  4. Why was the education of the Prince of such intense interest to Shakespeare’s audience?
  5. What were the primary sources Shakespeare used for this play?
  6. What were the three general ways by which Shakespeare turned history into drama?
  7. Explain how and why Prince’s Hal’s life at the beginning of the play is a political calculation.
  8. What personal qualities enable King Henry to succeed as a ruler?
  9. How does Hotspur’s name reflect his personal characteristics?  Why is he not the best model for the prince to emulate?
  10. In what ways is Falstaff at odds with his own education and social status?  What is connection between the character of Vice from the medieval morality plays and Falstaff?  Why is he not a good model for the prince to emulate?
  11. What was Falstaff’s name when the play was originally performed?  Why was it changed? What is the significance of the name he ended up with?
  12. What are the two major events around which the play is structured?  What do these events have in common?
  13. What is the key concept in the play which Falstaff, Hotspur and Hal struggle to address and try to define?

 

Act I, scene 1:

  1. How do the pronouns King Henry uses tell us when he is speaking officially as the King and when he is speaking privately as an individual?  Why is that important in this scene?
  2. What is the political purpose for the King's proposed Crusade to the Holy Land?
  3. Does the news of the military threats to the realm come as a surprise to Henry?
  4. Explain what I mean by “political theater” in this scene and its purpose.
  5. What is Hotspur's purpose in withholding his prisoners from the king?  Why were they so important to the King?
  6. Explain how this scene establishes the theme of betrayal of the father by the son.

Act I, scene 2:

  1. Beneath the banter and comic insult in the first 105 lines of this scene is a very serious discussion between Falstaff and Prince Hal.  What is Falstaff seeking in the relationship?  What is Prince Hal telling Falstaff about their future together?
  2. Find three examples of “pious mockery” in the scene.
  3. Explain the conceit Hal uses in his speech at lines 30—39.  Why does he use it?
  4. How does Poins' proposed robbery represent a real challenge for Prince Hal?  What argument does Falstaff use to urge the prince's participation that is particularly ironic?
  5. How does the plan for the robbery at Gad’s Hill relate to the theme of betrayal?
  6. Everyone in Shakespeare's audience would recognize that Prince Hal would go on to become the greatest of the English kings, Henry V, in a few short years.  How do we know his soliloquy at lines 190 -- 214 is serious?  How does this speech make you feel about him and his relationship with his friends? In what ways might he be justified in his actions in regards to Falstaff, Poins and his other companions?

Act I, scene 3:

  1. Explain why the king treats Worcester as he does here.
  2. Given Hotspur's description of the battle and the behavior of the king's messenger, was his rejection of the demand for the prisoners warranted?   Why doesn't King Henry cut him any slack?
  3. Compare Henry's account of Mortimer's defeat and Hotspur's account?  As it turns out which one is closer to the truth?  Why is Mortimer so important a political figure?
  4. What are some of the ways Hotspur insults King Henry after the monarch leaves?
  5. Where in the scene does Hotspur lose touch with reality?  How is his name appropriate for his character?  Explain why he feels as he does about “honor.”
  6. Who is the brain of the Percies?  Who is the heart?  What is the plan they come up with? Why is secrecy vital?

 

Act II, scene 1:

  1. The robbers have sent a guy named Gadshill (also the name of the place where the robbery will take place) to check out the possible victims.  The two carriers he approaches have been around a lot.  How successful is Gadshill in getting information from these guys?  What does this tell you about the professionalism of the robbers?
  2. Who are the people who eventually get robbed of their money?  Why do they deserve, in the eyes of Shakespeare's sophisticated audience, to lose their money?
  3. Gadshill is so excited about who will be in the gang for this job, he almost slips and tells the Chamberlain (the guy who fingers the victims) about the presence of Prince Hal.  Find where Gadshill almost tells the Chamberlain.

Act II, scene 2:

  1. How do Poins and Hal tease Falstaff?  What does Falstaff threaten to do to them?
  2. How does Falstaff present himself in this scene when he robs the travelers?
  3. How difficult was it for Poins and Hal to rob the others?

Act II, scene 3:

  1. In the first 34 lines Hotspur is reacting to a letter someone has written him explaining why the letter writer will not be a part of the conspiracy to overthrow Henry IV.  In this sequence show how Hotspur psyches himself up about the chances of success for the plan.  How did the letter writer find out about the plan to begin with?
  2. What indications of Hotspur's agitation has Lady Macduff observed?  How does Hotspur's wife frame the issue of his not telling her his plans?
  3. How does Hotspur initially respond to his wife's demand for information?  How does he respond to her change that he does not love her?  Why doesn't Hotspur tell his wife what he plans to do?  What does this tell us about his skills in relating to people?

Act II, scene 4:

  1. While Hotspur has been preparing for battle, what has Prince Hal been doing? Why? Which one will be a better ruler? Why?
  2. Who is Francis and what is the point of the joke played upon him at lines 38 -- 81? How does the joke make you feel about Hal?
  3. How does Hal explain the purpose for his behavior at lines 95 -- 115?
  4. What is Falstaff's reaction when he enters?  What has he done to further his masquerade as an angry hero who has been unfairly abandoned by his companions?
  5. How many times does Falstaff inflate the story of the fight?  What finally gives his device away?  How does he explain his lies?
  6. Why is Prince Hal being summoned to the court?  What does Falstaff believe the purpose of the summons to be?  What does Falstaff think of the enemies who have started the rebellion against the king?  What does Hal seem to think of them?
  7. What game do they boys play between lines 387 -- 498?  How does Falstaff portray Prince Hal? How does he portray King Henry IV?
  8.  How does Falstaff break the rules about special pleading for himself?  What does Prince Hal's response tell Falstaff and us about the future of their relationship?
  9. How does Hal protect Falstaff and his friends from trouble with the law?  Why does Falstaff fall asleep?
  10. What is the point of the joke about what Hal and Poins find in Falstaff's pockets in the last part of the scene?

 

Act III, scene 1:

  1. Throughout this scene how does Mortimer exhibit the effects of the terrible battle with Glendower which Hotspur described back in act I, scene 3?  How do you account for this?
  2. In how many places does Hotspur go out of his way to pick a fight with Glendower in this scene?  Why?  Are these disagreements based on important differences?
  3. Why is it so important to Glendower that he be seen as a man singled out by the gods?  Where in the scene does he demonstrate his magical powers?  What is Hotspur's reaction to this magic?
  4. What is ironic about Hotspur's speech at line 132 -- 139?
  5. In the last part of this scene, compare the leave-taking of Mortimer and Hotspur with their wives.  How do you account for the differences?
  6. What is the practical result later in the play of Hotspur's behavior at Glendower's court?

Act III, scene 2:

  1. Explain how this scene and the previous one complement each other.
  2. What are the principal charge King Henry makes against his son in the speech    31 -- 93?  Why are they so important in Henry's mind?  How does Hal answer the charges?
  3. How does the king complete his comparison in his speech 96 -- 121?
  4. What is the most serious charge King Henry makes between line 122 -- 133?
  5. How does Hal answer his father's charges at lines 130 -- 159?  How effective are his answers?  Why are they so effective with his father?

Act III, scene 3:

  1. How does this scene complement the previous scene?
  2. Why is Falstaff so melancholy at the beginning of this scene? What does he propose to do about it?
  3. Explain the joke about Bardolph's face.
  4. What has Falstaff accused the Hostess of doing?  What is her counter-charge?
  5. Explain what happens between lines 92 -- 96.
  6. How does the Hostess in her rage at Falstaff end up embarrassing herself?
  7. How does Falstaff defend himself against what the Hostess reveals he said about the Prince?  Why is Falstaff's defense effective?  What earlier scene does this resemble?  What has changed in the circumstances?
  8. Explain how and why Hal changes after line 204.
  9. How does the scene end for Hal?  How does it end for Falstaff?

 

Act IV, scene 1:

  1. How does Hotspur react to the news that his father and his army will not be at the battle at Shrewsbury?  How does he change his perception about their situation?
  2.  What qualities does Vernon’s description of Prince Hal emphasize? How does Hotspur react to the description?
  3. How does Hotspur react to the news that Glendower and his army will not be there for the battle?
  4. Compare Douglas' lines at 88 -89 with his lines at 142 -- 143.  What happened?

Act IV, scene 2:

  1. Falstaff has been given the power of the king's "press," that is the ability to draft men for military service.  How has Falstaff used this power to make money?  With whom has he filled the ranks of his unit? How does he feel about his men?
  2. What do Westmoreland and Hal think of Falstaff's soldiers?  What does Falstaff say about them at lines 62 -- 75?
  3. Has Falstaff's behavior changed from earlier in the play? Explain the significance.

Act IV, scene 3:

  1. Why is the argument in the first thirty lines of this scene fitting given these characters?
  2. Explain the offer the king makes to the rebels.  What is Hotspur's response?  For what dramatic reason does Shakespeare give the rebels' argument so much time?  What is Blunt's reaction? How does Hotspur's behavior change at the end of the scene? Why?

Act IV, scene 4:

  1. The Archbishop is also one of the rebels.  What does he think of Hotspur's strategy at Shrewsbury?

 

Act V, scene 1:

  1. How dose Falstaff behave during the negotiations before the battle?
  2. Why does Shakespeare give Worcester a long speech (31 -- 73) to articulate the rebels' position for a second time?  What is King Henry's reaction?
  3. What offer does Prince Hal make to the rebels?  What final offer does the king make to Worcester?
  4. What, according to Falstaff, is honor?  How does his view differ from those of Hotspur and Hal?

Act V, scene 2:

  1. Why do Worcester and Vernon conceal the king's final offer of amnesty from Hotspur?
  2. What is the dramatic purpose of Vernon's speech about Hal at line 54 -- 71?
  3. Why does Hotspur refuse to read the letters at line 84?  Who might they be from?
  4. Why might Shakespeare's audience find Hotspur's speech at line 85 -- 104 particularly inspirational?

Act V, scene 3:

  1. The battle is shown in a series of vignettes of action in a particular small part of the field.  What is Shakespeare's reason for doing thus?
  2. Why has King Henry got a number of people disguised as him in the army?
  3. What lesson does Falstaff draw from the death of Blunt? Why has Falstaff deliberately led his men where they will be killed? Is this behavior consistent with Falstaff's behavior earlier in the play?
  4. Explain the joke of the pistol case.  Why is Hal so angry?

Act V, scene 4:

  1. At line 12 is the first time in the play that Hal calls himself "Prince of Wales."  Why might that be significant?  What significance does Hal draw at line 51 -- 57 from saving his father's life?
  2. How does Falstaff help his friend the prince in the battle with Hotspur?
  3. Explain what insight Hotspur has in his death speech at lines 78 -- 88.
  4. What moral does Hal find in Hotspur's death, and how does he honor his enemy?
  5. Why does Falstaff pretend to be dead even after Hotspur's has been killed? How does Hal propose to honor him?
  6. How does Falstaff justify his counterfeit death?  What does he do to the body of Hotspur?  How might the audience react to this action?  What is Falstaff's plan?
  7. Why does Hal allow Falstaff to claim the killing of Hotspur?  If the situation were reversed, and Hotspur had won, how would he have reacted to Falstaff's claim?  What does this episode tell us about the theme of honor in the play?

Act V, scene 5:

100. Why does the king order Vernon and Worcester executed?

101. Why does Hal give his brother John custody of Douglas in order to free him without ransom?

102. How has Hotspur’s decision to fight at Shrewsbury affected the chances of the      rest of the rebel forces?