Henry IV, part 2

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Henry IV, Part 2 is a historical drama by William Shakespeare . The piece was probably written in 1597 and first appeared in a four-high edition in 1600. The folio version from 1623 contains significant changes. Shakespeare mainly used Holinsheds Chronicles as a model .

Overview, classification and structure

The two parts of Henry IV form the middle of the Lancaster tetralogy . The drama Richard II precedes the drama materially and historically , in which Henry Bolingbroke, who later became Henry IV, deposed his cousin, the legitimate but incompetent King Richard II , had his cousin, the legitimate but incompetent King Richard II , murdered, and ascended the throne in his place . In the first part of the double drama that bears his name, Henry IV defends his throne against a rebellion by English, Scottish and Welsh nobles.

The second part of Henry IV ties in with the first part in terms of content, the characters involved and the structure. Almost identical to the first part, two loosely connected narrative strands are pursued:

  • A dramatic plot deals with the sphere of the king and the English aristocracy, in particular with the planning, implementation and defense of a noble rebellion against the king, with betrayal leading or contributing to the failure of the rebellion at the crucial point.
  • In a comic plot, the crude events about the drinking companion of the heir to the throne Heinrich, the "fat knight" Sir John Falstaff and his journeymen are told, whereby both parts contain a scene in which Prince Heinrich fools Sir Falstaff in disguise.

At the end of the drama, Henry IV dies and his son becomes King Henry V, whose further fate Shakespeare depicts in the last part of the tetralogy, King Henry V.

action

In a prologue a rumor tells that false news of Heinrich's alleged defeat against the rebels under the leadership of Percy (see first part of the drama) goes through the country.

First elevator

At the beginning of the play, the Earl of Northumberland receives first false and then true news of the last events of the first part, especially the death of his son Percy. He makes the decision to gather allies for a new military action against the king. Scroop, Archbishop of York, and Lords Mowbray, Hastings and Bardolph, are ready.

Falstaff clashes with the king's chief judge, who accuses him of spoiling the character of the heir to the throne, Prince Heinrich, with his dissolute behavior.

second elevator

The landlady Hurtig tries with the help of bailiffs to collect the immense bill from her regular guest Falstaff. After a scuffle, the two get along again. Despite the worsening illness of his father, Prince Heinrich plunges further into the nightlife and overhears, disguised as a wine waiter, a rendezvous between Falstaff and the tough Mamsell Dortchen Lakenreißer, during which Falstaff mocks Prince Heinrich and his companion.

As in the first part, Count Northumberland hesitates to send his army on behalf of the rebels.

third elevator

The sick king ponders the changeability of the alliances. The Earl of Warwick assures the king that the lord going out against the rebels is strong enough.

As in the first part, the unwilling Falstaff must also contribute his share to the war. When recruiting peasants, whom he abundantly mocks, he does not seek out the most fit, but rather those who have no money to buy themselves free from arms service by bribing them.

Fourth elevator

In Yorkshire the king's army under the leadership of the younger son of the king, Prince John of Lancaster, and that of the rebels under the leadership of the Archbishop of York lie in wait. The Earl of Westmoreland submits the offer of peace negotiations to the rebels, whereupon they, in place of the overthrow of the king, hand over quite far-reaching demands as a condition for a withdrawal and agree to a meeting of the generals. On this, Prince Johann responded to the rebels' demands for pretense. Both sides give orders to disband the armies, although this is not implemented on the part of the prince. The royals capture the defenseless rebel leaders and order their execution.

By handing over a nobleman, who surrendered to him without a fight, to Prince Johann, Falstaff can show proof of military work.

King Henry IV is dying in Westminster, trying to sort out his estate and struggling with the heir to the throne, Henry. When Prince Heinrich appears, he thinks his father, lying there motionless, is dead and leaves the room with the royal crown, which was laid on a pillow. The king wakes up, notices the loss and calls Prince Heinrich over. A discussion takes place between father and son, the shocked Prince Heinrich praises repentance on his knees and the two reconcile.

Fifth elevator

King Heinrich IV. Is dead, the former Prince Heinrich now rules as Heinrich V and has made a serious change. The most visible example is that he confirms his father's chief judge, who in his wild prince's time had him disciplined and even arrested in accordance with the law.

When Falstaff found out about the change of the throne in favor of his drinking companion "Heinz" in the country, he saw his time as one of the "greats in the empire" and promised his fellow drinkers offices and benefices. The company galloped to Westminster. But Heinrich V does not want to have anything to do with them, has the astonished Falstaff arrested by the chief judge and sends him and his friends into exile.

In an epilogue, a dancer addresses the theater audience in a comedic manner and announces a later sequel.

Literary templates and cultural references

Shakespeare's most important model for Henry IV was the historical work of Raphael Holinshed , which he used for all British histories , the Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland , in the version of 1587. As in Henry IV, Part 1 , Shakespeare used for the development of the Characters from Prince Harry (Hal) and Harry Percy (Hotspur) probably also used Samuel Daniel's Civil Wars as well as various references in other sources of the 16th century, especially in Thomas Elyot's famous work The Governor or The Boke Named the Gouernour , which was published between 1532 and was published in eight editions in 1580. However, Shakespeare adorns his play with numerous invented adventures by Sir John Falstaff, which take up a much wider space here than in the documented historical representations of the reign of Henry IV. As a suggestion for the connection of historical material in the context of Henry IV's youth. With comic elements, Shakespeare may also have used the anonymous play The famous victories of Henry the Fifth by the Queen's Men , which was performed in the late 1580s.

Dating and text history

Heinrich IV, part 2nd title page of the quarto from 1600.

The second part of Henry IV must have been written after the first part (1596–1597) and before The Life of Henry the Fifth . Today's Shakespeare researchers usually date the work to the period between 1597 and 1958, probably shortly after The Merry Wives of Windsor was completed . In August 1600 the work was entered in the Stationers' Register and appeared in the same year as a quarto edition with the title: The Second Part of Henrie the fourth, continnuing to his death, and coronatian of Henrie the fift. With the humor of Sir John Falstaffe, and swaggering Pistoll. (The second part of Henry IV., Continued until his death and with the coronation of Henry V, with the jokes of Sir John Falstaff and the boasting of Pistoll.) The basis for this first print was probably the rough version ( foul paper ) of one autograph manuscript of Shakespeare. A second quarto edition, which contains scene III.i, which was not printed in the first edition, was probably also published in 1600.

The folio edition Comedies, Histories and Tragedies with both parts by Henry IV followed in 1623 (edited by John Heminges and Henry Condell ). A theatrical manuscript or direct book of the play from the period after 1606 was probably used as a template for the text of the slide edition , which, however, was revised in various places by the publishers or the printer. In contrast to the earlier four-high editions, the folio version from 1623 contains eight additional substantial passages. Shakespeare experts explain this addition in part as an attempt by the editors to reconstruct passages that may have been deleted by the censors in the first prints. However, in the 1623 edition of the film, in accordance with the Act to Restrain Abuses of Players on the stage ( Act to Restrain Abuses of Players ) of May 27, 1606, all blasphemous things are removed or softened.

In current Shakespeare research, the print version of the 1623 folio edition is predominantly viewed as an autonomous text. Today's editions are usually based on the text of the four-high prints, although the additional sections of the folio version are added as a clearly indicated supplement. Obvious misprints based on the four- high version will be emended .

Performance history

The work as a whole has only rarely been performed, but mostly in a compiled version together with Henry IV, Part 1 .

The German premiere took place, in an edited version, in Hamburg in 1778. As early as the early 17th century, the productions tended to summarize the two parts in a shortened form, thus further emphasizing the two main characters Prince Heinrich and Falstaff. Such a version, reduced to 25 scenes, was performed by the Schauspielhaus Bochum in 2005 with Katharina Thalbach in the role of Falstaff. Well-known Falstaff actors in Germany were Heinrich George , Hermann Schomberg and Will Quadflieg .

Adaptations

Orson Welles produced the film Falstaff - Bells at Midnight in 1965 , which is a collage of the works of the "Lancaster Tetralogy" and "Merry Wives of Windsor". By Antonio Salieri opera comes Falstaff ossia Le tre burle from the year 1799. 1838 was the opera in London Falstaff by Michael William Balfe premiered. The best-known adaptation of the Falstaff character is Giuseppe Verdi 's opera Falstaff , which was first performed in Milan in 1893 and is essentially based on the subject matter of the comedy "Merry Wives of Windsor".

Text output

English

  • AR Humphreys (Ed.): William Shakespeare: King Henry IV Part 2. The Arden Shakespeare. Second series. London 2008, ISBN 978-1-904271-06-2
  • René Weis (ed.): William Shakespeare: Henry IV, Part II. Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2008, ISBN 978-0-19-953713-6
  • Giorgio Melchiori (Ed.): William Shakespeare: The Second Part of King Henry IV. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-68950-2

German

  • Frank Günther and Anne-Julia Zwierlein (eds.) William Shakespeare: King Heinrich IV. Part 2. King Henry IV. Part 2. Cadolzburg Ars vivendi, 2004, ISBN 978-3-89716-173-3
  • Holger Klein (Ed.): William Shakespeare: King Henry IV, Part 2. Heinrich IV., Part 2. Reclam, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-15-019105-7

literature

Lexicons

  • Michael Dobson and Stanley Wells: The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, 2nd rev. Edition 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-870873-5
  • FE Halliday: A Shakespeare Companion 1550–1950. Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd., London 1952.

Overview representations

Introductions

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Michael Dobson , Stanley Wells : The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare . OUP 2001, 2nd rev. Edition 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-870873-5 , p. 262. See also Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare-Handbuch. Time, man, work, posterity. 5th, revised and supplemented edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-520-38605-2 , p. 356. See also Jonathan Bate , Eric Rasmussen (ed.): William Shakespeare: The Two Parts of Henry the Fourth. Introduction. In: The RSC Shakespeare. MacMillan, London 2009, ISBN 978-0-230-57618-6 , pp. 899 f. and Stanley Wells, Gary Taylor et al. (Ed.): The Oxford Shakespeare. The Complete Works. Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., Oxford 2005, ISBN 0-19-926717-0 , p. 537.
  2. ↑ See Michael Dobson , Stanley Wells : The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare . OUP 2001, 2nd rev. Edition 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-870873-5 , p. 262. See also Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare-Handbuch. Time, man, work, posterity. 5th, revised and supplemented edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-520-38605-2 , p. 355. Cf. also Jonathan Bate , Eric Rasmussen (ed.): William Shakespeare: The Two Parts of Henry the Fourth. Introduction. In: The RSC Shakespeare. MacMillan, London 2009, ISBN 978-0-230-57618-6 , p. 900, and Stanley Wells, Gary Taylor et al. (Ed.): The Oxford Shakespeare. The Complete Works. Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., Oxford 2005, ISBN 0-19-926717-0 , p. 537.
  3. ↑ See Michael Dobson and Stanley Wells: The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, 2nd rev. Edition 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-870873-5 , p. 264.