2 Henry IV and Henry V Handout Reading Questions (Norton)

English 304: Shakespeare: Major Plays (Prof. Boyer)

Reading Questions for selections from Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V
(Keyed to The Norton Shakespeare)

These handout selections are assigned when the complete plays are not being read. If you have been assigned the entire play(s), see the reading questions for that play.
The best beginning procedure is always to familiarize yourself with the cast of characters and then to read the play (or at least an act or a scene) all the way through so that you know what's happening. The notes can help if you're stuck, but try to get the big picture of a scene before getting bogged down in details. Read through, then go back and clear up details. Then you're ready to think about the questions.

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From Henry IV, Part 2

4.3

(pp. 1356-1364; 4.4 and 4.5 in most editions)

1.

Henry IV is ill. In this scene we get another long father-son talk.

2.

(Most editions begin scene 4.5 at our 4.3.133.) What happens when Hal visits his father? What does Hal think has happened? Read 4.3.151-177 carefully. How does Hal respond when he thinks his father is dead? What does Hal do with the crown?

3.

How does the King respond when he finds that the crown is gone (4.3.178-209)? How does Warwick describe Hal (4.3.210-215)?

4.

Why does the King think Hal took the crown (4.3.220-237)? What does he expect will happen when Hal becomes king (4.3.237-265)? Who will Hal's courtiers be?

5.

How does Hal respond? Read his speech carefully (4.3.266-304).

6.

What is the King's response (4.3.305-311)? Read the King's speech of advice carefully (4.3.305-347). How does he feel about the way he got the crown? What specific advice does he have for Hal in 4.3.341-342.

7.

The King's death includes a final irony. Remember that at the beginning of Part 1 he was planning a crusade to the Holy Land. Just after our passage ends, the King asks Warwick "Doth any name particular belong / Unto the lodging [room] where I first did swoon?" and Warwick replies "'Tis called Jerusalem, my noble lord." The King responds (his last words in the play) "Laud be to God! Even there my life must end. / It hath been prophesied to me many years / I should not die but in Jerusalem, / Which vainly I supposed the Holy Land; / But bear me to that chamber; there I'll lie; / In that Jerusalem shall Harry die" (4.3.360-368). And he does.

5.2

(pp. 1366-1368)

1.

What has happened (5.2.1-5)? Why is the Lord Chief Justice worried (5.2.6-13)? What does he think might happen (5.2.29-41)?

2.

How does Hal respond to being king, and how does he respond to the fears others have about him (5.2.44-61)?

3.

How does Hal initially treat the Lord Chief Justice (5.2.64-71)? How does the Lord Chief Justice justify what he did to Hal (5.2.72-100)? How does Hal respond (5.3.101-120)?

4.

Look closely at 5.2.121-128. Notice that Hal seems to become his father, letting his father become what Hal was and carrying to his grave all the bad opinions of Hal that people had. Then read the rest of the speech (5.2.128-144). With Hal's real father dead, Hal replaces him with the Lord Chief Justice. What then seems to be the future for his other "father," Falstaff? The promise Hal made in the "Redeeming time" speech at the end of 1 Henry IV 1.2 has begun to be fulfilled.

5.4

(p. 1372)

1.

We see in 5.4 what is perhaps the first result of Hal's reformation. What is happening? Do we approve?

5.5

(pp. 1372-1375)

1.

How has Falstaff gotten money (5.5.10-11)? (Justice Shallow is a friend of Falstaff's from their youthful years at the Inns of Court; Falstaff has just found him again when he went through Gloucestershire raising troops.) What does Falstaff expect will happen when Hal appears as king?

2.

Read the confrontation scene carefully (5.5.39-69). What does Hal do? Do you approve of what Hal does? Do you approve of the way he does it?

3.

What is Falstaff's first response (5.5.70)? Will Shallow get his money back (5.5.71-73)? What does Falstaff expect will happen (5.5.73-84)? What actually happens (5.5.85-89)?

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From Henry V (The Norton Shakespeare)

2.3

(pp. 1471-1472)

1.

At the end of Henry IV, Part 2, Shakespeare hints that we might see more of Falstaff. However, Falstaff never appears in Henry V. All he does in this play is to die offstage, as described by the Hostess (now married to Pistol) in 2.3

2.

Read the Hostess's description of Falstaff's death and the surrounding dialogue carefully (2.3.1-37). The Hostess is prone to malapropisms (using the wrong word), so you have to read carefully and use the footnotes. What is the effect of having such a sad message conveyed in this potentially humorous way? Why, despite the malapropism, is it appropriate for Falstaff to be in "Arthur's bosom"?

3.

What is the argument about in lines 24-33? The footnote suggests that for "rheumatic" the Hostess intends "lunatic." Could she instead intend "romantic"? That would fit with "the Whore of Babylon," since Falstaff would be repenting (in a very protestant way), but the Hostess would think he was talking about a real prostitute, one he would have "handled," which to the Hostess might be "romantic."

4.

We have one more joke about Bardolph's nose in lines 34-37, and another religious reference.

5.

Pistol, Bardolph, and the others are off to fight in Hal's war to claim the French crown. (Remember his father's advice at 2H4 4.3.341-342 to "busy giddy minds / With foreign querrels.") Based on 2.3.45-47, what seems to be their real purpose in going to war?

6.

You can see what happens to Hal and to the other characters in France by watching Kenneth Branagh's film version of Henry V. (Of course you could also read Henry V)

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4.3	(pp. 1356-1364; 4.4 and 4.5 in most editions)
1.	Henry IV is ill. In this scene we get another long father-son talk.
2.	(Most editions begin scene 4.5 at our 4.3.133.) What happens when Hal visits his father? What does Hal think has happened? Read 4.3.151-177 carefully. How does Hal respond when he thinks his father is dead? What does Hal do with the crown?
3.	How does the King respond when he finds that the crown is gone (4.3.178-209)? How does Warwick describe Hal (4.3.210-215)?
4.	Why does the King think Hal took the crown (4.3.220-237)? What does he expect will happen when Hal becomes king (4.3.237-265)? Who will Hal's courtiers be?
5.	How does Hal respond? Read his speech carefully (4.3.266-304).
6.	What is the King's response (4.3.305-311)? Read the King's speech of advice carefully (4.3.305-347). How does he feel about the way he got the crown? What specific advice does he have for Hal in 4.3.341-342.
7.	The King's death includes a final irony. Remember that at the beginning of Part 1 he was planning a crusade to the Holy Land. Just after our passage ends, the King asks Warwick "Doth any name particular belong / Unto the lodging [room] where I first did swoon?" and Warwick replies "'Tis called Jerusalem, my noble lord." The King responds (his last words in the play) "Laud be to God! Even there my life must end. / It hath been prophesied to me many years / I should not die but in Jerusalem, / Which vainly I supposed the Holy Land; / But bear me to that chamber; there I'll lie; / In that Jerusalem shall Harry die" (4.3.360-368). And he does.

5.2	(pp. 1366-1368)
1.	What has happened (5.2.1-5)? Why is the Lord Chief Justice worried (5.2.6-13)? What does he think might happen (5.2.29-41)?
2.	How does Hal respond to being king, and how does he respond to the fears others have about him (5.2.44-61)?
3.	How does Hal initially treat the Lord Chief Justice (5.2.64-71)? How does the Lord Chief Justice justify what he did to Hal (5.2.72-100)? How does Hal respond (5.3.101-120)?
4.	Look closely at 5.2.121-128. Notice that Hal seems to become his father, letting his father become what Hal was and carrying to his grave all the bad opinions of Hal that people had. Then read the rest of the speech (5.2.128-144). With Hal's real father dead, Hal replaces him with the Lord Chief Justice. What then seems to be the future for his other "father," Falstaff? The promise Hal made in the "Redeeming time" speech at the end of 1 Henry IV 1.2 has begun to be fulfilled.

5.4	(p. 1372)
1.	We see in 5.4 what is perhaps the first result of Hal's reformation. What is happening? Do we approve?

5.5	(pp. 1372-1375)
1.	How has Falstaff gotten money (5.5.10-11)? (Justice Shallow is a friend of Falstaff's from their youthful years at the Inns of Court; Falstaff has just found him again when he went through Gloucestershire raising troops.) What does Falstaff expect will happen when Hal appears as king?
2.	Read the confrontation scene carefully (5.5.39-69). What does Hal do? Do you approve of what Hal does? Do you approve of the way he does it?
3.	What is Falstaff's first response (5.5.70)? Will Shallow get his money back (5.5.71-73)? What does Falstaff expect will happen (5.5.73-84)? What actually happens (5.5.85-89)?

2.3	(pp. 1471-1472)
1.	At the end of Henry IV, Part 2, Shakespeare hints that we might see more of Falstaff. However, Falstaff never appears in Henry V. All he does in this play is to die offstage, as described by the Hostess (now married to Pistol) in 2.3
2.	Read the Hostess's description of Falstaff's death and the surrounding dialogue carefully (2.3.1-37). The Hostess is prone to malapropisms (using the wrong word), so you have to read carefully and use the footnotes. What is the effect of having such a sad message conveyed in this potentially humorous way? Why, despite the malapropism, is it appropriate for Falstaff to be in "Arthur's bosom"?
3.	What is the argument about in lines 24-33? The footnote suggests that for "rheumatic" the Hostess intends "lunatic." Could she instead intend "romantic"? That would fit with "the Whore of Babylon," since Falstaff would be repenting (in a very protestant way), but the Hostess would think he was talking about a real prostitute, one he would have "handled," which to the Hostess might be "romantic."
4.	We have one more joke about Bardolph's nose in lines 34-37, and another religious reference.
5.	Pistol, Bardolph, and the others are off to fight in Hal's war to claim the French crown. (Remember his father's advice at 2H4 4.3.341-342 to "busy giddy minds / With foreign querrels.") Based on 2.3.45-47, what seems to be their real purpose in going to war?
6.	You can see what happens to Hal and to the other characters in France by watching Kenneth Branagh's film version of Henry V. (Of course you could also read Henry V)