GENEALOGICAL TABLE. SHOWING REAL RELATIONSHIPS OF HISTORICAL PERSONS MENTIONED IN THE PLAY. Edward the Black Prince. Lionel, Duke of Clarencę. John of Gaunt. a high degree of generosity in allowing another to have. the credit of his deed. The crisis of the play is over. Prince Henry is victorious over his rival, has shown himself a man of action and magnanimity, and, though he has not abandoned his old companions, has proved himself to be their superior and beyond reach of their effective influence. SCENE V.-Another part of the Field. [History.] King Henry condemns the captured Worcester and Vernon to death, but the Prince, with permission from his father to dispose of his prisoners, once more manifests his innate magnanimity, and sends to set Douglas at liberty. King Henry gives orders for the disposition of the forces. This scene acts as an epilogue. SOURCE OF STORY, 1. In the Elizabethan period plays were the most fashionable form of literature, taking somewhat the place in public esteem of novels at the present time. They were exceedingly numerous, and there was not the same demand for originality of plot as there is now. Authors borrowed freely from romance, existing plays, legends, and history. This last was a frequent source of plays, as providing characters and incidents ready made, and giving the opportunity for authors to court favour by appealing to the patriotic sentiments of the audience, and to give expression to current political feeling, as in such lines as No more the thirsty entrance of this soil Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood." -Act I., Sc. I. "Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere, Act v., sc. 4. These lines might well appeal to those who had seen England torn by the discords of religious persecution, or The crushing of the Queen's rival, Mary of Scotland. 2. Shakespeare had frequent recurrence to history for his plots, England and Italy being the nations about which he chose to write. The period of about a century—from 1377, the accession of Richard II., to 1485, the death of Richard III.-seems to have interested him greatly, as he has 8 plays, the scene of which is cast in it, while only two others on English history-King John and Henry VIII--have their scenes. laid in other times. In King Henry IV., Part I., there are two distinct sections, each with its separate characters and stories, which are, however, blended together in the 5th Act. Generally speaking, they may be said to deal with 'History and Comedy respectively. Prince Henry, whose character belongs to both, serves as a connecting link. For the chief incidents of the historical section Shakespeare had recourse to Holinshed's Chronicle; while for the comedy section an old play, The Famous Victories of Henry V., seems to have suggested something to him. This play, which is a very poor one, narrates in the baldest language, with no description of character or incident, the wild adventures of a young Prince who eventually became King. Shakespeare, in Henry IV., is probably indebted to it for: (a) The notion of making a play on such a theme. (b) The idea of the incident of the robbery on Gadshill, though the details are utterly different in the two plays. (c) The idea of the conversation about what Hal would do when he was King. (d) Possibly, for the interview of the repentant Prince with the King. This is also found in Holinshed. (e) The two names of Ned and Sir John Oldcastle as wild companions of the Prince. In the older play these two people possess not a shadow of humour or intelligence, but simply serve as personalities for presenting incidents. On the name of the latter something further must be added. In the original draft o' Henry IV. the name Oldcastle was actually employed fo the character of Falstaff, but was withdrawn by Shakespeare in a later version, as its employment for such character seemed to cast ridicule upon the famous Lollarát known also as Lord Cobham, and his descendants ther living. The name Falstaff, or Fastolfe, is borne by a person i There the play of Henry VI., who is rather cowardly. was an actual Sir John Fastolfe in the time of Henry VI., a man of character and position, who by a curious coincidence owned a Boar's Head Tavern in Southwark. Whether Shakespeare intended to reproduce the character of any actual person contemporary with himself, or either of the persons who originally bore the two names, is most uncertain. With regard to the latter supposition, it is extremely improbable that Shakespeare desired to caricature two persons under one, and, if only one, why should he call him Fastolfe in the one play and Oldcastle in the other? We are led to the conclusion then that Shakespeare, if caricaturing at all, has left us no clue in respect of names as to whom he wished to represent. THE DATE. I. The date is important, as it enables us to realise the actual circumstances of the time when the author wrote, how he is influenced by them, and how he represents and reflects them in his writings. Moreover the knowledge of the order in which an author's plays were produced, gives us an idea of the development of his genius. This is specially the case with Shakespeare, whose early and later plays. differ greatly in style and depth of thought. II. Most plays at this period existed at first only in manuscript, and were handed about in this form or copied for the purposes of acting. Often it was a considerable number of years before they were printed. It is not difficult to know generally when this occurred, as they were mostly entered in the registers of the Stationers' Company, or the printed book bore the date. To find out when they were written is a harder problem. III. The evidence upon which a date is calculated is either external or internal. The external evidence is taken from direct mention of the play by name in actual registers or chronicles. The indirect is taken from allusions to, or quotations from, the play in other writings the date of which is known. The internal evidence is gathered from: (1) Allusions in the play to events or writings the date of which is known. (2) A critical study of (a) the thought, (b) the language and style, (c) the metre of the play. The date may have a forward or a backward limit. To establish the forward limit of this play the External Evidence is: (a) The play is mentioned in the Stationers' Register dated 1598. (b) Ben Jonson in his play Every Man out of his Humour, which was acted in 1599, wrote this line, "This is a kinsman of Mr. Justice Silence." A personage of this name was a character in the second part of Henry IV., which we know was acted after the first part. (c) Meres, in his Wits' Treasury, published 1598, mentions Henry IV. in a list he gives of several of Shakespeare's plays. Exact evidence for the backward limit is very slight. (a) The old play, the Famous Victories of Henry V., from which Shakespeare takes several ideas, was acted before 1588. (b) Lord Cobham, a descendant of Oldcastle, who might have been aggrieved by the introduction of this name, which we have seen occurred in the first draft, resigned his office of Lord Chamberlain, which had jurisdiction over plays, early in 1597. Shakespeare, tradition says, was commanded by Elizabeth, and not by the Lord Chamberlain, to change the name; it is therefore inferred that it must have been written and acted shortly after his resignation. Internal Evidence. 1. Allusions to contemporary events, which, of course, only go to establish a backward limit. In Act II., SC. I the Carrier says, "Since the price of oats rose. Now in 1596 oats rose to an exorbitant price, and Elizabeth caused monopolists (people who keep up prices) to be restrained by order in council. This fact might have suggested the above phrase to Shakespeare. , 2. (a) The thought of the play is not of that deeper and intensely philosophical kind we find in some of the later tragedies. The deepest problems of life are not touched on,) |