King Henry IV

Play

Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2

Summary

Henry Bolingbroke — who deposed and effectively caused the death of Richard II to become Henry IV — is a king perpetually tormented by guilt over his usurpation and beset by rebellion from the very nobles who helped him to power. In 1 Henry IV he is a commanding if anxious figure; in 2 Henry IV he is sick and dying, worn out by years of civil war, grieving over his wayward son, and never able to embark on the crusade to Jerusalem he had vowed as expiation for Richard's death. He dies in the Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster, the prophecy ironically fulfilled. He appears earlier as Bolingbroke in Richard II.

Notable Quotations

"So shaken as we are, so wan with care, / Find we a time for frighted peace to pant." *(1H4, 1.1 — opening lines)*

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." *(2H4, 3.1)*

"How I came by the crown, O God forgive; / And grant it may with thee in true peace live." *(2H4, 4.5 — deathbed confession to Hal)*

Cross-references

• Henry IV, Part 1 — the play
• Henry IV, Part 2 — the play
• Histories — the genre
• character_prince_hal — his son, Prince Hal / Henry V
• character_hotspur — Hotspur, the rebel he must defeat
• character_worcester — Worcester, the scheming rebel uncle
• character_archbishop_york — the Archbishop of York, rebel leader in Part 2