Henry IV Part 1 Essay Questions

Who is the protagonist of the play?

Like many of Shakespeare's history plays, it can be difficult to discern a particular protagonist or antagonist in 1 Henry IV. Shakespeare crafts realistic characters out of historical figures, which often means that characters are endowed with both honorable and unsavory attributes. However, over the course of the play, it becomes clear that the implied protagonist is Prince Hal, who grows out of his penchant for youthful debauchery and into a brave defender of his father's crown. 1 Henry IV is often considered the first installment of Hal's "epic journey" into the strong and respected King Henry V.

The play features two types of rebellions. What are they?

Of course, the central conflict in the play is the rebellion lead by the Percy family against King Henry IV and his right to the throne. This rebellion threatens the unity of Britain (especially since the Percys aim to divide up the kingdom) and the chance of stability for the English people. However, the secondary "rebellion" in the play is that of Prince Hal against his father – Hal communes with commoners and other undesirable characters (like the disgraced knight, Falstaff), which his father sees as blatant disrespect toward the crown and Hal's future kingship. By the end of the play, both of these rebellions are squelched by Prince Hal himself, who steps into his role as a soldier and defeats Hotspur in single combat.

To what extent is Hotspur the antagonist of the play?

Just as it may be difficult to identify a particular protagonist of the play, readers may have a similar difficulty identifying any one antagonist. While the play suggests that Hotspur, as the leader of the Percy rebellion, is the antagonist who must be vanquished by Hal, he is not altogether a despised and demonized character. On the contrary, the play begins with Henry IV praising Hotspur and even tacitly hoping that Hotspur was the heir to the throne rather than his own son. In many ways, Hotspur becomes the antagonist of the play through mere circumstance, as he is swept up in his family's pursuit of power and such a skilled soldier that he becomes the leader of rebel forces.

Why did Sir John Falstaff become a "fan favorite" among early modern audiences after the performance of the play?

Sir John Falstaff appears in three plays of the Henriad: 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV, and briefly in Henry V when other characters mourn his death. He was a beloved recurring presence in the plays, so much so that he inspired a spin-off comedy of his own, The Merry Wives of Windsor. Audiences took to Falstaff likely because of his shocking complexity: he is simultaneously a disgraced, drunk, thieving knight and a clever rhetorician unafraid to speak critically of powerful men. Falstaff is often considered the primary source of comic relief in these history plays at the same time he is taken seriously as skeptic of nobility, masculinity, and politics.

What kind of fate does the end of the play suggest for Britain?

Generally speaking, the play has a "happy ending," in that Prince Hal dispels with his youthful antics and joins his father on the battlefield, ultimately saving King Henry IV's life and defeating Hotspur in a duel. The play ends on a hopeful but nonetheless uneasy note; Hal's triumph in the final scenes suggests that he will only continue to transform into a worthy king, which would leave Britain in capable hands. However, the end of the play also suggests that more rebellions and civil unrest are to come, conflicts that will require a leader with exceptional strength and governance.