Shakespeare + Play

• Shakespeare was born in 1564. He wrote Henry IV part 1 in 1597
• Elizabethan England: 1558-1603

  James I: 1603-1625

  Shakespeare was favourited by both Monarchs
• The play is the 2nd part of a tetralogy (4-part series) which was written between 1398-1420
• The tetralogy deals with the historical rise of English Royal House of Lancaster
• It is set in years 1402, 2 centuries before Shakespeare's time. It follows real events and historical figures, but Shakespeare did slightly alter some historical facts
• The facts Shakespeare altered were: Hal and Hotspur being the same age to allow for symmetry, Mortimer is a conflation of 2 seperate individuals
• Falstaff is an arch type (very typical example of person or thing)
• What were Falstaff's archetype's ?

  • Vice from a medieval morality play (messenger of devil)
  • 'miles gloriosus' (arrogant soldier from classical Greek and Roman tragedy
  • His gluttony is one of the 7 deadly sins
• The play is an ambiguous take on history and on political motivations. This can be seen in the character of Falstaff.
• Henry is not the main character, despite the play's title. His actions are usually secondary to the plot
• The play also does not really revolve around a protagonist; it makes thematic arguments by exploring the contrasts between its 4 major and many minor characters