Henry IV, Part II

I must admit that I was very distracted while reading Henry IV, Part II. I started the play with great intentions but, well, life intervened and I was unable to finish the read in one or two sittings. My main problem was that every time I picked up the play, I had to refresh my memory on what had happened in previous scenes. I found myself skimming the play, rereading character lists and, yes, perhaps cheating a bit by rereading the forward (and plot spoilers) in my Folger edition.

Because of this, I can say most of the enjoyment I got out of the play was toward the end. One of my favorite scenes was the one between the dying king and his son, the soon-to-be-crowned Henry V. The prince leaves the king's bedside with the crown, and the king mistakenly thinks his son is eager to be rid of him so he can take leadership:

"Thou hidest a thousand daggers in thy thoughts,
Which thou hast whetted on thy stony heart,
To stab at half an hour of my life.
What! Canst thou not forbear me half an hour?"

After I finished the play, I read a little bit about Henry V on Wikipedia. What I found interesting was that Henry's "supposed riotous youth" is largely a myth, perpetrated by Shakespeare's plays. Certainly, Shakespeare's characterization of Henry V and his friends (before taking the crown) makes the plays more comedic and supports the prince's rise to the throne and transformation into a sober, wiser king.

Next up: I'll be taking a break from the history plays to read Othello.