Henry IV, Part I

I'm beginning to think that reading all of Shakespeare's plays before I turn 30 will take up so much of my time that I won't be able to accomplish my other 29 goals. I now have "only" 21 left of the plays to read in 12 months.

Today, I finished Henry IV, Part I and will start on Part II just as soon as I take a breather. While I at first dreaded reading this play -- mostly because I have little experience with the history plays and almost zero historical context to draw upon -- I ended up enjoying it. Some highlights for me:

• Sir John Falstaff -- I first "met" him 10 years or so ago, when I read (and performed) The Merry Wives of Windsor. Here, he serves as comic relief to Hal (the future King Henry V) and is the butt (literally) of quite a few fat jokes.
• The female roles, while small, made an impression on me as a reader. They served to humanize the rebel forces and paint a picture of domestic life that doesn't really exist elsewhere in the play.
• Hotspur's dying words on the battlefield: "... thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool;
  And time, that takes survey of all the world,
  Must have a stop."

And now onward to Henry IV, Part II: The Epic Conclusion!