Henry IV, Part I

329 Pages·2008·1.596 MB·English

by  Harold Bloom,Neil Heims

Bloom’s Shakespeare Through the Ages
Antony and Cleopatra
As You Like It
Hamlet
Henry IV (Part I)
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
The Merchant of Venice
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
The Sonnets
The Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
Twelfth Night

Bloom’s Shakespeare Through the Ages
H eNRY IV, PART I
Edited and with an introduction by
Harold Bloom
Sterling Professor of the Humanities
Yale University
Volume Editor
Neil Heims
Bloom’s Shakespeare Through the Ages: Henry IV, Part I
Copyright © 2008 by Infobase Publishing
Introduction © 2008 by Harold Bloom
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Henry IV, Part I / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom ; volume editor,
Neil Heims.
p. cm. — (Bloom’s Shakespeare through the ages)
This study guide contains a selection of criticism through the centuries on the play, plus
an accessible summary, analysis of key passages, a comprehensive list of characters, and a
biography of Shakespeare.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7910-9629-1 (hc : alk. paper) 1. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616.
King Henry IV. Part 1—examinations—Study guides. 2. Henry IV, King of england,
1367–1413—In literature. I. Bloom, Harold. II. Heims, Neil.
PR2810.H46 2008
822.3’3—dc22 2007050856
Bloom’s Literary Criticism books are available at special discounts when purchased in
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C
ontents
q
Series Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
Volume Introduction by Harold Bloom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
Biography of William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Summary of Henry IV, Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Key Passages in Henry IV, Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
List of Characters in Henry IV, Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
CrITICISm THrougH THe AgeS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
t
Henry IV, Part I in the Seventeenth Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
1601—W. J. The Whipping of the Satyre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
1667—Samuel Pepys, from The Diary .................................. 49
1668—John Dryden, from “Of Dramatick Poesie”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
1698—Jeremy Collier, from A Short View of the
Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage ......................... 50
t
Henry IV, Part I in the Eighteenth Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
1702—John Dennis, from A Large Account
of the Taste in Poetry, and the Causes of the Degeneracy of It ......... 55
1733—William Warburton, from The Works of Shakespeare,
Collated with the Oldest Copies, and Corrected, with Notes,
Exemplary and Critical ................................................... 56
1741—Corbyn Morris, from An Essay towards
Fixing the True Standards of Wit, Raillery, Satire, and Ridicule .... 56
1768—Samuel Johnson, from Notes on Shakespeare’s Plays ......... 59
vi Contents
1769—elizabeth Montagu, from An Essay
on the Writings and Genius of Shakespear ............................... 60
1774—Francis Gentleman, from Bell’s Edition
of Shakespeare’s Plays ...................................................... 61
1777—Maurice Morgann, from An Essay on
The Dramatic Character of Falstaff ....................................... 61
1789—William Richardson, from Essays on
Shakespeare’s Dramatic Character of Sir John Falstaff,
and on His Imitation of Female Characters ............................. 77
t
Henry IV, Part I in the Nineteenth Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
1809—August Wilhelm Schlegel, from Lectures
on Dramatic Art and Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
1810-1811—Samuel Taylor Coleridge, from
Coleridge’s conversations on Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
1817—William Hazlitt, from “Henry IV” in
Characters in Shakespeare’s Plays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
1819—Washington Irving. “The Boar’s Head Tavern,
eastcheap: A Shakespearian Research,” from The Sketch Book . . . . . . . . .88
1850—Henry Giles, from “Falstaff: A Type
of epicurean Life” in Lectures and Essays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96
1872—H. N. Hudson, from Shakespeare: His Life,
Art, and Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
1875—edward Dowden, from Shakespeare:
A Critical Study of His Mind and Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
1891—George Bernard Shaw, from The Quintessence
of Ibsenism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
t
Henry IV, Part I in the Twentieth Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
1902—A. C. Bradley. “The Rejection of Falstaff,”
from Oxford Lectures on Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112
1914—e. e. Stoll, from “Falstaff” in Modern Philology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
1939—Mark Van Doren. “Henry IV,” from Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
1951—Harold C. Goddard. “Henry IV,” from The Meaning of
Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153
Contents vii
1953—William empson. “Falstaff and Mr. Dover Wilson,”
from The Kenyon Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
1983—A. D. Nuttall. “Henry IV: Prince Hal and Falstaff,”
from A New Mimesis: Shakespeare and the Representation
of Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200
1983—John W. Blanpied. “Rebellion and Design
in Henry IV, Part One,” from Time and the Artist
in Shakespeare’s English Histories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217
1985—e. Talbot Donaldson. “Sublimely Ridiculous:
The Wife of Bath and Falstaff,” from The Swan
at the Well: Shakespeare Reading Chaucer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246
1986—C. L. Barber and Richard P. Wheeler.
“From Mixed History to Heroic Drama: The Henriad,”
from The Whole Journey: Shakespeare’s Power of Development . . . . . . . . .255
1987—Harold Bloom. “Introduction,” from
Henry IV, Part I (Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations) . . . . . . . . .273
1992—Harold Bloom. “Introduction,” from
Falstaff (Bloom’s Major Literary Characters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279
t
Henry IV, Part I in the Twenty-first Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285
2001—Hugh Grady. “Falstaff: Subjectivity between
the Carnival and the Aesthetic,” from The Modern
Language Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .305
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .309
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .311

s i
eries ntroduCtion
q
Shakespeare Through the Ages presents not the most current of Shakespeare
criticism, but the best of Shakespeare criticism, from the seventeenth century
to today. In the process, each volume also charts the flow over time of critical
discussion of a particular play. Other useful and fascinating collections of his-
torical Shakespearean criticism exist, but no collection that we know of contains
such a range of commentary on each of Shakespeare’s greatest plays and at the
same time emphasizes the greatest critics in our literary tradition: from John
Dryden in the seventeenth century, to Samuel Johnson in the eighteenth cen-
tury, to William Hazlitt and Samuel Coleridge in the nineteenth century, to
A.C. Bradley and William empson in the twentieth century, to the most per-
ceptive critics of our own day. This canon of Shakespearean criticism empha-
sizes aesthetic rather than political or social analysis.
Some of the pieces included here are full-length essays; others are excerpts
designed to present a key point. Much (but not all) of the earliest criticism
consists only of brief mentions of specific plays. In addition to the classics of
criticism, some pieces of mainly historical importance have been included, often
to provide background for important reactions from future critics.
These volumes are intended for students, particularly those just beginning
their explorations of Shakespeare. We have therefore also included basic
materials designed to provide a solid grounding in each play: a biography of
Shakespeare, a synopsis of the play, a list of characters, and an explication of
key passages. In addition, each selection of the criticism of a particular century
begins with an introductory essay discussing the general nature of that century’s
commentary and the particular issues and controversies addressed by critics
presented in the volume.
Shakespeare was “not of an age, but for all time,” but much Shakespeare
criticism is decidedly for its own age, of lasting importance only to the scholar
who wrote it. Students today read the criticism most readily available to them,
which means essays printed in recent books and journals, especially those journals
made available on the Internet. Older criticism is too often buried in out-of-print
books on forgotten shelves of libraries or in defunct periodicals. Therefore, many
ix