Henry IV, Part 1

Obviously it's not in Henry V, Andy.

He's called Hal in Henry IV Part One and Two, isn't he?

Yes.

He's just called Henry in Henry V.

I say apparently feckless and profligate because Shakespeare implies that Hal, much like Hamlet, or for that matter, Zorro, is only playing a role.

Prince Hal, you know, he actually gives a speech at one point, you know, where he, in, in, uh, uh, Henry IV Part 1, in which he says, you know, "Well, I'm, I'm kinda playing at all this," right? You know, "I, I'm-- This, this way, when I come into my glory, it'll be all the more glorious, for it'll be like the sun coming out from behind the clouds." Um, y- you know, which sort of shows that he's, he's already above this.

Um, but of course, you know, Shakespeare is constructing this Prince Hal, constructing his image of Henry for his own time, right? You know, Shakespeare is writing for an audience, uh, that's quite a bit later and, uh, and that, y- you know, 1599, 1600, um, audience, they have certain expectations and, and, you know, he can't, uh, he can't drag Henry V through the mud.

Um, this all has to be about Henry V's glory.

He hangs out with Falstaff, forces his dad to say, "What am I gonna do with you?" Yes, even then, dads spoke in cliches to their sons.

Right at the start of Henry IV Part 1, the king bemoans his feckless son.

Why can't Hal be more like Harry Hotspur? Now there's a boy whose father I envy.

A son who is the theme of honor's tongue, amongst a grove the very straightest plant, who is sweet fortune's minion and her pride.

No, not Mortimer.

Anyway, it's in Henry IV.

They mention starlings because they're good mimics.

And so he brought a pair of starlings over.

I, I know Tyler from a show that we did together at the Folger Theatre in, uh, Washington, DC.

Um, in 2019, we did Henry IV, Part 1.

Um, Tyler was Hotspur and I was Hal.

And, uh, I spoke about this in a previous episode, but, um, the audition process for that was really cool 'cause, uh, we both went in originally for each other's roles and then wound up playing the other role.

It's so good to see you, dude.

Ah.

You know, it's, it's funny, too, because, dude, I feel like I've been having so many conversations about Henry IV, Part 1 lately.

So, like-

Beautiful.

Uh, My Own Private Idaho is based on Henry IV Part 1.

Part 1.

How many parts are there to that shit? 10 Things I Hate About You, Taming of the Shrew.

Yeah, yeah.

Multiple references in both Henry IV's and Merry Wives.

In Twelfth Night, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew both expressed fondness for sack.

And

And then Malmsey, another sweet, fortified wine, which in the 16th century originated in Greece.

In later centuries, Malmsey became associated with Madeira wine, but not in Shakespeare's time.

And it's mentioned in Love's Labour's Lost and in Henry IV, Part II, but its most infamous mention...

Richard III.

Yeah.

And I know we, we talked about Henry IV Part One and Two being daddy issues, the prequel to Henry V.

Right.

Uh, he spent, you know, three, three plays developing the character of Henry V-