We are moving right along today to Henry IV, Part 2.
First things first: this play contains one of my favorite soliloquies ever. Period. It comes from Henry IV when he talks about sleep. This is not Shakespeare’s most meaningful or important soliloquy, but I am very partial to it because I find the language absolutely stunning and gorgeous. (I’ve already talked about how much I am in love with all of Henry’s lines, and this is no exception.) I won’t quote it in full, but here’s an excerpt:
O, sleep, O gentle sleep,
Nature’s soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down
And steep my senses in forgetfulness?…
Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose
To the wet sea son in an hour so rude…
And…Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down!
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
(You can read the whole thing here.)
Heh? Bet you didn’t know the famous line (”Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown”) came from a speech about sleep! 😉
I love how even as he reaches the end of his life (he dies not long after this), you can still feel his remorse and guilt for the way he got the crown – which, as you’ll remember, was by overthrowing Richard.
Before he dies, though, we get one more extremely powerful scene with my beloved Henry Four. 🙂 One last scene between him and his son, Prince Hal. It’s such a wonderful scene that it’s got to rank really high up there on my list of all-time favorites.
Hal believes, as he is sitting by Henry’s sickbed, that his father has died. He takes the crown, which Henry had placed on his pillow and exits the room. Henry then wakes up (turns out he was not dead, only sleeping). When he discovers Hal has taken his crown, he rages against his son in a long speech. He demands, “What! Canst thou not forbear me half an hour?” From his perspective, Hal had been all too eager to take up the crown. Hal explains that this was not the case and tells Henry he would much rather have his father than a crown. Having reached an understanding, Henry then wishes his son a happier reign than he had. He explains he had always been tormented by his crown, but Hal would gain the throne honestly and directly. “How I came by the crown, O God forgive, And grant it may with thee in true peace live!” he says.
This is such a beautiful, moving, heartfelt scene. It is an absolute gem in Shakespeare’s canon. (Read it here.)
To me, that is the crux of this play: beautiful lines from Henry and a truly remarkable scene with his son. Everything else (Falstaff and the politics and so on) kind of recedes into the background.
It has left me astounded with what magic writers can work.
