The Second Part of King Henry IV

by William Shakespeare , Edited by Giorgio Melchiori , With contributions by Adam Hansen

• ISBN13: 9780521689502
• ISBN10: 0521689503
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-05-21
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Melchiori offers a fresh approach to the text of The Second Part of King Henry IV, which he sees as an unplanned sequel to the First Part, itself a 'remake' of an old, non-Shakespearean play. The Second Part deliberately exploits the popular success of Sir John Falstaff, introduced in Part One; the resulting rich humour gives a comic dimension to the play which makes it a unique blend of history, morality play and comedy. Among modern editions of the play this is the one most firmly based on the quarto. It presents an eminently actable text, by showing how Shakespeare's own choices are superior for practical purposes to suggested emendations, and by keeping interference in the original stage directions to a minimum, in order to respect, as Shakespeare did, the players' freedom. This updated edition includes a new introductory section by Adam Hansen describing recent stage, film and critical interpretations.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations

Preface

Abbreviations and conventions

Introduction: Publication and date

Unconformities

The sources and The Famous Victories

The Henriad as remake

Rewriting the remake

The Morality structure

The comedy of humours

City and country comedy

Language

History

Psychodrama

Time and disease

Part Two on the stage

Recent stage, film and critical interpretations by Adam Hansen

Note on the text

List of characters

The Play

Textual analysis

Appendixes

Shakespeare's use of Holinshed

Some historical and literary sources

The Famous Victories

Tarlton and the Lord Chief Justice

Reading list

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