The film without the cuts. And the book itself.
The prince learns when to become himself.
Prince Hal
The prince moves from tavern jokes to battlefield proof with his reformation already planned.
The Royal Palace in London
Everyone speaks the language of command here, yet Henry's crown has never felt less secure.
Henry vows to end civil bloodshed, yet his promised holy war already falters.
Read →From Civil Butchery Abroad
KING. So shaken as we are, so wan with care, Find we a time for frighted peace to pant, And breathe short-winded accents of new broils To be commenced in strands afar remote. No more the thirsty entrance of this soil Shall daub her lips with her own children’s blood, No more shall trenching war channel her fields, Nor bruise her flow’rets with the armed hoofs Of hostile paces: those opposed eyes, Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven, All of one nature, of one substance bred, Did lately meet in the intestine shock And furious close of civil butchery, Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks, March all one way, and be no more opposed Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies. The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife, No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends, As far as to the sepulchre of Christ— Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross We are impressed and engaged to fight— Forthwith a power of English shall we levy, Whose arms were molded in their mothers’ womb To chase these pagans in those holy fields Over whose acres walked those blessed feet Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed For our advantage on the bitter cross. But this our purpose now is twelve month old, And bootless ’tis to tell you we will go; Therefore we meet not now. Then let me hear Of you, my gentle cousin Westmoreland, What yesternight our Council did decree In forwarding this dear expedience.
A king opens his play by trying to talk civil war into becoming a holy war abroad. Henry has just seized the throne and the country is exhausted; his cure is to send England's fighting energy far away, "to the sepulchre of Christ," so that the swords lately turned on "acquaintance, kindred, and allies" now "march all one way." The knife that cuts its own master is the image he most fears: violence sheathed carelessly at home. But the speech quietly collapses at "this our purpose now is twelve month old." The crusade has been announced before and never sailed, and he abandons the whole grand vision to ask Westmoreland for actual news.
The King and the Prodigal Prince
A guilt-ridden king envies the valiant Hotspur while his own heir, Prince Hal, idles in taverns with the fat rogue Falstaff.
The Crown
A crown taken, not inherited, poisons every bond of blood and loyalty around it.
Sir John Falstaff
Falstaff makes cowardice, appetite, and lying sound like a brilliant way to stay alive.
King Henry IV, Part 1
The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.
The King Henry IV, Part 1 World, as it plays on your phone
- Meet the people. 29 characters, each with a portrait, who they are and what they want.
- Walk the places. 10 places, each pictured, and what happens there.
- Follow the plot. The turns of the story, in order, so you always know where you are.
- Taste the original. 37 key passages in William Shakespeare’s own words, each with a short reading of what it is doing.
- The complete book. Every word, in a reader made for your phone. From any passage, one tap opens the book at that very page.
Step inside King Henry IV, Part 1
Free, in your inbox in about a minute: the World and the complete book, on your phone.