Short Identification

Henry IV Part 1

Richard II
o King of England from 1377-1399
o Medieval, traditional, true king, nave & corrupt, imcompetent, weak,
rule by divine right
o Banished his cousin Henry but Henry comes back and takes the throne
Henry IV
o Usurps Richard II as King of England
o Modern, new, erbel/usurper, prosaic/pragmatic, Machiavellian, strong,
competent, might makes right
o Banished by Richard II but comes back to take the throne
o Kills Richard II
o Ruling King of England during Henry IV Part 1
o Feels somewhat guilty about having overthrown Richard II in a civil war
o During his reign, he gets into another civil war
o Has a son that he is disappointed of in the beginning because of his
behavior and actions
Prince Hal
o Son of King Henry IV
o Heir apparent
o In the beginning, he hangs around in taverns with thieves and hookers
o Gains notoriety and not taken seriously
o Has secret plan for emergence by surprising everyone by doing
honorable actions no one thought he would do
o
Falstaf
o Fat and old captain
o Friend of Prince Hal
o Tries to get things for himself and is foolishly deceitful
o Carnival
Carnivals etymology appears to originate from the latin phrase
carnem levare meaning the putting away or removal of flesh
(as food),
Carnival has several meanings
The season immediately preceding Lent, devoted in Italy
and other Roman Catholic countries to revelry and
riotous amusement. Festivity of this season
Figurative. Any season or course of feasting, riotous
revelry, or indulgence
Carnivalesque, characteristic, or of the style, of the
carnival
Bakhtin and the Carnivalesque: one might say that
carnival celebrates temporary liberation from the

prevailing truth of the established order; marks

suspension of all hierarchical rank, prvileges, norms, and
prohibitions

Hotspur
o Son and heir apparent to Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland
o Known for his fierceness and authority in battle, known for his honor
but very stubborn and choleric
o Opposite and archrival of Prince Hal
o Is praised by King Henry and Prince Hal for being so honorable and shit
o Killed by Prince Hal and death is credited to Falstaf
Glendower
Mortimer
Henry Percy (Hotspurs father) Earl of Northumberland

Hamlet

Othello

Moor
o In ancient history, a native of northern Africa
o In later times, one belonging to the peoplemuslim in religion
o In middle ages and as late as the 17th century, moors were mostly
black or very swarthy
o Blackamoor
A black-skinned African, any very dark-skinned person
A devil (figurative)
o Elizabethan Ethnocentrism & Bigotry
In 1596, Queen Elizabeth spent an open letter to the mayors of
London and other towns asking that a certain number of Africans
be deported
A week later, a warrant was sent to the Lord Mayor of London
from a merchant arranging the release of 89 english prisoners in
spain for 89 blackamoors to be handed over as slaves
Queen Elizabeth liked this shit
1601 queen Elizabeth issued a proclamation
Barbarian
o Etymology= a foreigner, one whose language and customs difer from
the speakers
o Historically
One who is not greek
One living outside the Roman Empire
One outside the Christian civilization
o A rude, wild, uncivilized person

Morality play
o A form of allegorical drama popular in late medieval and early modern
England and Europe
o Mortality plays are didactic in intent, designed to inculcate some moral
in the viewer
o In these plays, abstract ideas (death, young, age) or moral qualities
(virtues, vices) are often personified
o These personified agents dramatize the spiritual struggles of central
character of the drama, who is often broadly representative of all
Christians (every man, man king)
Turk
o A native or inhabitant of Turkeyusually restricted to Muslims
o Refers to the Turks, Turkish Power
o Often used to mean Muslim
o Applied to any one having qualities attributed to the Turks; a cruel,
rigorous, or tyrannical man; anyone behaving as a barbarian or savage
o A hideous image to frighten children
Battle of Lepanto (1571)
o Famous naval battle in which a multinational Christian fleet defeated
the naval forces of the ottoman empire
The ottoman empire
o At the height of its power in the early modern period
o Wealthier than any single Christian nation at the time
o A greater military power than any single Christian nation at the time
Blackfriars: Othello by torchlight
o Indoor theaters
Unlike outdoor theaters, theatrical companies and audiences did
not have to contend with weather
Indoor theaters were much more intitmate than outdoor theaters
Indoor theaters like the Blackfriars could have held about 700
ppl9 as opposed to 3k for outdoor)
Indoor theaters did not rely on natural light; they were lit by
torches
Indoor theaters catered to the rich and more highly educated
classes of London society
A play at the blackfriars costs a lot more than the Globe
There is not standing in indoor theaters, everyone would have a
seat
The most expensive seats would have been closest to the stage

Shakespeare

Life in Shakespeares England (Late 1500s-Early 1600s)

o Infant mortality is high
o Life expectancy is low

Majority of ppl did not make it to 30 yrs of age

In poorer places, ppl did not make it to 15 yrs of age
No hospitals in our sense of the term; medical care too expensive for
most
o Venereal disease is rampant
o Malnourishment is everywhere and constant
o In 1564 when Shakespeare was born, a plague killed more than of
Stratford and 20k of London
o In 1603 the year James I become king of England, 36k of London died
from plague
o During this time, England was having a demographic boom
Population increasing
Birthrate 3x what it is today
1564 to 1600, population jumps from 3 to 4 million
1564 to 1600, population of London doubles
London is the fastest growing city in Europe during this time
London becomes the largest city in Europe, a few yrs after
shakespeares death
o Renaissance Europe
Invention of printing
New world discovery
European-wide renaissance in learning and culture
Transformation of natural philosophy into modern science
Transformation of relation to past;rise of modern discipline of
history
o Early modern England
Consolidation of state power
Innovations in education
Increased interest in arts
Literacy rates increase
Ambition to become great nation and a great culture
Lord Chamberlains Men/The Kings Men
o Was a theatrical/playing company owned by shareholders, mostly the
leading players in the company
o Shareholders shared in financial risks as well as profits
o Shakespeare was a co-owner/shareholder
o Some playwrights became in-house playwrights for a theatrical
company
o Shakespeare become in-house playwright for the Lord Chamberlains
Men
o Wrote exclusive for them, producing two plays a year for about 20
years
o Company owned and enjoyed exclusive rights to his scripts
o After James I became king (1603), Lord Chamberlains Men became
The Kings Men
o
o
o

1599, the Lord Chamberlains Men built their own playhouse: The
Globe
The Globe (and other outdoor theaters)
o Built by the Lord Chamberlains Men in 1599
o First playhouse owned by its players
o Shakespeare was one of the principal investors
o Became one of the most successful OUTDOOR playhouses of the era
o 1575, the City authorities imposed a Code of Practice upon the Players,
efectively forbidding them from pursuing their craft within the city
limits
o Between 1576 and 1600, seven playhouses were built on the outskirts
of London, outside the jurisdiction of the city government
o 1576, The Theater a permanent playhouse built by an enterprising
carpenter named James Burbage
The Lord Chamberlains Men performed here
Marlowes and Shakespeares works were performed here
1598, The Theater was dismantled, and its materials were used
for the construction of the Globe the following year
o 1577, The Curtainanother permanent playhouse, built a year after
The Theater
o 1587, The Roseanother permanent playhouse and one of the most
prestigious theaters of the period
This was the primary venue of Philip Henslowe, the eras most
prominent theatrical entrepreneur
o 1595, The Swan
o Globe was built by Cuthbert and Richard Burbage in 1599
Half the shares in the new theater went to the Lord
Chamberlains Men, the company of players who acted at the
Globe
Richard Burbage was the principal actor
Shakespeare was a leading member of the company
The Globe was destroyed by fire in 1613 during a performance
of Henry VIII
o 1600, The Fortune
Shakespeare misc.
o As a shareholder in both the Lord Chamberlains Men/The Kings Men
and the Globe, Shakespeare became pretty well-to-do
o In 1596, Shakespeare applied for a coat-of-arms for his father; he was
essentially attempting to buy his father the status of a gentleman
o In 1597, Shakespeare returned to Stratford and purchased one of the
largest houses in the town
o From 1590-1610ish, Shakespeare had a 20 year run as leading
playwright in London
o From 1612-1616, Shakespeare goes into semi-retirement, spending
more time away from London, in Stratford
o In 1616, Shakespeare dies, probably of fever
o

Beginning of his career around the 1590s, Shakespeare wrote a lot of

history plays and comedies, and a few tragedies
o Towards the end of his career around the early 1600s, Shakespeare
wrote more tragedies, romances, and dark comedies in addition to 1
history play
o Shakespeares history plays are a part of two tetralogies
First tetralogy (1422-1485): 1,2,3 Henry VI & Richard III
Second tetralogy (1398-1415): Richard II, 1,2 Henry IV, Henry V
Second tetralogy is prequel to first
Vogue(popularity of English History Play)
o Started in early 1590s
o Hits its peak at around turn of the century1600
o Declined around 1605
o Shakespeares first theatrical successes were history plays
o He is writing his earliest plays as the vogue is beginning
o He was associated with the form of the history play early on
o He was a major player in shaping the genre
o

Etc

Stage machiavel
o Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was an author
o Wrote The Prince
Treatise describing a certain kind of political pragmatism that
many in the period found morally repugnant
Written in 1513 and circulated in manuscript but not printed
until 1532
No translation printed in England until 1640
o Stage machiavel was made hugely popular by Christopher Marlowe