The Oxford Shakespeare: Henry IV, Part I: Part one (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

Shakespeare, William

3.8

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9780192834218: The Oxford Shakespeare: Henry IV, Part I: Part one (Oxford World's Classics)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192834215 ISBN 13: 9780192834218

Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks, 1998

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As Henry's throne is threatened by rebel forces, England is divided. The characters reflect these oppositions, with Hal and Hotspur vying for position, and Falstaff leading Hal away from his father and towards excess. During Shakespeare's lifetime Henry IV, Part I was his most reprinted play, and it remains enormously popular with theatregoers and readers. Falstaff still towers among Shakespeare's comic inventions as he did in the late 1590s. David Bevington's introduction discusses the play in both peformance and criticism from Shakespeare's time to our own, illustrating the variety of interpretations of which the text is capable. He analyses the play's richly textured language in a detailed commentary on individual words and phrases and clearly explains its historical background.

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Review:

Written between 1596 and 1597, Henry IV Part One represents Shakespeare's increasingly mature talent in staging the history of the early Tudor monarchy. Midway in the cycle of Shakespeare's History Plays, which begin with Richard II and ultimately culminate in his last play, Henry VIII, Henry IV Part One tells the story of the troubled reign of Henry IV following his deposition of Richard II. The historical action revolves around the attempt by Henry Percy (known as Hotspur) to overthrow Henry at the Battle of Shrewsbury. However, over half the play deals with the transformation of Henry's profligate son, Prince Hal (the future King Henry V), from tavern joker to national icon.

The whole play is stolen from its kings and princes by Shakespeare's greatest comic creation, the "fat-kidneyed rascal" Sir John Falstaff, king of his own dominions--the taverns and brothels of London's Eastcheap district. The tavern scenes of the play are some of the most evocative accounts of 16th-century popular London life. They revolve around the comical but ultimately sinister relationship between Falstaff and his young apprentice Hal, who learns to "so offend to make offence a skill" as he learns the slippery ropes of realpolitik and kingship. The play is considered by many to be the liveliest and most profound of Shakespeare's History Plays, and remains one of its most popular examples. --Jerry Brotton

Review:

"Certainly one of the best of the OXF4 series: informative, intelligent, and independent....This edition is a splendid piece of work, a valuable reference full of original insights and good sense. The commentary notes alone are worth the price of the book."--Shakespeare Quarterly "Certainly one of the best of the OXF4 series: informative, intelligent, and independent....This edition is a splendid piece of work, a valuable reference full of original insights and good sense. The commentary notes alone are worth the price of the book."--Shakespeare Quarterly "Certainly one of the best of the OXF4 series: informative, intelligent, and independent....This edition is a splendid piece of work, a valuable reference full of original insights and good sense. The commentary notes alone are worth the price of the book."--Shakespeare Quarterly "Certainly one of the best of the OXF4 series: informative, intelligent, and independent....This edition is a splendid piece of work, a valuable reference full of original insights and good sense. The commentary notes alone are worth the price of the book."--Shakespeare Quarterly

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