Henry V—Rebellion Broached

Shakespearean scholar James Shapiro describes how Shakespeare’s Henry V paralleled the Earl of Essex’s attempt to curtail rebellion in 1599. Henry V concludes Shakespeare's Henriad, currently running in four segments as part of the RSC's King and Country: Shakespeare’s Great Cycle of Kings at the Harvey Theater through May 1. 

RSC ensemble in Henry V. Photo: Stephanie Berger

In the Epilogue to Henry IV, Part II, for the first and only time in his playwriting career, Shakespeare shared with audiences what he was planning to write next:

If you be not too much cloyed with fat meat, our humble author will continue the story, with Sir John in it, and make you merry with fair Katharine of France. Where, for anything I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat, unless already ’a be killed with your hard opinions.

But as disappointed playgoers soon discovered, Sir John Falstaff would not reappear in Henry V: Will Kemp, the comic star for whom Shakespeare had created the role, quit the company, and Falstaff’s part was written out of the story. Henry V would evolve in other ways as well, especially in response to unfolding events.

Troubles and Revolts

During the early months of 1599, as Shakespeare was finishing the play (and with it, the four-part historical sequence that had begun with Richard II), England was mired in what would come to be called the Nine Years’ War in Ireland. The war had taken a disastrous turn the previous August, when a column of 3,500 English troops, hoping to relieve the Blackwater garrison near Armagh, were routed by Irish forces led by Hugh O’Neill. The English soldiers ran for their lives and “were for the most part put to the sword.” An emboldened O’Neill and his followers were determined to uproot the New English settlers, and in the months that followed disturbing reports reached London of “four hundred more throats cut in Ireland” and of “new troubles and revolts.”

In Context: Henry IV Parts I & II

Henry IV fends off rebellion, Falstaff cavorts at the tavern, and a crown is passed from father to son in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s take on Shakespeare's epic two-part play Henry IV, featuring Antony Sher and Alex Hassell. Context is everything, so get even closer to the show with this curated selection of related articles, interviews, and videos. After you've attended the show, let us know what you thought below and by posting on social media using #KingandCountry.

Shakespeare's Henriad

Nigel Lindsay, David Tennant in Richard II. Photo: Kwame Lestrade

By Christian Barclay

When Shakespeare began to write his second tetralogy of history plays in the late 1590s, Elizabeth I had ruled England for more than 30 years. Her golden age reign transformed the country and established it as the dominant economic and naval power of Europe. Britannia became the symbol of national pride—a personification of the ideals of an ever-expanding empire.

This fervor of nationalism was accompanied by the rise of the chronicle play, also known as a history play. These plays focused on events of the country’s past, often presenting them as allegories of power, rebellion, and atonement. Their authors capitalized on the national consciousness by producing works that imagined the inner lives of England’s storied monarchs.

Shakespeare’s 10 medieval history plays span a period from the late 14th century to the ascension of Henry VIII in 1485. In chronological order, these are King John; Richard II; Henry IV Parts 1 and 2; Henry V; Henry VI Parts 1, 2, and 3; Richard III; and Henry VIII. The epic cycle dramatizes five generations of dynastic power struggles, focusing largely on the tumultuous events of the Hundred Years War and the War of the Roses.