Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV: Terms, Characters, and Passages

Vocabulary terms, characters, critical concepts, and dramatic motifs from Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV.

mis-en-abyme

When a subordinate level mirrors the content or structure of a primary level (like a smaller picture inside a larger picture that replicates the whole).

Psychomachia

A conflict representing the devil and angel on one's shoulders (exemplified by Falstaff vs King Henry).

Holinshed

History chronicles that served as historical source material for Shakespeare.

The “king’s two bodies”

Hal's double life divided between the tavern world and the royal court.

Machiavelli, The Prince

Political treatise associated with the philosophy that it is better to be feared than to be loved as a leader.

Strong arm

Hotspur’s characteristic method of solving problems through physical force and combat.

Tavern world

The realm of Eastcheap occupied by Falstaff and his posse.

King Henry 4

The King of England and father of Prince Hal.

Westmoreland

Cousin of King Henry IV.

Mortimer

A noble who fights on behalf of King Henry IV but later sides with Hotspur before dying as an old man.

Glendower

The Welsh rebel leader who captures Mortimer and his troops.

Harry Percy/Hotspur

Rival to Prince Harry, known for his fiery temperament and valor in battle.

Worcester

Hotspur's malevolent uncle and conspirator against King Henry IV.

Falstaff

Prince Hal's corpulent, tavern-dwelling companion, referred to as 'biggie' in the lecture notes.

Act 1, Scene 1 (1.1)

The scene in which King Henry speaks of going on a crusade, only to realize he faces pressing domestic conflicts.

Act 1, Scene 2 (1.2)

The scene where Hal and Falstaff jest in the tavern with the recurring phrase 'When you are king,' concluding with Hal's soliloquy outlining his planned reformation.

Honour (Falstaff's catechism)

Defined as merely 'a word' and 'air'; an insensible quality possessed only by the dead that cannot survive among the living due to detraction, summarized as 'a mere scutcheon.'

Redeeming time

Prince Hal's strategy of deliberately indulging idle behaviour so that his eventual transformation appears more striking and admirable, like the sun breaking through clouds.

The better part of valour

Discretion; Falstaff's guiding principle for preserving his own life on the battlefield.

King Cambyses’ vein

The high, melodramatic theatrical style Falstaff adopts when pretending to interrogate Prince Hal in the persona of King Henry IV.

Corinthian

A colloquial phrase meaning 'a lad of mettle, a good boy,' used by the tavern drawers to praise Prince Hal.

Coward on instinct

Falstaff's justification for fleeing the disguised Prince at Gadshill, arguing that 'the lion will not touch the true prince.'

Counterfeiting (Falstaff)

Falstaff's paradox that faking death in battle to survive makes him the 'true and perfect image of life,' whereas a man who actually dies becomes a counterfeit man.

Food for powder

Falstaff's dismissive characterization of the impoverished soldiers he presses into military service, noting they are fit to fill a grave pit.