Thursday, August 11, 2011

1 Henry IV Act 5, Scenes 3-5

175.

so i was supposed to spend my morning and afternoon with my family and my evening working. instead, i had to go see a doctor because my left eye is on fire. it's red and gross. the doc says it's just worn out. it's swollen. and i can't wear my left contact for at least a week. and i don't have glasses because i don't have insurance. so i will have perma-headache for a week. and the real kicker? my insurance kicks in in ten days. gahhhhhhh. please forgive me if my cranky pants come out in this blog today. i'm trying to restrain them.


act 5, scene 3
Douglas and Blunt, dressed as King Henry, are on the battlefield at Shrewsbury. Douglas fights and kills Blunt thinking, of course, that he is the king. Hotspur arrives and Douglas proudly shows him the dead "king". Hotspur reveals the truth and tells Douglas that there are many men dressed as Henry to confuse them. they exit and Falstaff enters. he has lost most of his men. Prince Hal is right behind him. he asks to use Falstaff's sword, but Falstaff won't give it up. he offers his gun instead. Hal goes to get it, but finds a bottle of alcohol in the holster instead. Hal is ticked off and leaves Falstaff there, spouting his usual nonsense.

act 5, scene 4
King Henry, his sons, and Westmorland are on the battlefield. Hal is injured, begging his father to continue pressing on. Henry wants him to rest, but he won't do it. John and Westmorland press on and Hal proudly follows. King Henry, left alone, meets with Douglas. they fight, Hal runs in to help his dad, and Douglas flees. the king presses on and Hotspur enters. they fight. Falstaff and Douglas enters. they fight. Falstaff falls. Douglas flees again. Prince Hal deals a deathly blow to Hotspur. (see quote below.) Hotspur dies. Hal respectfully covers his face. he sees Falstaff, says a few final words to his old friend, and leaves. Falstaff rises, of course not dead at all. he thinks that if he can rise, so can Hotspur. he decides to stab him one more time and tell everyone that he actually gave Hotspur his final blow. Princes Hal and John enter and Falstaff tells them his tall tale. a retreat sounds they've won!

act 5, scene 5
King Henry and his entire posse assemble on the battlefield, victorious. the king comes down hard on Worcester for lying to Hotspur. Worcester and Vernon are sent off to their death. Douglas is being held in Hal's tent. out of respect, Hal asks for him to be let go completely free of his charges. they all agree. King Henry sends John and Westmorland off to York to fight Northumberland and Scroop. he and Prince Hal will head off to Wales to fight Glendower and March. together, they will kill this rebellion.


a bunch of the men dress as the king? genius! was this Shakespeare's idea? or historical fact?

so i guess i was wrong about those letters to Hotspur. i thought they would turn out to have important information, but they actually never came up again. and i guess i was also wrong about his lack of ability to listen. i thought that would be his death. but it wasn't really. he just got killed by Prince Hal. not as exciting as i would have hoped.

well well well Prince Hal. what a grown up he has become! his journey has been huge. i love seeing the grace and integrity he has shown in the last couple of scenes. where the heck did THAT come from? my question for the next play is, how will he treat Falstaff? what will happen to him? i can't believe Falstaff has gotten away with so much already. and yet, i can't help but feel sympathetic toward him. but that's part of what makes him such a great character, right?

quote of the day:
'o Harry, thou hast robbed me of my youth!
i better brook the loss of brittle life
than those proud titles thou hast won of thee;
they wound my thoughts worse than thy sword my flesh.
but thoughts, the slaves of life, and life, time's fool,
and time, that takes survey of all the world,
must have a stop. o, i could prophesy,
but that the earthy and cold hand of death
lies on my tongue. no, Percy, thou art dust,
and food for--' (he dies.)
   -Percy a.k.a. Hotspur

for tomorrow: back to sonnets

-rebecca may

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