The Second part of King Henry IV
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The Second part of King Henry IV
（The new Cambridge Shakespeare）
Cambridge University Press, 1989
- : pbk
Available at 87 libraries
Note
Bibliography: p. 240-242
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Giorgio Melchiori offers a new approach to the text of The Second Part of King Henry IV, which he sees as an unplanned sequel to The First Part, itself a 'remake' of an old non-Shakespearean play. The Second Part deliberately exploits the popular success of Sir John Falstaff, introduced in Part One; the resulting rich humour gives a comic dimension to the play which makes it a unique blend of history, morality play and comedy. Among modern editions of the play this is the one most firmly based on the Quarto. Professor Melchiori presents an eminently actable text, by showing how Shakespeare's own choices are superior for practical purposes to suggested emendations, and by keeping interferences in the original stage directions to a minimum, in order to respect, as Shakespeare did, the players' freedom.
Table of Contents
- List of illustrations
- Preface
- Abbreviations and conventions
- Introduction
- 1. Publication and date
- 2. Unconformities
- 3. The sources and The Famous Victories
- 4. The Henriad as remake
- 5. Rewriting the remake
- 6. The Morality structure
- 7. The comedy of humours
- 8. City and country comedy
- 9. Language
- 10. History
- 11. Psychodrama
- 12. Time and disease
- 13. Part Two on the stage
- Note on the text
- List of characters
- The play
- Textual analysis
- Appendix 1. Shakespeare's use of Holinshed
- Appendix 2. Some historical and literary sources
- Appendix 3. The Famous Victories
- Appendix 4. Tarlton and the Lord Chief Justice
- Reading list.
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