In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, the character Hal, the Prince of Wales, undergoes a transformation that can be characterized as a redemption. Shakespeare introduces Hal, in the opening act as a renegade of the Court. His avoidance of all public responsibility and his affinity for the company of the Boar’s Head Tavern, have caused serious concern…
Shakespeare’s play Henry IV begins with a king (King Henry) beginning a pilgrimage after killing King Richard II. Henry believes that by gaining the throne of England he has done an honourable deed, yet he admits that the fighting and bloodshed could continue, A. . . ill sheathed knife . . . @ (I.1.17). He,…
The Political Background When Louis XIV took control of his country’s government in 1661 there was a good chance he might not last long. Kingship in the seventeenth century was a dangerous occupation. For evidence he had only to look at his own family. Louis’ grandfather IV Henry IV had been assassinated by a mad…