National Theatre

Henry IV Part 1

by William Shakespeare

Doomsday is near; die all, die merrily.

King Henry faces rebellion from the very nobles who helped him seize the crown. Neither side bears scrutiny, but the insurgents boast the dazzling Hotspur while the sovereign's son and heir gets smashed in the taverns of Eastcheap.

If manhood, good manhood, be not forgot upon the face of the earth, then I am a shotten herring. There lives not three good men unhanged in England, and one of them is fat, and grows old.

At the Battle of Shrewsbury, Sir John Falstaff feigns valour, anticipates reward, and dreams gladly of merry England after Henry's death, when Prince Hal will be King.

The plays in the Penguin Shakespeare series are used and recommended by the National Theatre. Find out more about Penguin Shakespeare at the NT Bookshop.

Henry IV Part 1 finished on: 31 August 2005