The Second Part of King Henry IV

Melchiori offers a fresh 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. It presents an eminently actable text, by showing how Shakespeare’s own choices are superior for practical purposes to suggested emendations, and by keeping interference in the original stage directions to a minimum, in order to respect, as Shakespeare did, the players’ freedom. This updated edition includes a new introductory section by Adam Hansen describing recent stage, film and critical interpretations.

• Contains a new introductory section by Adam Hansen which describes recent stage, film and critical interpretations • An accessible and informative textbook for students studying Shakespeare • Two new illustrations and an updated reading list are included in this new edition

List of illustrations; Preface; Abbreviations and conventions; Introduction: Publication and date; Unconformities; The sources and The Famous Victories; The Henriad as remake; Rewriting the remake; The Morality structure; The comedy of humours; City and country comedy; Language; History; Psychodrama; Time and disease; Part Two on the stage; Recent stage, film and critical interpretations by Adam Hansen; Note on the text; List of characters; THE PLAY; Textual analysis; Appendixes: 1. Shakespeare’s use of Holinshed; 2. Some historical and literary sources; 3. The Famous Victories; 4. Tarlton and the Lord Chief Justice; Reading list.