Shakespeare’s plays discuss a number of themes that are relevant to life. In his plays, Henry IV, part I and Henry IV, part II, there are a number of themes but the theme that is quite clear and evident from the language and story of the play is that of morality. Morality can be considered as the central theme in Shakespeare’s many plays but Henry IV, part I and Henry IV, part II, indicate towards the theme of morality to a large extent. Shakespeare always showed concern for morality of the people and indicated his attitude towards morality in his plays. This essay discusses the theme of morality in the two plays, Henry IV, part I and Henry IV, part II.

In Henry IV, part 1, the public has turned against the king of the state, which is shown in Act 1, scene 1, of the play. The king has not fulfilled his promise to reward the Percies in terms of their support to the king for overthrowing the kingship of Richard II. Being a king puts a huge responsibility on the king as he has to do a number of duties in order to keep his people happy but he broke his promise with the people due to which, they were involved in a revolt against the king. The king did an immoral act by broking his promise and as a result, Percies did another immoral act by revolting against the king who was considered as the Lord for the people of that time. The characters of the play namely Falstaff, Poins, Bardolph, Peto, and Prince Hal did an immoral act by doing a criminal act of robbery and afterwards, they did not consider themselves guilty but felt happy for their wrongdoing (Act II, Scene 2). They were not punished at their criminal activity only because the prince was involved with them. Their escort reveals that the society, which Shakespeare portrayed in Henry IV, part 1, is not fully moral as people got a chance to do a crime and get away with it because of the involvement of a higher authority.  

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Shakespeare indicates towards the theme of morality in the play, Henry IV, part II, by involving the theme of legitimacy of the king. He highlights that the king’s position as a legitimate ruler was not clear but his people, according to the rule of that time, were not allowed to go against the king as the king was considered as the Lord of people and a representative of God (Act 1, Scene 1). The kingdom was in disorder on the basis of no good outcome. As far as the role of Prince John is concerned, no one pointed a figure towards him and his wrong acts. Prince John misbehaved at a number of locations and acted inappropriately but because of his association to higher authorities, he was never asked about his wrongdoings. People’s revolt against the king considering him as an illicit was also immoral according to the standards of that time, King Henry IV’s time.

The plays, Henry IV, part I and Henry IV, part II, depict towards morality as a central theme of the plays. These plays are historical and are based on true stories. Both the plays indicate that the society contained some immoral aspects such as doing unlawful acts, disobeying the authority, forgiving the people of high authority for their crimes and giving no importance to authority. Morality as a central theme was the aspect that was not considered significant by many people in Henry’s time. Revolt of people against the authority was considered criminal and immoral but people revolted showing that immorality was prevalent in the society.

References

Shakespeare, William. Henry IV-Part 1. Ed. J.R. Sutherland. Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 1958.

Shakespeare, William. Henry IV-Part II. Ed. J.R Sutherland. Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 1962.