Henry IV Part 2 Act 3 – “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

Henry IV Part 2 Act 3 – “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

What a strangely complex play ‘Henry IV Part 2’ is. It is a Historical drama yet by the end of Act 2, we have had more comedy than drama, the comic relief has had more stage time than any historical figure, no grand poetic and psychological landscapes have been painted with the lyric tongue, no battles have graced the stage as yet, the fundamental relationship of Prince Hal and Falstaff have been punctuated by a few minutes of stage time and King Henry Iv has not appeared on stage yet. All is about to change in Act 3, as Henry IV finally is revealed on stage in full contemplative voice and spirit.

It is night in Westminster Palace and Henry IV who now suffers from insomnia is trying to work on papers and plans for war. He sends letters to the Earl of Warwick and the Earl of Surrey. Alone, he weaves a rich tapestry of imagery, metaphor, wordplay and allegory as he contemplates the irony that even the poor can enjoy the luxury of sleep but that he for all his power and riches cannot sleep.

“How many thousand of my poorest subjects

Are at this hour asleep! O sleep, O gentle sleep,

Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,

That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down

And steep my senses in forgetfulness?

Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,

Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee

And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber,

Than in the perfumed chambers of the great,

Under the canopies of costly state,

And lull'd with sound of sweetest melody?

… Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose

To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude,

And in the calmest and most stillest night,

With all appliances and means to boot,

Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down!

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

His contemplations are interrupted by the Earl of Warwick and the Earl of Surrey, and they discuss the possibility that Northumberland will rejoin the rebels. King Henry IV then sees the cruel irony that Northumberland, who had been the friend and confidant of Richard II, eight years ago helped he Henry to overthrow Richard II and now Northumberland might to the same to him. He states that this is exactly as Richard II predicted.

“O God! that one might read the book of fate,

And see the revolution of the times

Make mountains level, and the continent,

Weary of solid firmness, melt itself

Into the sea…”

Warwick claims that Richard II was probably lucky in his guess since he cast so many seeds of doubt.

“There is a history in all men's lives,

Figuring the nature of the times deceased;

The which observed, a man may prophesy,

With a near aim, of the main chance of things

As yet not come to life, which in their seeds

And weak beginnings lie intreasured.”

They then talk about the war with the rebels and the rumours of a rebel force of perhaps fifty thousand men. Warwick dismisses this and then reveals the news he has heard of the death of the Welsh rebel leader Owen Glendower. This seems to change the mood about the war. King Henry IV is then encouraged to go back to bed for his health and he once more expresses his remorse that he never got to go on his crusade to Jerusalem.

We now travel up to Gloucestershire where Justice Shallow and Justice Silence are preparing for Falstaff's traveling recruitment drive. Shallow talks of the antics that he and Falstaff got up to when younger. When Falstaff and Bardolph enter, Justice Shallow and Justice Silence present their motley crew of recruits - Mouldy, Shadow, Wart, Feeble, and Bullcalf. After confusion, protests and bribes, Falstaff decides to take Shadow, Feeble, and Wart (the least likely candidates of the presented). Shallow invites Falstaff to dinner but Falstaff says that he must start on his journey to battles the rebels in war.