ACT III
SCENE i
In the wee hours, an insomniacal King Henry IV is not just guilt-ridden
now, but also ill; and sickness continues serving as a metaphor and
theme running throughout the play (e.g., III.i.38-40). Henry has never
been able to forget the usurpation, and doesn't understand his son,
so Shakespeare may be attempting to create a somewhat moving portrayal
of this king. The anxieties expressed in this scene look back to
Richard II and ahead to Henry V. Henry moans about his
insomnia in a famous line: "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown"
(III.i.31).
Henry consults the Earls of Warwick and Surrey about the rebellion.
He reflects back on the events recounted in the earlier plays, insisting
that he never planned a usurpation:
SCENE ii
Justice Shallow meets kinsman Justice Silent and conversation
includes mention of cousin William being "a good scholar ...
at Oxford" (III.ii.10) before drifting around to Shallow's good
old days when he and Falstaff sowed their wild oats. Sir John
then did "break Scoggin's head at the court-gate" (III.ii.30).
Of course, most of the old chums are dead now, including someone
named Double: "John a' Gaunt loved him well and betted much
money on his head" (III.ii.44-45). If the reference to Robin
Nightwork 55 years ago (III.ii.214-217) means anything, is it
related to the fact that Leicester (Elizabeth's "Sweet Robin")
was 55 in 1586 (Ogburn and Ogburn 726)? The Scoggin and Gaunt
references are connected to Chaucer by Thomas H. McNeal ["Henry
IV, Parts I and II, and Speght's First Edition of
Geffrey Chaucer," The Shakespeare Association Bulletin
21.2 (April 1946): 87-93].
Shallow speaks of death and the price of livestock in the same
breath. Bardolph enters, then Falstaff, and Shallow has some men
to be examined as potential recruits for Falstaff, who makes witty
remarks about their names (Mouldy, Shadow, Wart) and rather arbitrarily
accepts some and rejects others in this scene seeming to function as
a satire on recruitment malpractices.
Falstaff, remarking nostalgically that "We have heard the chimes at
midnight, Master Shallow" (III.ii.214-215), goes off with the vain
Shallow and the silent Silent while two of the recruits try to bribe
Bardolph to get out of duty. Surprisingly, another named Feeble proves
rather valiant: "I'll ne'er a base mind" (III.ii.235; cf. 240).
Falstaff returns and approves of the defections, noting that although
those avoiding the war are of sound body, it's spirit that Falstaff
values (III.ii.257ff). Falstaff plans to capitalize on Shallow's
fondness for yammering enthusiastically about the old days: "and
every third word a lie, duer paid to the hearer than the Turk's
tribute" (III.ii.306-308). "And now is this Vice's dagger become
a squire, and talks as familiarly of John a' Gaunt as if he had been
a sworn brother to him, and I'll be sworn 'a ne'er saw him but once
in the Tilt-yard" (III.ii.319-322).
Various references in this scene and the historical setting of the
play put one in mind of Chaucer, though the father of English poetry
is never mentioned. Chaucer does seem to have been something of a
"sworn brother" to John of Gaunt and he wrote an envoy to someone
named Scogin.
(Though then, God knows, I had no such intent
He also recalls Richard II's prophecy about the eventual rift with
Northumberland. But Warwick is encouraging and tells Henry that at
least Glendower is dead. Henry will rest now and travel to the Holy
Land soon.
But that necessity so bow'd the state
That I and greatness were compell'd to kiss)...
(III.i.72-74)