Home is
full of items that provide comfort and calm because of their connection to
those we love. Visiting a friend’s home gives you insights about their
personality and values that are impossible to recreate through a picture or a
written description of where they live. When we arrived in the carefree, cozy
hometown of William Shakespeare, I sensed that the sights and sounds of the
playwright’s familiar haunts might give new shades of meaning to the playwright’s
personal life and perhaps even into his written work. As we found respite under
the shady trees near the river of Avon, I was delighted with the thought that
Shakespeare might have wandered beneath the same willows to write the finishing
touches to one of his plays, such as Henry
IV, Part I. This dramatic retelling of the life of one of Britain’s famed monarchs
provides a scripted picture of Shakespeare’s view of England as a royal home, a
place of comfort, and as a hostile state, and was made infinitely more
meaningful because we watched in a theatre built on ground on which Shakespeare
himself may have once trod.
Although
the play is named after the King, it is his lively son and his son’s foil, Hotspur,
who consume most of the stage time. Although both Prince Hal and Hotspur dwell
in noble homes that are luxurious and impressive, the bare staging and set of
the palace scenes implies the distance or discomfort that the two men
experience therein. When Hal comes in contact with his mysterious father, the
setting is a dark, ominous throne room that highlights a large crucifix and the
crown in Henry’s hand and on his head. Such symbols of authority hold reminders
of the responsibility that Hal intends to postpone while he enjoys the pleasure
that his power provides. Likewise, Hotspur is not content to lead a peaceful
life at home. Although his wife begs him to stay and rest, he finds no
contentment unless he is implementing a plan of action. The actor portrayed
Hotspur’s restlessness through his tense, quick body movements and his alert
eyes. The one moment of the play when Hotspur is at rest, his head lying in his
wife’s lap during a Welsh woman’s song, is in the midst of an act of political intrigue
as he tries to solicit the Welsh leader to help his cause. Both Hotspur and Hal
see their homes as holding unwelcome reminders either of ignored responsibility
or neglected familial duties, which the play reflected in the sparse furnishing
and dark lighting of scenes set in their respective dwelling places.
However,
the play also created images of home-like places in which Hal and Hotspur find contentment
and fulfillment. The audience witnesses Hal’s antics outside the palace in the
bedroom, at the bar, and on the bare highway. The sets for the scenes outside
the palace are full of symbols of life: plush pillows, pitchers and cups,
tables and chairs, and lively extras. It is in these rowdy, sensual places that
Hal invests his heart and enjoys the devotion of rosy-cheeked Falstaff, a
fatherly figure who participates in Hal’s revelry. In fact, Hal and Falstaff
joke about the authority of the palace in a memorable mock trial scene in which
Falstaff jestingly asks Hal to commit his loyalty to him. The use of household
items like a cushion and an armchair on top of a table provide an atmosphere of
ease and humor. However, this moment reveals a glimpse of seriousness in Hal.
Although Hal finds great enjoyment in his life of pleasure outside the castle,
he also realizes that it will not last and ultimately his relationship with his
father, rather than Falstaff, will prove binding. Hotspur, on the other hand,
is satisfied not in avoiding duty but in completing it. Yet because the
political situation of the time forbids him from achieving his goals, he is
constantly urging for new courses of action and longing for the battlefield.
Hotspur never walks, but bounds; his speeches are forceful and hurried. King
Henry IV commends Hotspur’s active attitude and bemoans that his own son is not
more prone to such initiative. While Hotspur finds recognition and glory in his
place of comfort, Hal realizes that he must either enjoy the pleasures of
irresponsibility and suffer under the frown of his father or release his life
of leisure and his jovial companions in order to win the respect needed for his
position.
Hal
chooses to reject his former lifestyle in order to fight for his father and in
doing so to face Hotspur in the place where he is most passionate and adept: on
the battlefield. But despite Hal’s regret that he can no longer be carefree, he
is finally motivated to please his real father, rather than Falstaff, and sees
the value of loyalty to his homeland. Hal comes to meet Hotspur not as a man
searching for his own place but rather one who has finally accepted where he
must belong. While Hal begins the play showing almost all of his bare skin, it
is only when he is covered in royal armor that he fully embraces the duties he
has been born to bear. Although Hotspur is a fierce and seasoned soldier, Hal
meets him in a battle willing to risk his life to save his father, which
provides him with a new level of determination that perhaps gives him the upper
edge on the battle against Hotspur. The battle scene highlighted the
high-spirits of both characters, but showed within a context where the stakes
were high and the energy directed toward a specific end. The clashes of the
swords, the flashing of the lights, and the energy of the actors made this
battle scene the emotional and thematic climax of the play. When Hotspur lies
still and dead on the stage while the action continues, Hal exhibits a maturity
we have never before seen as he embraces the role of protector rather than a
player and acts with a sword, rather than a glass, in his hand.
While
there is no way to truly know what personal elements Shakespeare incorporated
into his dramatized retelling of the historical Henry IV, it is interesting to
ponder the background of the playwright while viewing his work in a place that
invariably shaped and influenced the man that he became. Shakespeare portrays home
not as a place where you find the most excitement and stimulation, but rather where
you find the things that will serve you best as you work alongside those who
are near and dear. Although it is hard to give up the excitement of a life
where pleasure and action are around every street corner, it is comforting to
think that the places filled with familiar faces and personal duties will give
the most fulfillment and direction when life’s battles come.
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