'Second Part of King Henry IV' Summary

The play opens with the rebels, led by the Earl of Northumberland, vowing to avenge the death of Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury. Meanwhile, King Henry IV is failing in health, and his son, Prince Hal, is preoccupied with the weight of responsibility that will soon accompany his ascendance to the throne. Falstaff, meanwhile, continues his drunken misadventures in Eastcheap. As the rebel leaders plot their next moves and Falstaff bumbles his way out of tight spots, the stage is set for an inevitable transition of power. The question is: who will end up gaining the most, and who will come up short? With a tone that is at once raucous and mournful, this peculiar work forces us to meditate on disease, death, and destiny in a way that only a master like Shakespeare can accomplish.