Henry IV, Part I - Part II

Almost a week since my last post and I wanted to write a second post on Henry IV, Part I before moving on to Part II which Carol and I saw last night. I have written before about how the history plays especially Part I were my introduction to English literature. While this may seem obvious I think how we are introduced to Shakespeare (and I am sure other things as well) makes a big difference.

This became very clear to me a year or so ago when I started helping a friend's son with his school work. He attends a private all male school and their introduction to Shakespeare as freshman was "Romeo and Juliet." This might make some sense based on the age of the doomed lovers and the young love aspect of the play, but I really don't think this is the best way to introduce adolescent young men to Shakespeare.

Whether or not single sex education is a good idea or not is another question. But once that decision is made it seems to me that it opens up possibilities in some areas such as choosing their introduction to Shakespeare. Given those circumstances it seems to me that Part I of Henry IV would be ideal. It is after all about young men - Hal and Hotspur, but especially Hal.

There is a great deal in this play (and in Part II) about the relationships between fathers and sons. None of us today, of course, are princes being prepared to inherit the crown, but almost all of us have some relationship with our fathers where we are preparing and they are preparing us to become adults - to become senior members of the next generation of the family. As a result the relationship between Hal and his father, the need for learning responsibility and the temptation of the tavern are all issues that are relevant to the lives of young men.

This is not to suggest that they are irrelevant to young women, but I think there can be differences in how each gender approaches these issues. This is especially true in a single sex school, it seems to me that part of the reason for their existence is the opportunity to focus on relevant issues in that kind of environment. In such situations, plays like Henry IV Part I can play at least two roles. It provides a forum and/or a process for discussing those issues and it can serve as an introduction to Shakespeare that can change one's life - it certainly did mine. After beyond the great language, the drama etc. etc., one of the reason Shakespeare continues to matter is because the issues he explored continue to matter.

I would love to have the opportunity to conduct an experiment in a school like the one in question here. In the experiment when it came time to teach Shakespeare in freshman English I would teach Henry IV, Part I to one class while the other classes would do Romeo and Juliet or whatever else they think is appropriate. The primary goal of the experiment would be to see which play develops the higher level of interest. My money is on Henry IV, Part I.