#2 henry iv

[withasideofshakespeare]

Woah no way?? People (completely unprompted /s) want to hear my trans Shakespeare headcanons?? You bet I can do that.

I’ve done this once before:

But I have even more thoughts now!!

In no particular order:

Puck (A Midsummer Night’s Dream): Every single pronoun possible. He/she/they/it + all of the neopronouns and xenopronouns that exist currently or will ever exist. Fairy gender is always weird but Puck’s is extra weird.

Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream): Fairy gender. Probably he/they/it?

Titania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream): More fairy gender. She/they/it?

Titania’s fairy attendants (Midsummer): Get a hat and fill it with various pronouns and draw them out at random for the fairies.

Benedick (Much Ado About Nothing): Could go either way, but I really like the idea of transfemme Benedick. Or he/him lesbian Benedick.

Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing): The she/they to end all she/theys

Viola/Cesario (Twelfth Night): Could be trans in literally any direction. I made a post about this too at some point. My suggestion is all of the directions: they/she/he

Sebastian (Twelfth Night): He/him, transmasc. I also made a post about this at some point.

Feste (Twelfth Night): I saw a great she/her Feste last summer.

Orsino (Twelfth Night): Specifically the himbo variety of he/they

Margaret of Anjou (Henry VI trilogy and Richard III): If I ever play Margaret, I will use she/they pronouns.

Catesby (Richard III): Just played Catesby with she/her pronouns and it worked!

Richard II (Richard II): Tell me Richard isn’t the most they/he or he/they guy alive (or… dead).

Hal (1 Henry IV-Henry V): Saw Hal played with she/they pronouns last summer and it was great. Could also see he/they Hal. Very nonbinary vibe overall. I personally believe that going by Hal rather than Henry for two whole plays is their way of pulling the “going by the first letter of what my name used to be instead of picking a name from scratch” nonbinary trick. He probably pretends to be cis after his dad dies and he becomes king—one more element of Hal’s lifelong identity crisis.

Hotspur/Harry Percy Jr. (Richard II & 1 Henry IV): He/they in denial.

Kate Percy (1 & 2 Henry IV): She/they, not in denial. (Also Katespur should be bi4bi)

Ned Poins (1 & 2 Henry IV): Transmasc Ned Poins?? Maybe he doesn’t actually have a sister and Nell is just his deadname. Ned Poins’ failed scheme to flirt with Hal.

Romeo (Romeo & Juliet): he/they (t4t R&J!!!)

Juliet (Romeo & Juliet): she/they (t4t R&J!!!)

Mercutio (Romeo & Juliet): they/he(/it?). Vibes alone. Look at them. Just look.

Nurse (Romeo & Juliet): she/her, transfemme!

Cassius (Julius Caesar): Would love to see a they/them Cassius

Hamlet (Hamlet): he/they. I’ve made multiple posts about this theory and I still love it.

Ophelia (Hamlet): she/they. As she should.

Laertes (Hamlet): she/him and NOT just because Laertes used she/her pronouns the first time I saw this play.

Rosencrantz (Hamlet): he/they/she. Vibes. Sometimes goes by Ros/Rose. Probably genderfluid.

Malcolm (Macbeth): they/he or they/them. Also vibes.

Lady Macbeth (Macbeth): stolen straight from my last post because this is still my HC: she/they; would insult you for “having pronouns in your bio” and then turn around and punch you in the face for using their pronouns incorrectly.

Angus (Macbeth): she/her, transfemme. (t4t Ross/Angus. I will die on this hill… Dunsinane Hill.)

Ross (Macbeth): he/him, transmasc

Caithness (Macbeth): she/they lesbian

Mark Antony (Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra): I would not bat an eye at he/they Mark Antony

Edmund (King Lear): they/he, nonbinary, sexiest man (/gn) alive.

Edgar (King Lear): he/him. Transmasc Edgar is slowly becoming canon To Me.

Cordelia (King Lear): she/her, transfemme.

Goneril (King Lear): she/they. I would let them kill me.

Coriolanus (Coriolanus): transmasc OR transfemme Coriolanus is!!!! The butterfly/metamorphosis motif! Name changes during canon! Discomfort with scars/body! Lack of autonomy granted by society! This is THE transgender play. (Other than Twelfth Night)

Imogen (Cymbeline): Tell me she doesn’t want to be a she/they so bad.

Florizel (The Winter’s Tale): he/they(/she?). Literally just a vibe. I have a pet rock named Florizel.

Perdita (The Winter’s Tale): she/they. I also have a pet rock named Perdita.

Ariel (The Tempest): Similar to Puck, probably they/she/he? Even my conservative English prof consistently rotates between she/her and he/him for Ariel (possibly not intentionally? I’m not convinced he knows what her canon pronouns are.)

Ferdinand (The Tempest): she/they. PLEASE give me transfemme Ferdinand. PLEASE let Miranda realize she’s a lesbian during canon.

Miranda (The Tempest): she/they. Ariel taught them about the existence of she/they pronouns and she immediately started using them.

So in other words… every Shakespeare character should be trans, actually.

#ohhhh this is a LOT of plays to tag… #first of all: #trans #shakespeare #a midsummer nights dream #much ado about nothing #twelfth night #1 Henry VI #Richard III #Richard II #1 Henry IV #romeo & juliet #julius caesar #hamlet #macbeth #king lear #coriolanus #Cymbeline #the winter’s tale #the tempest #2 Henry IV #Henry V #2 Henry VI #3 Henry VI #I *think* I got them all! #MORE! TRANS! SHAKESPEARE!!!! #these plays SHOULD be genderqueer #honestly everything should be more genderqueer #of course I (your local she/they/he) am not biased at all

[suits-of-woe]

who's your most hated shakespeare character for entirely petty reasons? they're not evil you just cannot stand them. mine is pistol

#shakespeare #just got reminded how much i DESPISE PISTOL #HE'S LIKE A CRUEL MIRROR OF HOTSPUR IN THE WORST WAY #A CARICATURE OF HOTSPUR'S SURFACE TRAITS WITHOUT ANYTHING THAT MADE HIM GOOD AND HONOURABLE #AND ALSO HE'S JUST INCREDIBLY ANNOYING. SHUT UP. GET OUT OF MY PLAY #2 henry iv #henriad #mine

[socialshakespeare]

We can't very well do just the first one can we?

#social shakespeare #shakespeare #signup #king henry iv part 2 #henry iv part 2 #2 henry iv

[iamstandingwater]

One day I want to see richard ii through to henry v live as consecutive plays. Feel like that's the only thing that could fix me at this point.

#richard ii #1 henry iv #2 henry iv #henry v #shakespeare #shakesposting #the histories

[whatareyoureallyafraidof]

Sadly, I’m sensing a theme here.

#sleep #sleepless #tired #exhausted #William Shakespeare #Shakespeare #2 Henry IV #Henry IV #Macbeth #The Tempest #sleep no more #dream #dreaming #The Mad Sonneteer #Bud Koenemund

[poorshadowspaintedqueens]

Hi, I remember you answered a Shakespeare ask a while back and I’ve been trying to figure out about Prince Hal’s charcater from hamlet. What does he represent, what’s he’s like? Because my friend referenced Prince Hal a month ago and then apparently Prince Charles relates to him and I’m so confused about what Prince Hal from hamlet is like. And you always give lovely and brilliant minded answers

Thank you, anon, you’re very kind.

So, Prince Hal.

First of all, he’s got nothing to do with Hamlet. He’s a main character in Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, before becoming King Henry V and getting his own play, and dying offstage just before the start of Henry VI, Part 1, which has nothing to do with him and everything to do with his shitty legacy of civil war and internecine chaos. Whee!

...come to think of it, there are some not insignificant similarities to Hamlet. But aside from thematic concerns, the two are separate things.

Also separate things: Prince Hal/Henry V as portrayed in Shakespeare’s plays, and the actual Henry of Monmouth, who succeeded to the throne in 1413 as King Henry V of England. So when I talk about Prince Hal, assume I mean the character in Shakespeare.

Simply put, Prince Hal is a dick.

He spends 95% of 1 Henry IV being a dissolute frat boy and the other 5% unexpectedly kicking ass and shocking everybody (except for the audience) into thinking he’s changed his ways. In 2 Henry IV, the other characters learn that he has not, in fact, changed his ways, except that he’s now even more of a dick about it. King Henry IV, who has spent all of Part 1 and the first half of Part 2 with his face permanently glued to his palm every time anyone mentions his eldest son, falls gravely ill and is on his deathbed. Hal shows up, mistakes his dad’s deep sleep for death, and is trying on the crown when Henry wakes up and makes it all terribly awkward. They have an uncomfortable moment of bonding where Henry advises Hal to take himself abroad and commit war crimes in France so everyone can forget about that time Henry deposed his cousin Richard II to take the throne for himself. Not quite in those words, but that’s the general idea. Hal takes his father’s advice and immediately goes to war with France, which he wins against great odds, and the play named after him ends with his triumphant marriage to the princess of France, Katherine.

Well, except for the epilogue, which reminds the audience of these other plays they’ve already seen where Henry’s son fucks everything up

I admit, I don’t know if Prince Charles---erm, the as-yet-uncrowned King Charles III (god that sounds weird) admires Prince Hal as a character, or feels some sort of empathy for him as a fellow dissolute royal who mostly spent his youth (and young adulthood and middle age and) in and out of the tabloids for poor choices. Hal has one soliloquy in particular, early in 1 Henry IV, where he--like his theatrical if not quite chronological predecessor Richard III--addresses the audience directly and explains that the frat boy act is just that: an act.

“I know you all, and will awhile uphold

The unyoked humour of your idleness.

Yet herein will I imitate the sun,

Who doth permit the base contagious clouds

To smother up his beauty from the world,

That, when he please again to be himself,

Being wanted, he may be more wondered at

By breaking through the foul and angry mists

Of vapors that did steem to strangle him.” (1H4, 1.2.202-10)

In short, Hal is behaving badly on purpose so that, at some future point, when he suddenly shows the world how competent he can truly be, they’ll be all the more amazed because of the huge delta between what he was and what he became. This works, up to a point, in the final act of the play. Only when we return to the story in Henry IV, Part 2, Hal has gone back to his dissolute ways.

The earl of Warwick reassures King Henry shortly before his death that “The Prince but studies his companions / Like a strange tongue,” and that he will “in the perfectness of time / Cast off his followers” (2H4 4.3.74-5, 80-1). This suggests that there are at least some members of Henry IV’s court that can see what Hal is doing and are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Even Henry eventually allows himself to have a tender moment with Hal before he dies. (The aforementioned one where they bond over future war crimes.)

Then we have Henry V, which is basically what happens when Shakespeare uses the structure of a sports movie to tell the story of an aggressive foreign invasion. Hal, now King Henry, is the protagonist and, if you read the play in its most superficial sense, he’s a hero. He’s plucky, charismatic, courageous, and one of the lads. He even musters up an adorable meet cute with Katherine in the final scene.

But if you’ve seen the two prior plays, you can’t--and shouldn’t--forget that Hal--who, depending on who he’s with, is Hal, Harry, Henry, or Your Grace--is one of those Protean characters who frames his face for all occasions. And he always frames it to his advantage.

#shakespeare #william shakespeare #early modern drama #prince hal #henry iv #1 henry iv #2 henry iv #henry v #henriad #second tetralogy

[britneyshakespeare]

Thou hast a thousand daggers in thy thoughts,

Whom thou has whetted on thy stony heart

To stab at half an hour of my life.

Henry IV Part 2, IV.v.106-108

#this scene is making me really emotional #FUCKKKK #this is the good strained familial relationship shit we sign up for from shakespeare #shakespeare #henry iv #2 henry iv #ii henry iv #henry iv part 2 #prince hal #henry v #english history #history plays #poetry

[fivedayshakespeare]

12/19/2023-12/24/2023: 2 Henry IV

Hey, I loved this! The contrast between Falstaff and the courts worked really well for me, especially the scenes after Henry IV has died and both the Chief Justice and Falstaff have their expectations of Prince Harry to be wrong. Falstaff in general pleases me very much, which I realize is not a hot new take.

I'm currently watching The Chimes at Midnight, because Orson Welles should be able to Falstaff it up satisfactorily.

Next up: Henry IV, Part 1 again. I do what I want!

#shakespeare #henry iv part 2 #2 henry iv #falstaff

[enjoymorestuff]

This note is from the New Oxford Shakespeare: Modern Critical Edition: The Complete Edition and I am of two minds about it.

First of all, it feels weird to have Oxford Shakespeare talking to me like that. Aren’t they supposed to be classy? But then again, Falstaff really could be all like, yeah, whatever. I could see that.

#shakespeare #Oxford #weird annotations #2 henry iv #falstaff

[withasideofshakespeare]

this is a very vague question im sorry but how do you like. read the histories. like do i have to know the historical context and stuff to understand them or can i just go for it.

You really don’t need any context—Shakespeare gives most of the necessary info to you and the footnotes in any decent copy will provide anything else you need that would’ve been common knowledge in his day. The hardest thing is keeping track of the characters! I recommend you write them down and cross them out as they die if you’re having trouble!

Other than that, there are a few orders you can read them in (and you can really start with pretty much any of them), but for continuity’s sake, my preference is reading them in the order that the events depicted happened historically so:

1. Richard II

2. Henry IV Part 1

3. Henry IV Part 2

4. Henry V

5. Henry VI Part 1

6. Henry VI Part 2

7. Henry VI Part 3

8. Richard III

#shakespeare #the histories #Richard II #1 henry iv #2 henry iv #Henry v #1 Henry vi #2 Henry vi #3 Henry vi #Richard iii #asks

[socialshakespeare]

Reading 1: Sunday, September 17

The first read-through of Henry IV, Part 2!

(Most of you are double or triple cast, so double check which lines you have to read.) You can look up the lines of the characters here. The names listed below all go with the Folger Edition.

Please submit your confirmation or any request to understudy here. If you’re in any doubt, please ask.

Times and time zones:

EDT (US): 12:00 PM CDT (US): 11:00 AM MDT (US): 10:00 AM PDT (US): 9:00 AM BST (UK): 5:00 PM AEST (AU): 2:00 AM (Monday, September 11)

Leader: @trashprinceofdenmark

Sir John Falstaff: @lilliburlero Prince Hal, Davy, Shadow, Fang, Epilogue: @bottom-of-the-riverbed Hostess, Warwick, Morton, Feeble: @actorinfluence King Henry IV, Francis, Wart, Gower, Coleville, 1st Groom: @sirenofthetimes Shallow, Poins, Clarence, Snare, Servant, Messenger: @sayyestothejess Chief Justice, Doll Tearsheet, Mowbray, Mouldy, Lady Northumberland: @purplemuskrat Scroop, Pistol, Gloucester, Bullcalf, Travers: @maveriquemagpie Lancaster, Lord Bardolph, Lady Percy, Peto, Beadle: @cobbled-vibrance Northumberland, Bardolph, Hastings, Will, Harcourt, Porter: Gabrielle C Westmoreland, Falstaff’s Page, Silence, 2nd Drawer, Rumor, 2nd Groom: @trashprinceofdenmark

Please submit your confirmation here - liking/reblogging this post does not count!

Read the Guidelines. To avoid the differences between editions that make for confusion and missed cues, please use the Folger edition of Henry IV, Part 2 during the read-through.

Be on time, be prepared, and make sure you know which lines to read. Good luck!

#cast list #2h4 #Henry IV Part 2 #2 Henry IV

[spoiledmilks]

It in fact, do bite…

#henry and his fucking dog #ive seen a lot of people talk about mangle recently #so i decided to draw them #fnaf #my art #digital art #fnaf mangle #fnaf 2 #was that the bite of 87 #henry emily #five nights at freddy's

[variksel]

taking a DEEP BREATH yeah but have you considered that taylor broke the cycle in the exact way than his friends did, through love, and his character development might have been more subtle yeah but it was still extremely there and taylors ending was SUCH a good addition to the message at the core of season 2 because it says "hey your parents fucked up and YOU DONT HAVE TO FORGIVE THEM"

taylors character development was realizing that his dad FUCKED UP massively. and maybe he had justified reasons for it, even. just like the other dads, he had reasons for why he did what he did. but that doesnt erase the fact that it was fucked up, and that nicky hurt taylor, and that the damage is irreversible. and taylor doesnt have to forgive that, he doesnt have to put up with it.

i think its so good and important that linc and norm for example forgave their dads and love them at the end of all of s2. they chose their fucked up dads and they broke the cycle of fucking up, but its equally as important that taylor did that too by choosing to NOT forgive his dad. and at the end of the day he broke it by choosing love, by seeing who his dad really is and choosing to love his mom who was always there for him instead of the deadbeat with good intentions

"this is as good as it gets." and for taylor, that wasnt good enough

#DEEP EXHALE #there we go another dramatic close boy analysis!!!! #i feel like these are my brand now #and now ive done one for each of the close boys! the cicle continues and all lmao #but ya as someone with parents who have shit parents #(like full on extremely abusive ones #and my own parents completely broke the cycle which is why s2 REAALLY hits for me i love it a lot) #i think taylors message is also SO important #sometimes your fucked up parents dont actually deserve second chances. and sometimes they do #and whether or not they do depends entirely on the person it affects #ANYWAY #i loved the finale a lot #dndads #dungeons and daddies #shitpost #lgbt #glenn close #dndads spoilers #dndads s2 #dndads season 2 #taylor swift #taylor swift (not that one) #lincoln li wilson #normal oak #scary marlow #scary marlowe #grant wilson #ron stampler #henry oak #dungeons and daddies s2

[dykeofcornwall]

#guy who just put his favourites and like two widely known ones that are obviously going to win #half of these my discord server has in fact made lesbians #didn't put the Macbeths cause then they'd steal Regan and Cornwall's villain4villain swag #henry iv #henry iv part 1 #Henry iv part 2 #much ado about nothing #the tempest #romeo and juliet #twelfth night #henry vi part 1 #Henry vi #henry vi part 2 #antony and cleopatra #king lear

[smolvenger]

Also, I can't say no to blurbs and especially not to something extraordinarily fluffy like "Touch her and you die", tehehe... Perhaps with Henry V? 🤭

Hiiii bestie! I'm going to make the blurbs shorter and simpler if you don't mind!

His Queen (Henry V x fem! Reader blurb)

Your boat docked right on the shores of France. So while your husband, the king, was determined to fight there- you had to see him.

Henry had waited with his whole army on the shore of a cliff. Then he dismounted his horse and ran up. It was a reminder of his youth- the young, firey, springy king. He easily bounded through the little beach and the plank right as you stepped up to get off the boat. Before his army and the guards, he embraced you passionately and you back.

"How are you, my sweet wife?"

"Weary from the journey though it was smooth," you confessed.

"For such a lady as you, even the seas and winds themselves would still and become gentle for you to cross," he said.

He hugged you again, peppering a kiss onto your cheek as you laughed, feeling the tickle of his facial hair and re-acquainting yourself with his lips.

He gestured to one of the lords. The Lord of York brought forth a beautiful white mare and you gasped.

"A gift for you, my lady," he offered.

You thanked him and he helped you to mount her. She accepted you- gentle was her demeanor and what a good companion she would make here in France.

"Why, the seas were quite misty- I should call her Mist, for she reminds me a little of it," you cooed, petting her mane.

"A noble, strong, yet sweet and beautiful thing, much like my dearest queen and lady," Henry said.

"My, what words roll off your tongue now! They shall call you a poet, not a ruler," you teased.

"Then it means I am an artist, and you are the muse then for such words. And if I must continue my pen, then my muse shouldn't be kept too long from me," he bantered back lightly.

He got up on his own horse- a white stallion quoting yours. You felt like a fairy queen, not a mortal one, as she trotted over the grass.

And you were led to ride and sit on your horse before the army. Dressed in their greys and blacks and scraps of leather, their eyes were big.

"This here, is Her Majesty, the Queen of England," announced Henry.

You smiled, though part of you went stiff. A few looks seemed to be borderline leers. How long have these men been deprived of a woman's presence?

Henry noticed, and his voice turned a darker tone, a fiercer one.

"She is both your ruler and a lady, and you must respect her as you do both. She is also my wife, I must remind you..."

His eyes darkened. The army stiffened, turning pale and attentive like naughty schoolboys caught by their teacher.

"You must guard her and listen to and follow her as you do Harry of England. She is England's Woman and it's most precious jewel. And should any miscreant or bully among you dare lay a finger on that precious jewel, I shall condemn you at once to hang. Remember the fate of Bardolph- one of your own who greedily robbed a poor church of its dearest sacraments- and she here is the greatest sacrament of England. And if none of you want to share worse than his fate, then cool your lust elsewhere...or I shall execute you myself." Henry threatened all of them.

The soldiers bowed their heads and complied. You gave him a smile. Though the only woman there, you were unafraid.

You were ready to join your husband and support him without fear.

A03//My Ko-Fi//My Etsy Shop//Masterlist//Wattpad

Taglist: @asgards-princess-of-mischief @jennyggggrrr @five-miles-over @fictive-sl0th @ladycamillewrites @villainousshakespeare @holdmytesseract @eleniblue @twhxhck @lokisgoodgirl @lovelysizzlingbluebird @raqnarokr @holymultiplefandomsbatman @michelleleewise @wolfsmom1 @cheekyscamp @mochie85 @fandxmslxt69 @skittslackoffilter @mischief2sarawr

#prince hal x reader #tom hiddleston #carrie writes #angst with a happy ending #prince hal #the hollow crown #king henry v #william shakespeare #henry iv part ii #henry iv part 2 #prince hal imagine #prince hal fanfiction #tom hiddleston characters #fanfiction #fic writing #fanfics #birthday blurbs #touch her and you die #prince hal x you #prince hal x fem! reader #prince hal x y/n #prince hal x fem! y/n #henry v #henry v x fem! reader #henry v x reader #henry v x y/n #henry v x you #henry v x fem! y/n

[britneyshakespeare]

you know it’s funny that when mouldy the prospective souldier in henry iv, part two, act iii scene i refers to his “old dame” that he lives with, who needs him to do chores and keep up the farm, it’s interesting that some sources will clarify/translate it to mean wife and others will say it’s his mother

#tbh i prefer to think of it as his mother #mouldy doesn't have a canonical age and he's a very minor character #that guy lives w his mother #also perhaps i can see a woman old enough to have an adult son as being even less capable of handling chores by herself #i mean... i suppose there still are a lot of chores that just one person living on their own wo a family member (spouse or child) #may struggle to keep up #idk. i'd like to think he's a whiny mama's boy #nothin wrong w that #text post #shakespeare #2 henry iv