payment page
Open your ears, for which of you will stop
The vent of hearing when loud Rumor speaks?
I, from the orient to the drooping west,
Making the wind my post-horse, still unfold
The acts commencèd on this ball of earth.
Upon my tongues continual slanders ride,
The which in every language I pronounce,
Stuffing the ears of men with false reports.
(Prologue, lines 1–8)
Henry IV, Part 1 opens with a prologue or “induction,” where a figure named Rumor, clad in a costume painted with images of tongues, addresses these words to the audience. Rumor’s speech sets the stage for the play’s first scene, where rumors of Hotspur’s defeat of Prince Harry give false hope to the rebel camp and thus cause unnecessary heartache. But the more important function of this opening address is, arguably, the way it establishes a notion that language will play a devious and often mendacious role in the drama to come. It sets the audience up to pay close attention to how language, in its various registers, will “[stuff] the ears of men with false reports.”
Then feed and be fat, my fair Calipolis. Come, give ’s some sack. Si fortune me tormente, sperato me contento. Fear we broadsides? No, let the fiend give fire. Give me some sack, and, sweetheart, lie thou there. Come we to full points here? And are etceteras nothings?
(Act 2, scene 4, lines 180–85)
These lines belong to Ancient Pistol, the low-ranking soldier—or “ensign”—who attends Falstaff. Pistol has a distinctively blustering manner of speech that frequently mixes high-flown expressions with vulgarities. For instance, his reference to “my fair Calipolis” parodies a line from George Peele’s 1594 play The Battle of Alcazar. He follows this allusion with an aphorism delivered in a garbled hybrid of Spanish and Italian that translates to, “If fortune torments me, hope contents me.” He then follows this sage expression by calling for “sack” and propositioning a prostitute. Falstaff makes fun of his own ensign’s hollow speech when he declares, “he do nothing but speak nothing” (2.4.194–95).
Archbishop: Will you thus break your faith?
John of Lancaster: I pawned thee none.
I promised you redress of these same grievances
Whereof you did complain, which, by mine honor,
I will before with a most Christian care.
But for you rebels, look to taste the due
Meet for rebellion and such acts as yours.
. . .
Some guard these traitors to the block of death,
Treason’s true bed and yielder-up of breath.
(Act 4, scene 1, lines 368–80)
Act 4, scene 1, marks a turning point in the play, when the civil war between the king and the rebels comes to an end. Yet this new peace comes to fruition through a cruel act of deceit. After promising to address the rebels’ grievances against the king, John of Lancaster invites the rebel leaders to disband their army. The rebels comply, happy to know they will be reconciled with the king. However, immediately after the rebel army disperses, John has the rebel leaders arrested and sent for execution. In this exchange, the stunned Archbishop of York confronts John about the dishonorable nature of his deceit. But John insists that he hasn’t broken his word; he simply phrased his promise in such a way that redressing the rebels’ grievances doesn’t necessitate safeguarding their lives. Acting as the king’s deputy in this matter, John’s deceitful manipulation of language reflects negatively on Henry, the main grievances against whom are also related to broken promises.
