{"product_id":"book-k1ya","title":"Henry IV","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis full cast presentation includes Part 1 and Part 2 of Shakespeare's \u003cem\u003eHenry IV\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1598 appeared a Quarto with the following title:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe History of Henrie the Fourth; With the Battell at Shrewsburie, betweene the King and Lord Henry Percy, surnamed Henrie Hotspur of the North. With the humorous conceits of Sir John Falstaffe. At London. Printed by P. S. for Andrew Wise, dwelling in Paules Churchyard, at the signe of the Angell. 1598.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was the First Part of Shakespeare's\u003cem\u003e Henry IV\u003c\/em\u003e, which must have been written in 1597. This play is the first in which Shakespeare really demonstrated his great and overwhelming individuality. Its dramatic structure is fairly loose, though is closer knit and technically stronger than that of the Second Part. However, as a poetical creation, it is one of the great masterpieces of the world's literature, at once heroic and burlesque, thrilling and side-splitting. Yet these contrasted elements are not brought into hard-and-fast rhetorical antithesis, but move and mingle with a natural freedom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe driving elements of the plot are the machinations of the guilt-ridden King Henry IV to establish the legitimacy of his accession and the inevitable revolt by the former supporters who helped him to gain the throne. One of the leaders of the opposing faction is the warlike Henry Percy, nicknamed Hotspur, who the king compares unfavourably with his own son, the self-indulgent and riotous Prince Hal. The prince spends much of his time cavorting with a group of boon companions, the most notable of which is the dissipated and unscrupulous knight, Sir John Falstaff, who acts as something of a surrogate parent. At the end of the First Part, the revolt is suppressed; in the conflict, Prince Hal reveals his true character as a doughty defender of the realm.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the Second Part, the king's health progressively declines and Hal begins to assert his royal prerogative. Eventually, the king dies, and Hal, now having shed all his adolescent impertinence, ascends to the throne. Falstaff, in expectation of elevation to high office and new-found prosperity, publicly accosts the new king and is rudely rebuffed, together with his disreputable retinue.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAudio edited by Denis Daly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe text used for this performance was kindly provided by playshakespeare.com.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWelsh dialogue and tune for Lady Mortimer's song in Henry IV Part One provided by Noni Lewis.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Voices of Today Pty LTD","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49397364850992,"sku":"BDk1ya","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD","offer_id":49397364916528,"sku":"ZEk1ya","price":39.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio MP3-CD","offer_id":49397364949296,"sku":"ZMk1ya","price":35.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/k1ya-Square-cover.jpg?v=1776022770","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-k1ya","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}