Henry IV, Part I (first printed in 1598) owes its fame and enduring traction as a play not to the king of the title, who came to power through injustice and rules his country with difficulty, but to the character of Sir John Falstaff, the fun-loving, hard-drinking and self-absorbed fat man (this ‘giant mountain of flesh’), in whose cronyism, to the king’s chagrin, the crown prince Harry also joins in.

The drama takes place in two worlds, a courtly-political one, which is about rebellion and fealty and whose language is blank verse, and a comedy-like pub milieu in which Falstaff rules and prose is spoken. Crown Prince Harry, not only a crony but also a political actor as the ultimately victorious antithesis of the heroic daredevil ‘firebrand’ Henry Percy, connects the two worlds.

The English Text was edited anew for this edition, based on the Quarto editions Q0 and Q1. Variations are pointed out in the textual notes if they influence the text’s meaning.

The prose translation follows the English text as precisely as an unforced use of the German language permits, thus constituting a running commentary on the original. It is complemented by explanatory notes on various aspects of the text, comprising, for example, semantics, style, staging and sociocultural background. The range of commentaries is illustrated by the notes on Hotspur’s alleged stammer (p. 61 and V.2.91) and Falstaff’s ambiguous dictum the better part of valour is discretion (V.4.115-116).

The introduction presents a survey of the drama’s interpretation, from the earliest instances up to the most recent. It provides information on sources, date of composition, genre and its specific dramatic structure, textual history (including German translations) as well as an appraisal of representative productions.

The scene-by-scene commentary attempts to explain the functional characteristics of each individual scene, closely following the sequence of dramatic situations; it includes aspects of the dramatic language, the action, literary themes and the constellation of actors on the stage.

Further information can be found on the website of the Stauffenburg-Verlag.