Henry IV Response to a Passage
"We've reached a conclusion, you see; we, now, are the crazy ones!" (143)
This quote is spoken by Belcredi after one of Henry's long monologues, and we now know that Henry has been acting as a madman this whole time. Belcredi calls our attention to the most complex issue of the play, which is real v. madness. I do not know if the actors are really the ones that are mad, however. Yes, they choose to exist in a madman's world and play their parts, but they choose to live this way. Similarly, I do not necessarily think that Henry is mad either because he acknowledges his choice in playing a madman's role. To be a madman, one must not comprehend the existence of the choice. I think that this play is ironic in the sense that the reader is convinced that each character, at one point or another, could potentially be mad. However, none of the characters truly are mad. Perhaps instead, they play these roles to escape an unsatisfying reality. The reason for their behaviors is unknown, but ultimately it is not insanity.
I believe that all of the characters in Henry IV are mad in their own way. However, I agree that the actors/servants are not. To the audience, Belcredi and company are clearly the "maddest" of all the characters in the play. Over the past 12 years, they have committed themselves to the roles of characters set 400 years in the past. They are the players in Henry's fictional reality. Over this time span, Belcredi and company have feared the wrath of Henry and have played completely into his game. They (unknowingly) allow themselves to be manipulated and completely played by Henry. Their extreme commitment to their "roles" and inferiority to Henry is ultimately what makes them mad.
ReplyDeleteHenry is also mad, but in a less clear way. He was physically mad for eight years after his accident with the horse. After the eight years he became cognitive again and began to experiment and manipulate his friends who were putting on a show or fake reality for him, because they believed he had gone completely insane. Henry continues to pretend that he is mad for twelve years without revealing the slightest hint that he may be in fact completely mentally stable. I find Henry's extreme commitment to his role very abnormal and comparable to the extreme commitment of Belcredi and the rest of Henry's friends. Therefore, I believe Henry to be crazy in his own way.