Henriad Analysis

Obtaining and holding onto the English throne requires both desire to fight and patience. Throughout the Henriad, Richard II, Hotspur, and Henry V demonstrate varying capacities for these traits through interactions with their wives, which mirror their behavior on the battlefield and royal court. Richard II lacks will to fight. Hotspur’s restlessness causes early demise. But Henry V masters passion and patience with Kate, reflecting successful rule.

Besides passing mention of adultery, Richard II reads free of sex. Richard II lacks lusty passion for Isabella. When she begs against their separation, he responds “hand from hand, my love, and heart from heart,” (5.1.84) accepting imposed divorce without protestation. Disinterested in her romantic pleas, their single goodbye kiss reflects an insufficient drive to fight for their marriage, coinciding with his absent will to fight for the throne as he gloomily departs for prison. His final “there is such length in grief” (5.1.96) indicates intention mourn his loss for many years to come, but he lacks fire to object. The lackluster departure from Isabella highlights the submissive, self-pitying side of Richard evident in his idle divorce from the crown.

Much the opposite, Henry IV’s Hotspur asserts dominance over Kate with feverish passion. Aware of his sexual desires, Hotspur insists “Thou art perfect in lying down: come, quick, quick.. I may lay my head in thy lap.” (3.1.224) He wastes no time trying to woo her. With presumptuous sexual innuendos, his urges disregard the patience required of a loving relationship and irritate his wife. The same impatience catalyzes his demise on the battlefield. While Henry prophetically compares the two of them to stars incapable of coexistence, Hotspur cannot wait. He impatiently interrupts that “the hour is come,” (5.4.67) just before battling to his own death. Though Hotspur craves sex from Kate and power from enemies, he cannot accept that both