Henry IV Part 2

by

William Shakespeare

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Henry IV Part 2: Act 5, Scene 3 Summary & Analysis

Read our modern English translation of this scene.
Summary
Analysis
At Justice Shallow’s estate in Gloucestershire, Falstaff, Bardolph, Justice Silence and Justice Shallow eat, drink, and joke around, making bawdy jokes and giddily toasting one another. Falstaff’s page and Davy attend them. Pistol arrives and announces the news that King Henry IV has died and King Henry V reigns. Overjoyed, Falstaff immediately prepares to ride off to London, exclaiming that everyone will have their pick of office in the new court for “[t]he laws of England are at my commandment.” He hurries to leave, sure that “the young King is sick for me.”
In Falstaff’s mind, King Henry V will be no different than his old friend Prince Hal: which is to say, immoral, fun loving, and quick to hand out favors to his friends. And Falstaff himself plans to bestow these favors on his own friends.
Themes
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