Websites
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Check out Shakespeare's biography and read about Elizabethan theater at this site.
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Biographical information about the historical King Henry's life and reign.
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Want to know more about the historical Prince Hal? Check out this website.
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Awesome tool for all students to look up words in any of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets.
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Read Henry IV Part 2 online. Warning: There aren't any footnotes but this is good in a pinch.
Movie or TV Productions
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The English Shakespeare Company's production, directed by Michael Bogdanov is available in most libraries on DVD and VHS as part of a larger collection, The War of the Roses, which chronicles Shakespeare's history plays. You can also watch the whole thing on YouTube.
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Also known as Falstaff, Chimes at Midnight (a.k.a. Campanadas a Medianoche ) is Orson Welles' 1965 film adaptation of the Henry plays. A cool film, but don't depend on this if you're preparing for a quiz on the play text. (Welles conflates Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, Richard II, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Holinshed's Chronicles to paint a portrait of a "tragic" Falstaff.) This film can be hard to get hold of so your best bet is to watch the whole thing on YouTube.
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The BBC's production is smart and mostly faithful to the text of the play but it's also pretty dark and depressing. Anthony Quayle gives a stellar performance as Falstaff.
Historical Documents
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One of Shakespeare's main sources for both Henry plays is Volume III of Holinshed's Chronicles (1587). You can check out Project Gutenberg's e-text of the 1808 edition online.
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Another source for Shakespeare's Henriad is the pre-1588 play The Famous Victories of Henry V, which chronicles Hal's life during his father's reign and his own. Check it out here.
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For a better understanding of how Shakespeare's Elizabethan audience might have approached the play's representation of rebellion, check out this authorized (by the monarch) sermon, which was read in churches on a regular basis during Queen Elizabeth's reign. Rebellion, according to the Elizabethan worldview, was a "great a sin against God."
Video
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This is a great clip from the tavern scene in Act 2, Scene 4.
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Check out the English Shakespeare Company's 1990 production on YouTube.
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From Chimes at Midnight. Check out Orson Welles's production of Hal's rejection of Falstaff in the second half of this ten-minute clip.
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Falstaff takes a prisoner and delivers a speech praising wine. From Act 4, Scene 3.
Documents
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Images
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You might want to print out this useful map of Britain denoting major locations for Shakespeare's plays. Tip: Use your cursor to enlarge the map.
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Check out this image of the 1600 quarto title page of Henry IV Part 2.
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Adolf Schrödter's "Falstaff und sein Page" (1867).
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Photograph from the Marin Shakespeare Company's 2007 performance of Henry IV Part 2.