Summary: Act II, scene i
At an inn yard in Rochester, beside the main highway about
twenty-five miles outside of London, two carriers—middlemen who
deliver goods from one merchant to another—are readying their horses
to depart in the early-morning darkness. The stableboy is slow in
coming out to help, and the carriers are annoyed. Gadshill, the
highwayman friend of Falstaff and Harry, appears out of the darkness
and asks the carriers if he may borrow a lantern. They are suspicious
of Gadshill, however, and refuse.
As soon as the carriers have gone on their way, a chamberlain
of the inn comes out to talk to Gadshill; he is Gadshill’s informer.
He tells him that some very wealthy travelers are currently having
their breakfast in the inn and will be on the road soon. Gadshill
offers him a cut of the profits, which the chamberlain refuses.
Gadshill then calls for his horse and rides off to set his ambush.
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Act II, scene i →
Summary: Act II, scene ii
Waiting a few miles further along the highway, at Gad’s
Hill, -Falstaff searches for his horse—Poins has secretly taken
it from where it was tied and concealed it in the woods. Peto, Bardolph,
and Harry, who is in on the joke, stand by. The fat Falstaff is
very uncomfortable on foot and, puffing and panting, complains loudly. Harry
soothes Falstaff by telling him he will look for his horse (which,
of course, he does not intend to do).
Gadshill shows up to complete the party with the news
that the wealthy travelers are approaching. Harry suggests that
Falstaff, Peto, Bardolph, and Gadshill confront the travelers on
the highway; Harry and Poins will then flank them on either side
of the road to catch any who try to escape. The men put on their
masks, and Poins and Harry disappear into hiding. The travelers
appear, and Falstaff, Peto, Bardolph, and Gadshill rob them and
tie them up.
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Act II, scene ii →
Summary: Act II, scene iii
As the four split up the gold, Poins and Harry, in their
buckram disguises and new masks, charge the thieves and demand their
money. The four flee in terror without putting up a fight—only Falstaff
even tries to get in a blow or two. Laden with gold and mightily
entertained, Poins and Harry go to their horses, laughing to think
of how angry Falstaff will be when he finds out that they have gotten
rid of his horse and that he will have to walk back to London.
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Act II, scene iii →
Analysis: Act II, scenes i–iii
1 Henry IV covers
a wide range of terrain, both in terms of the literal geography
of England and in terms of the classes of people in the play. Shakespeare
interweaves high scenes, which feature noblemen engaging
in debates about the nature of kingship or the strategies of war,
with low scenes of commoners and criminals engaged
in various petty plots. This combination was something fairly new
for Shakespeare and for English drama as a whole, causing critics
and readers alike to compare the play to Geoffrey Chaucer’s great
Middle English work, The Canterbury Tales, written
at the end of the fourteenth century.
