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Summary
In Paris, Henry enters with his lords. Winchester crowns Henry as the king, and Gloucester asks the Governor of Paris to swear allegiance to him and no other. Just then, Sir John Fastolf enters with a letter from Burgundy. Talbot sees Fastolf and is enraged because of how this man fled from previous battles, thereby endangering his fellow soldiers. He strips the band marking Fastolf as a member of the Order of the Garter and calls on the new king to banish him. Gloucester then reads Burgundy’s letter, in which he announces his intention to abandon Henry and join Charles. Henry asks Talbot to march to Burgundy and talk to him, to find out what has driven Burgundy to insult his friends. Talbot departs.
Next, Vernon and Basset enter to ask the king for the right to have an armed fight. York and Somerset each entreat the king to hear his servant. Henry inquires into the nature of their complaint, and they explain how each had insulted the other’s lord. Henry marvels at the madness that drives these frivolous disputes. He asks York and Somerset to bury their differences and be at peace. When they persist in their dispute, Gloucester scolds the lords for troubling the king. Henry then warns them against making the English seem weak and divided to the French. To demonstrate that the roses mean nothing to him, he chooses a red rose at random. Then, determined to ensure better behavior, Henry offers them both important positions in the French campaign. He makes York leader of the troops in that part of France, and he orders Somerset to lead the cavalry. He concludes by urging them to unite against their shared enemy, not each other.
Everyone leaves except York, Warwick, Vernon, and Exeter. They agree that the king spoke eloquently, but York doesn’t like it that he chose the red rose of Somerset. Warwick says the king meant no harm. Exeter then remains behind as the others exit, and he notes ominously that “this factious bandying . . . / doth presage some ill event” (4.1.190–91).
Analysis
Just as Henry is finally crowned king and hence assumes full power, he also discovers just how deep England’s problems run. First, there is the matter of Sir John Fastolf. Talbot’s public chastising of Sir John Fastolf again demonstrates how highly the general values old-school notions of chivalry and honor. Fastolf is, in his estimation, the worst kind of soldier, and the king, in an attempt to teach others a lesson, banishes him in pain of death. However, Fastolf is really the least of his problems. Immediately after issuing his order to banish the coward, Henry learns that his uncle, the duke of Burgundy, has decided to abandon him and rejoin Charles—a major blow that the king hopes to reverse by dispatching Talbot to investigate further. Next, and perhaps most ominous of all, the king learns about a new division within the nobility that has trickled down into the serving class. The interpersonal quarrel between Vernon and Basset is clearly symptomatic of how the York/Somerset dispute is a cancer that’s spreading quickly.
Having just been crowned, and anxious about losing everything his father had gained, Henry becomes, for the first time in the play, a commanding presence. Whereas previously he had pled with his lords to behave better, here he asserts himself more forcefully. He openly calls his lords “brainsick men” who fight over so “frivolous a cause” (4.1.111–12), and he chastises them for sowing division at a time when unity is needed. Finally, he uses his newfound power to grant York and Somerset key military positions that he believes will ensure a harmony of purpose: “Go cheerfully together and digest / Your angry choler on your enemies” (4.1.167–68). Yet even though Henry is now king, his authority still can’t guarantee peace. Shakespeare underscores this point by having him choose a red rose, seemingly at random, to demonstrate how little meaning these flowers carry. But such an action doesn’t prove persuasive, as indicated by York’s complaint at the end of the scene. This minor misstep suggests that the king’s attempt at reconciling York and Somerset will not succeed.
