University of Virginia Library

A Note on 2 Henry IV

In 2 Henry IV Poins is back as Hal's boon companion in II.ii; and in II.iv he participates in disguise with the Prince in the exposure of Falstaff, a parallel to the Gadshill robbery and then the revelation scene at the tavern in Part One, II.iv. As in the first part he then disappears since there is no longer an appropriate role for him to play with the Prince in the serious military and dynastic action that follows. Bardolph is again established as Falstaff's companion and second in command, but Peto is detached from them and is replaced by the Page, especially in such scenes as II.iv, III.ii, and V.i,iii,v. Peto is apparently in Hal's service, although on less intimate terms than in the revision in III.iii of Part One where the words addressed to him were originally spoken to Poins, presumably without change. Peto's single appearance in Part Two is as a messenger in II.iv when he reports to Hal that the King is at Westminster, that twenty wearied posts from the north have brought news of the rebellion, and that a dozen captains are searching for Falstaff. (These captains are once again mentioned when they knock at the tavern door and Bardolph tells Falstaff of their arrival.) Since on Peto's entrance Hal immediately asks him for the news, it seems clear that Peto is the Prince's servant and that the news of the dozen captains are incidental to his main message and should not connect him with Falstaff. When Hal then leaves for the wars the Quarto notes his exit with Poins (Exeunt). The Folio varies by reading simply Exit, but this does not necessarily indicate that in the Folio version Poins was left behind, for a singular exit is not uncommon for a group, as shown by the direction for Falstaff and his companions below. This latter direction consists only of the word Exit in the corrected Quarto, no direction being present in the uncorrected state. Some editors follow Capell in assigning Peto his exit with Hal and Poins, despite the specific direction of the Quarto which lists only Poins. Others give Peto an exit with Bardolph and Falstaff, filling in with names the laconic QF direction. It is possible that Peto leaves the stage (and is not heard from again) after the delivery of his message, a desirable exit that would neatly preserve his slightly ambiguous attachment. (Also, after his hurried journey he might well want food and drink, and would go elsewhere in the tavern to company more suited to his station.) But if, instead, he is to leave with one or other party, the revised version of Part One suggests strongly that his exit should be made with the Prince and Poins.

On the example of Poins, Shakespeare need not have felt himself bound in Part Two to observe for Peto the theatrical exigencies that developed in Part One. Thus the substitution of the Page, a superior comic character, as a follower of Falstaff and Bardolph could have been a quite independent development. That Peto has no connection with them in Part Two is indicated significantly in the Quarto direction for Bardolph's entrance to Shallow in III.ii, which reads 'Enter Bardolph and one with him' (not Peto) whereas the Folio—with whatever doubtful authority it may possess for the staging—substitutes 'Bardolph and his Boy.' Since the Quarto is certainly closer to Shakespeare's papers than the Folio, it can be argued that in this entrance Bardolph

in military dress was accompanied by some common soldier as an indication of the approaching wars. That the Page could make his entrance (although not noted) later with Falstaff is possible although there are some objections.[13] We cannot be sure whether the Folio's perhaps inappropriate substitution of the Page for the "one," or common soldier, as first visualized by Shakespeare, was a theatrical economy or an act of supererogation on the part of the scribe who made up the copy that lies behind the Folio. For the matter at hand, it is enough that Shakespeare had an opportunity here to reintroduce Peto as a member of Falstaff's party and that he did not take it.

The evidence of 2 Henry IV, therefore, has no direct application to the problem of the original form of Part One in respect to Peto, the more especially since as a sequel it would not have been written before Shakespeare had quite completed Part One[14] and, on the evidence, the company had

worked out the casting assignments. It may be said that Shakespeare was desperate for any device to fill out a relatively thin play, the first part of which had to be substantially carried by Falstaff. Hence the earlier scenes involving the Page were more useful in sustaining the comic dialogue (for there is little action) than anything that might have been invented for Peto. Later, when action has evolved, the Page subsides into a mute. That the Page can be justified as an independent creation and substitute for Peto does not imply that Peto's role in Part Two was not influenced by the theatrical revision reflected in the preserved Part One text, for indeed it was. Peto's role as Hal's messenger in Part Two ignores the vestigial anomalous reference to him in Part One IV.ii as Falstaff's lieutenant in the wars, and in placing him as Hal's messenger and never associating him directly with Bardolph or Falstaff Part Two continues Peto's switch to Hal's party that constituted the theatrical revision of Part One. However, since Poins once more is back as Hal's personal attendant, Peto's Part Two role is no more than a token one.