King Henry IV, Part 1 Character Quotes
Hotspur (warrior)
"And shall it in more shame be further spoken That you are fooled, discarded, and shook off By him for whom these shames ye underwent? No, yet time serves wherein you may redeem Your banished honors and restore yourselves Into the good thoughts of the world again," (Act 1.3.180-182)
King Henry (as a father)
"But thou dost in thy passages of life Make me believe that thou art only marked For the hot vengeance and the rod of heaven To punish my mistreadings" (Act 3.2:8-11).
King Henry (as a king)
"But, sirrah, henceforth, Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer. Send me your prisoners with the speediest means, Or you shall hear in such a kind from me As will displease you" (Act 1.3:18-22).
Hotspur (husband)
"Come, Kate, thou art perfect in lying down(treating her like an OBJECT more than a wife): come, quick, quick, that I may lay my head in thy lap" (Act 3.1:228-230).
Vernon
"Do me no slander, Douglas: by my life,/And I dare well maintain it with my life,/If well-respected honour bid me on,/I hold as little counsel with weak fear/As you, my lord, or any Scot that this day lives:/Let it be seen to-morrow in the battle/Which of us fears." (Act 4.3:8-13)
Worcester
"For you my staff of office did I break/In Richard's time; and posted day and night/To meet you on the way, and kiss your hand . . . It was myself, my brother and his son/That brought you home and boldly did outdare/The dangers of the time." (Act 5.1:34-41)
Archbishop of York
"I fear the power of Percy is too weak/To wage an instant trial with the king" (Act 4.4:19-20)
Douglas
"I fear thou art another counterfeit;/ And yet, in faith, thou bear'st thee like a king:/But mine I am sure thou art, whoe'er thou be,/And thus I win thee.
Poins
"I have a jest to execute that I cannot manage alone. Falstaff, Bardolph, Peto, and Gadshill shall rob those men that we have already waylaid;yourself and I will not be there' and when they have the booty, if you and I do not rob them, cut this head off from my shoulders." (1.2.165-170)
Falstaff
"I have misused the king's press dam- / nably. I have got, in exchange of a hundred and fifty soldiers, three hundred and odd pounds. I press me / none but good householders, yeoman's sons; inquire / me out contracted bachelors, such as had been asked twice on the banns;" (4.2.12-16)
Mortimer
"I understand thy kisses and thou mine,/And that's a feeling disputation:/But I will never be a truant, love,'Till I have learn'd thy language; for thy tongue" (Act 3.1:204-207)
Prince John
"King: 'I saw him hold Lord Percy at the point With lustier maintenance than I did look for In such an ungrown warrior.' Prince: 'O, this boy Lends [courage] to us all!'" (Act 5.4:21-24)
Mistress Quickly
"Nay, my lord, he called you Jack, and said he would cudgel you." (3.3.131-132)
Glendower
"Sit, cousin Percy; sit, good cousin Hotspur,/For by that name [King Henry]/Doth speak of you, his check looks pale and with/A rising sigh he wisheth you in heaven" (Act 3.1:7-10)
Prince Hal
"So when this loose behavior I throw off / And pay the debt I never promised, / By how much better than my word I am" (2.1.13-15)
Gadshill
"That's even as fair as—at hand, quoth the chamberlain; for thou variest no more from picking of purses than giving direction doth from labouring, thou layest the plot how" (Act 2.1:47-50)
Blunt
"The circumstance considered, good my lord, Whate'er Lord Harry Percy then had said To such a person and in such a place, At such a time, with all the rest retold, May reasonably die and never rise To do him wrong or any way impeach" (Act 1.3:70-76).
Lady Percy
"Then should you be nothing but musical, for you are altogether governed by [moods]. Lie/still, ye thief, and hear the lady sing in Welsh" (Act 3.1:235-237).
Westmoreland
"This match'd with other did, my gracious lord; For more uneven and unwelcome news Came from the north and thus it did import: On Holy rood day, the gallant Hotspur there, Young Harry Percy and brave Archibald That ever valiant and approved Scot, At Holmedon met" (Act 1.1:48-54).
Peto
"Why he hacked it with his dagger, and said he would swear truth out of England but he would make you believe it was done in fight, and persuaded us to do the like" (2.4:310-311)
Sir Michael
"Why, my good lord, you need not fear;/There is Douglas and Lord Mortimer" (Act 4.4:21-22)
Northumberland
"Why, what a wasp-stung and impatient fool/Art thou to break into this woman's mood,'Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own!" (Act 1.3:236-238)
Bardolph
"Yea, and to tickle our noses with spear-grass to make them bleed, and then to beslubber out garments with it and swear it was the blood of true men. I did that I did not this seven year before, I blushed to hear his monstrous devices." (lying about the attack along with Falstaff) (2.4.313-17)
