... Macready, and Samuel Phelps to Herbert Beerbohm Tree. At least one woman played the role: Lydia Webb in 1786. The twentieth century, however, rediscovered both on stage and in the study the fact that the play offers more than the remarkable (and oft-remarked) Falstaff. The irrepressible knight strains against but does not overwhelm the design of the play as it ... of the state in which it is exercised. In its very amplitude, Henry IV reveals its own compelling design -- and one that articulates Shakespeare's most complex and humane version of English history. Arguably the play offers, i...

• Word Count: 1901
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate