Comments on: Conundrum: Henriad

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 03:08:43 +0000

Henry I and Henry II do not appear in Shakespeare, but it is correct that the latter is the father to King John. King Henry III appears in King John as the young prince. At the end of the play, he is to become king. King Henry IV first appears as Bolingbroke in Richard II. He is also a character in the two plays that bear his name. King Henry V appears in the two Henry IV plays as Prince Hal. He becomes king at the end of the second one. He is also the title character in Henry V. King Henry VI appears in the three plays that bear his name, and also makes an appearance as a ghost in Richard III. King Henry VII is Richmond in The Third Part of Henry VI and in Richard III. He becomes king at the end of Richard III. And King Henry VIII, of course, has his own eponymous play as well.

By: K-Lyn

K-Lyn — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:52:03 +0000

OK, I know my Shakespeare but can’t count. I’m ok with that…

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:13:36 +0000

SIX is correct, and you did name all six. Way to go, K-Lyn!

Now we can move on to the second part of the challenge - finding each appearance of each Henry.

So far we have…

King Henry III - King John
King Henry IV - 1H4; 2H4
King Henry V - 1H4; 2H4; H5
King Henry VI - 1H6; 2H6; 3H6
King Henry VII - R3
King Henry VIII - H8

There are three more, if anyone wants to try to identify them.

By: K-Lyn

K-Lyn — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:45:36 +0000

Ok, I reread the question. He must be IN the play not just mentioned. So then Henry III was in King John but II was not. I am still not able to come up with the first being in a play but you allude that the answer is 6 and I can only identify 5.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:44:44 +0000

Nicely done! Most of this is right on the money, but your answer to the question I asked is incorrect. It’s not seven. So either Henry I was in a play, or at least one of your Henrys was not.

(Note: I assume the last entry on the list was King Henry VIII, which obviously is correct.)

By: K-Lyn

K-Lyn — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:17:55 +0000

OOOOoooh. Yay!!!
I have no recollection of the first King Henry being mentioned but I’ll have to go look. However I can venture the following:

King Henry II - King John
King Henry III - King John
King Henry IV - Got the title if not the staring roll
King Henry V - Hal, all grown up
King Henry VI - Hal was his daddy
King Henry VII - Richard III? I seem to recall that the Earl of Richmond became this Henry but I’ll have to go look it up
King Henry III - Got his own play (only one of the cannon I have never seen live)