In this second part of Henry IV, the Battle of Shrewsbury is over, the rebels temporarily beaten but not defeated. Prince Henry defeated "Hotspur" Percy in single combat, but other rebel leaders have taken his place. King Henry, drained by the civil war, is deathly ill. Prince Henry, knowing he must soon assume the throne, tries to distance himself from the rowdy and reprobate friends of his youth, including Falstaff. As rebel forces gather at the Forest of Gaultree and King Henry grows sicker, will Prince Henry be able to prove to his father that he has become worthy of wearing the crown? First published in 1600, this unabridged version of William Shakespeare's history play is the third in his tetralogy about the rise of the English royal House of Lancaster.

本作は、放蕩のハル王子が冷徹な支配者へと変貌を遂げる、孤独で痛切な「王者の誕生」を活写しています。前編の熱狂から一転し、物語を支配するのは老いと衰退の影、そして秩序の重圧です。シェイクスピアは、王となる代償として青春の分身たるファルスタッフを切り捨てる非情な覚悟を、冷徹かつ詩的な筆致で描き出しました。 最大の見どころは、喜劇と悲劇が交錯する人間ドラマの深淵です。老いた騎士の滑稽さの裏には去りゆく時代の哀愁が満ち、その訣別は人生の残酷さを突きつけます。個人の自由と国家の責任という普遍的葛藤を昇華させた本作は、王冠の重みに耐え、魂を研ぎ澄ませていく王子の姿を通じて、今なお読者の心を激しく揺さぶります。