The Impact of Rebellion in Shakespeare's Plays

Wales has non been suppressed by Henry's general and kinsman Mortimer; instead of defeating the Welsh king Glendower militarily, Mortimer, whose sister is Hotspur's wife, has matrimonial Glendower's daughter.

Mortimer's ambiguous resolution of Henry's fight with Wales and Hotspur's defiant defense of Mortimer's motives in a confrontation with Henry are tantamount to a coup against Henry, whose veritable hold on the English rear end is tenuous; Richard had named Mortimer his successor, but Henry had forced his bear claim. Henry's reception is a public assertion of kingly dignity, warning the Percys not to "tread upon my patience: but be sure / I will from henceforth rather be myself, / Mighty to be fear'd than my condition . . . majesty might never yet endure / The threatening frontier of a servant brow" (IHIV I.iii). The Percys and Mortimer, who now tribulation having helped what Hotspur calls "this proud king" to the throne, join Wales and Scotland in rebellion. The rebellion of Wales (Mortimer addition Glendower) and the Percys persists into 2HIV, though 1HIV closes with the second defeat of the Scots and though Northumberland's backd profess from the rebels is matched by the addition of the Archbishop of York to the rebel cause. The Archbishop joins because "the commonwealth is sick of their own choice" (2HIV I.iii), i.e., of H

enry, who has greater " strength and puissance" than Richard II did.

The action of The Tempest coincides with that of the Henry plays specifically on the issue of rebellion and role. The opening storm begins the revenge of the wizard Prospero on Antonio, the Duke of Milan. As Prospero explains to Miranda in I.ii, he is the rightful duke. about years earlier he had delegated most of his authority to his comrade Antonio, who, by a combination of conspiracy with Alonso, King of Naples and of Prospero's own neglect of "worldly ends" in favor of "liberal liberal arts" (I.ii), marched on Milan, captured Prospero and Miranda, and set them adrift at sea. The boat's drifted to the island allowed Prospero to study and pour down his magic talents.

He conjures the tempest and a shipwreck of Naples and Milan with a view toward engineering a countercoup against Antonio and returning to his rightful stance in the world.

In both The Tempest and the Henry plays, the claims of and challenges to legitimate authority are at issue. The action of all the plays shows that authority is always at risk because of others' ambitions and perceptions of the way the sovereign bears his authority. This is reproducible with the resentment of the Percys in 1HIV and York in 2HIV toward Henry IV's over posture royal attitude, and with the willingness of Cambridge, Grey, and Scroop to take unto themselves France's underestimation of Henry V's credibility as king. It is consistent, too, with the accompaniment that Prospero lost Milan partly because Antonio had begun to think of himself not as Prospero's administrative factotum but as "the duke; out o' th' substitution / And executing the outward gift of royalty" (Tempest I.ii). But the truth is that Prospero's own irresponsible pulling out from royal duties was partly to blame for his vulnerability. Equally, when Henry says that "uneasy lies the base on balls that wears a crown" (2HIV III.i), he is not concerned except about horrible conspiracies. Henry feels guilty about "wh
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