King Henry IV is the title character of Henry IV, Part 2, yet he spends most of the narrative in a state of decline. The bold, decisive figure of the previous play is rendered passive and exhausted by rapid aging. Another central figure, Falstaff, is more outwardly vital yet also facing the prospect of illness and old age. Meanwhile, the death of Hotspur, with which the play begins, underscores what is at stake for both men; death is inextricably linked to questions of legacy, which Prince Hal’s ambiguous allegiances complicate.

The problem of inheritance is particularly pressing for King Henry, as it is not only his own legacy but that of the country that is at stake. Indeed, the chaos in his kingdom is locked in a symbiotic relationship with his health; the metaphorical disease of the body politic is reflected in the literal disease of the king’s body as he struggles to assert his authority. Rather than deal with the rebels himself, the king must send his sons to put the world back in order. Both the unrest and the impossibility of addressing it personally stir up old fears related to the legitimacy of his rule, which his heir’s rebelliousness exacerbates; King Henry seized the throne in dramatic fashion, but the dynasty he founded seems poised to disappear with his death due to both lingering resistance to his