Henry IV

Today in British Culture & Identities we spent about 45 minutes of the class talking about potatoes and the different between British and American portion sizes. Dr. H talked about her portion sizes at lunch and how a potato can definitely fill you up, especially with the amount of sour cream and cheese on it. A bunch of people shared their thoughts about the food prices at Asda, too.

In our Shakespeare class we watched Henry IV. It was definitely not easy to follow along because of the Old English and various accents. A character I found interesting in this play is King Henry’s son, Prince Harry, who spends most of his time drinking in bars with criminals and highwaymen and loitering the streets with vagrants. King Henry is very disappointed in his son for spending so much time with low class people and even wishes he had a different young man as a son. Heeding his father’s request, Harry returns to the palace. King Henry expresses his deep sorrow and anger at his son’s behavior and implies that Hotspur’s valor might actually give him more right to the throne than Prince Harry’s royal birth. Harry decides that it is time to reform, and he vows that he will abandon his wild ways and vanquish Hotspur in battle in order to reclaim his good name. Drafting his tavern friends to fight in King Henry’s army, Harry accompanies his father to the battlefront.