William Shakespeare
Henry IV, Part 2
The full script in Final Draft, Word & PDF
An ageing king faces fresh rebellion and failing health as Prince Hal prepares to take the throne and Falstaff loses his place.
PDFs Only
$4.99
- ✓ Stageplay PDF (119 pp.)
- ✓ Screenplay PDF (107 pp.)
- ✓ Instant download
Full Package
$12.99
- ✓ Final Draft (.fdx)
- ✓ Microsoft Word + RTF
- ✓ Screenplay + Stageplay PDFs
Need more than a few plays?
All 37 plays in every format cost $99, less than 8 single Full Packages. PDFs only: $55 for all 37.
- Genre
- History
- Written
- c. 1597–1598
- Setting
- England
- Scenes
- 19
- Speaking roles
- 52
- Uncut running time
- ~3h 10m
What happens in Henry IV, Part 2
After Shrewsbury, the rebels, led by the Archbishop of York and Northumberland, plan a new uprising. Henry IV, ill and troubled, struggles to keep order. Falstaff, now enlisted for the king's army, uses his position to take bribes and cheat Justice Shallow, and spars with the Lord Chief Justice, who keeps a close watch on him and on Hal.
The rebels are tricked into disbanding by Prince John of Lancaster, and the leaders are arrested. The old king dies after a final scene with Hal, in which the prince promises to rule well. As the new Henry V, Hal is crowned, and Falstaff, expecting favour, instead is publicly rejected and told to keep his distance. The play ends with a promise of the French campaign.
See the formatting
The first page of Act I, exactly as it appears in the files you download.
The biggest roles
Share of the play's spoken words, counted from the script. 52 characters speak; 27 of them have under 1% of the text — natural candidates for doubling.
| Role | Share of the text | Speeches |
|---|---|---|
| Falstaff | | 198 |
| King Henry IV | | 43 |
| Prince Henry | | 55 |
| Shallow | | 79 |
| Mistress Quickly | | 49 |
| Lord Chief-justice | | 52 |
| Archbishop Of York | | 25 |
| Westmoreland | | 21 |
For directors
The cast is large and spread out. Falstaff has about 21 percent of the words, but no one else tops 10 percent, with Henry IV at 10, Prince Henry at 6 and Shallow at 6. Of 52 speaking roles, 27 are under 1 percent. It is a play for ensemble casts, with many small comic parts. The uncut estimate of 190 minutes is long, and the elegiac tone differs from Part One. Hal's actor has relatively few lines before the end.
Cutting notes
- Cut or shorten the Rumour induction, which is sometimes shortened or spoken by a single voice.
- Trim the Gloucestershire scenes with Shallow, Silence and the recruits, keeping the core comic exchange.
- Shorten the rebel council discussions and the Archbishop's scenes, which are largely political explanation.
For teachers
Students study the theme of time, age and decay, the burden of kingship, and the education of a prince, with Hal's rejection of Falstaff as the usual focus. Frequently taught material includes Henry IV's soliloquy on sleep, the Rumour prologue, the scenes in Gloucestershire with Shallow and Silence, and the rejection scene. The play invites discussion of how it differs in structure from Part One.
Questions
Is this the complete, uncut text of Henry IV, Part 2?
Yes. Every file contains the full play — 19 scenes and about 25,900 spoken words. Cut it yourself in Word or Final Draft to fit your running time.
What is the difference between the stageplay and screenplay layouts?
The stageplay layout indents stage directions and sets dialogue full-width, like a theatre script. The screenplay layout follows film conventions: scene headings and action flush left, character names centred, dialogue in a narrower column. Both tiers include both layouts as PDFs; the Full Package adds editable Final Draft and Word files of each.
Can I use this Henry IV, Part 2 script for a production or a class?
Yes. Shakespeare's plays are in the public domain, so there are no royalties to pay for staging them. Edit, stage, film or teach with these files.
How do I receive the files?
Right after checkout you land on a private download page, and the link is also emailed to you. It keeps working, so you can re-download any time.
