This research examines the figure of Owen Glendower, a Welsh hero of history who is also famously featured as a character in Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV. The research will set forth Glendower's place in the historical and literary context and discuss elements that distinguish him, with reference to various historians' views of his historic persona.
To appreciate why Owen Glendower has prominence in the literary history of Britain, it is important to understand that the action of 1 Henry IV deals with the self-conscious assertion of monarchical attitude and dignity in England by one of its founding royal families. But the assertion is made in the context of multiple rebellions. The subject of Richard II deals with the establishment of Henry IV's reign by rebellion; Bolingbroke becomes the Lancastrian/Plantagenet Henry IV when the vain and foolish Richard II abdicates. But in 1HIV, the new king is also a target of rebellion, both political and personal.
Political rebellion against Henry IV arises because of the complex interaction of three distinct areas: Scotland, Wales, and Northumberland, the last-named being controlled by the house of Percy. At the opening of the play, it appears that Northumberland, who assisted Bolingbroke in deposing Richard, has secured Henry's position once for all against Scotland via young Harry Percy's (Hotspur) military victory. But Hotspur refuses to hand over the Scots leaders to the king's jurisdiction, first because Henry's envoy had insulted Hotspur after the battle and second (and more crucially) because of the facts surrounding the Welsh rebellion.
Wales has not been suppressed by Henry's general and kinsman Mortimer. Instead, the Welsh nobleman Glendower has taken prisoner Mortimer. In I.i, the report is that Mortimer was captured in battle and his fallen men's bodies brutalized by Welsh women. By I.iii, it becomes clear that instead of defeating the Welsh king Glendower militarily, Mortimer--w...