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''Henry IV'' ( ) is an Italian play ''(Enrico IV)'' by Luigi Pirandello written in 1921 and premiered to general acclaim at the Teatro Manzoni in Milan on 24 February 1922. A study on madness with comic and tragic elements, it is about a man who believes himself to be Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. It has been translated into English by Tom Stoppard, among others.
Rex Harrison Sir Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play ''French Without Tears'', in what ...
starred in a noted British production which went to Broadway in 1973, though the Stoppard translation was not used in the production. In 2019, it was ranked by '' The Independent'' as one of the 40 greatest plays ever written.


Plot overview

An unnamed Italian aristocrat falls off his horse while playing the role of Henry IV during carnevale festivities, which take place annually before
Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
. After he comes to, he believes himself to be Henry. For the next twenty years, his family, including his sister and now his nephew, Marchese Carlo Di Nolli, maintain an elaborate charade in a remote Umbrian villa, decorated to resemble Henry's imperial palace at Goslar and staffed with servants hired to play the roles of Henry's privy councillors and simulate the eleventh-century court. De Nolli's dying mother requests that he bring a doctor, Dionisio Genoni, who is referred to as the latest in a succession to try to cure Henry. All the action of the play occurs on the day of the doctor's visit. Accompanying de Nolli and the doctor are: * Lady Matilda Spina, (whom Henry loved, unrequited, before the accident), a widow. A portrait of the young Matilda in costume from the pageant, dressed as
Matilda of Tuscany Matilda of Tuscany ( it, Matilde di Canossa , la, Matilda, ; 1046 – 24 July 1115 or Matilda of Canossa after her ancestral castle of Canossa), also referred to as ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as th ...
hangs on the wall of the throne room. * Frida, her daughter, de Nolli's fiancée. Frida is now the spitting image of her mother as she was then. * Baron Tito Belcredi, Matilda's lover * Two valets in costume * Giovanni, an old servant * Four so-called Privy Counselors: Landolph (Lolo), Harold (Franco), Ordulph (Momo), Berthold (Fino) In the first two acts the visitors play parts from the period whilst interacting with Henry. The play begins with the induction of Berthold into the band of privy councillors. He has prepared for the part in Henry IV's court. The visitors then arrive and are later introduced to Henry. Henry mistakes the disguised Belcredi for the monk Peter Damian and reacts angrily, but is later calmed. Act two begins with speculation among the visitors about Henry, as well as what he sees in Matilda, who argues constantly with Belcredi. Henry enters once more and his behaviour is increasingly erratic. Once the visitors arrive Henry declares to his councillors that he is not truly mad, but has been aware of the nature of his existence for some time. However he has preferred to stay as he was than to live in the 20th century (the play is set around 1900). His behaviour and speech remain abnormal. Upon learning of this revelation the visitors confront Henry, who acts angrily to them, particularly Belcredi. At the end of the act he grabs Frida, who is dressed as in the portrait in preparation for the Doctor's plan to shock Henry out of his madness. In the ensuing altercation Henry stabs Belcredi. The visitors flee, and Henry resumes his regal persona as the curtain falls.


Translations into English

*
Edward Storer Edward Augustine Storer (1880–1944) was an English writer, translator, and poet. Life and career Edward A. Storer was born in Alnwick on 25 July 1880 to Frances Anne Egan and James John Robson Storer, he died in Weybridge (London) on 11 Februa ...
(E. P. Dutton & Co., 1922) *Frederick May (Penguin, 1960) *Julian Mitchell (1979) *Robert Rietty and John Wardle (Calder, 1987) *
Mark Musa Mark Louis Musa (27 May 1934 – December 31, 2014) was a translator and scholar of Italian literature. Musa was a graduate of Rutgers University (B.A., 1956), the University of Florence (as Fulbright Scholar of the U.S.-Italy Fulbright Commissio ...
(Penguin, 1996) *Tom Stoppard (Faber & Faber, 2004) *Anthony Mortimer (Oxford, 2014)


Adaptations

The play was adapted into the film of the same name.


References


External links


Westinghouse Studio One live television performance of December 1949
* {{Authority control Italian plays adapted into films 1922 plays Plays by Luigi Pirandello Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor