geeking out on shakespeare's histories

I don't really have any words for this--I mean, yes, I'm going to struggle to find them, because that's what I do, but they'll all be a jumble.

I don't think there's a single character I dislike. And given that Hal's quite the pill, that's saying something. You've really brought out how self-aware Hal is, how measured is his construction of himself ... but everyone else is at least a little aware of it, too, and that's what I like best. Hal says that he'll play something other than himself as though this is a new idea, as though no one else has ever played the rake before, as though every single person at court isn't trying to present himself to some effect (even Hotspur, in his own way; when he's anything other than a soldier he's playing a part). And just as every man is trying to be someone else, even if that else is only his best self, so, too, is every man seeking some manner of sanctuary in which he can simply be.

And what I love best, what I find most powerful about this piece, is how very opaque and impenetrable Henry seems in comparison to all of these other men. It speaks to your ability with third-person limited; despite everything Hal has seen and everything that he has realized (however dimly), he can't map those observations onto his own father. Maybe it's because Henry really isn't like the other men--or maybe it's just the profound disconnect that Hal feels, and that he works to enforce. Either way, although the progression of events seems to be interrogating the relationship between Hal and his father, the narrative does not disclose them to one another.

Anyway. *smile* This is a marvelous piece, and your recipient is very, very lucky.