Read the full text of Henry IV Part 2 Act 5 Scene 4 with a side-by-side translation HERE.
- On a street in London, two Beadles (officers) tussle with Mistress Quickly and Doll Tearsheet, who are being arrested for their involvement in murder.
- Quickly struggles with one of the officers and Tearsheet announces that she's pregnant. If she has a miscarriage, she says, it'll be the officers' fault.
- The first officer accuses Doll Tearsheet of stuffing her dress with pillows to fake a pregnancy and accuses the two women of beating a man to death with the help of Pistol.
- There's more struggling and lots of name calling. Doll Tearsheet demands to see a Justice of the Peace and the officers drag the women off stage.
- Note: If you're wondering if you missed something, you haven't. This is the first time we've heard anything about the women being involved in a murder.