Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”
- Source
- Henry IV, Part 2
- Date
- c. 1599
- Local voice
- Fictional character · King Henry IV
Meaning of “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”
Status and authority are presented as carrying anxiety and responsibility rather than guaranteeing comfort or peace of mind.
Where does it come from?
Henry IV, Part 2, Act III Scene 1; reviewed against the 1921 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by Samuel B. Hemingway. King Henry speaks the crown line at the close of his sleepless midnight monologue after contrasting his wakefulness with the sleep of poor subjects and the storm-tossed ship-boy. It remains dramatic kingship rhetoric rather than clinical evidence about leadership stress.
Why the local voice matters
King Henry speaks in Henry IV, Part 2, Act 3, Scene 1.
