Hal Becoming a King: Honor, Democracy and Appearance in Henry Iv

The most intriguing character of Henry IV Part I is Prince Harry. This troubled young man struggles with his father’s expectations, his destiny to assume the throne, and his wild friends. Initially he seems little more than a rebellious youth, but he ends the play in a very different manner. This essay examines connection to commonmen, appearance, and honour in battle as attributes that lead Henry to become a competent and trustworthy monarch.

One of the most important lessons Hal learns in the play relates to his connection to common men. His time with his friends in Eastcheap is particularly advantageous in teaching him this skill. Many princes who are brought up in royalty have lived a pampered life, protected from reality. This would make for out of touch, oblivious monarchs. Hal is an exception to this since he spends his youth in taverns with the commoners, learning their priorities and their struggles. This comes primarily from Falstaff, with whose instruction he is becoming acquainted with the underground scene in London, and Hal takes this knowledge very seriously. This is an advantage that many leaders, from ancient monarchs to modern Prime Ministers, have been deprived of. When Prince Harry becomes king, he can take into account how his decisions will affect the common people, and have first hand knowledge on how his rulings will be received by them. For example, in the beginning of Act II Scene IV, Hal has been talking with the bartenders in a tavern in Eastcheap. It is clear that he has learned their names: “[I] can call them all by their Christian names, as Tom, Dick, and Francis” (Shakespeare, 2.4.7-8). He has also learned their slang: “They call drinking deep, dying scarlet; and when you breathe in your watering they cry ‘hem!’ and bid you play it off” (2.4.14-16). From this we can tell that he spends quite a bit of time with the common people and is not ashamed to be on familiar terms with them. This scene, although seemingly inconsequential, represents how important Hal feels it is to construct an alliance with the commoners. He knows that this will be helpful to him as king. This attitude is quite in contrast with his father, who believes that his son, “being daily swallowed by men’s eyes, they surfeited with honey and began to loathe the taste of sweetness” (3.2.70-72). This is meaning that by being well acquainted and spending every day with commoners, Hal will become tiresome to them, and end up being hated. In his eyes, this would not be a good way to begin his rule as king. However, this has not happened yet. In fact, the commoners have embraced Hal entirely: “They take it already upon their salvation that, though I be but Prince of Wales, yet I am the king of courtesy, and tell me flatly I am... a lad of mettle, a ‘good boy’” (2.4.8-12). Harry clearly intends to use this to his advantage, saying “when I am king of England I shall command all the good lads in Eastcheap” (2.4.13-14). Hal’s vision is clearer and more modern than his father, and this will make him a more than adequate ruler.

In his famous manifesto, The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli said that as a ruler, “Everyone sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are” (Machiavelli, 81). Throughout the play, Hal uses appearance to his advantage. In Act I Scene II we meet him in a tavern in Eastcheap. He is a part of a plan for highway robbery with his friends. It is hard to believe he is the son of a king and one day intended for the throne. However by the end of the scene, his monologue reveals his true intentions. He says that his dishonourable conduct so far has been nothing more than a disguise. The lines “My reformation, glitt’ring o’er my fault, shall show more goodly... than that which hath no foil to set it off” (Shakespeare, 1.2.191-3), reflect how intentional his actions are. This show that he is staging by pretending to be wild has a purpose. Obviously it would impress his existing supporters, but it could also appear so spectacular to his adversaries that they would forget all his past wrongdoings. We learn that Hal intends to redeem himself at a calculated time. He takes this opportunity in Act III, when visiting his father. Upon stern condemnation from the king, he promises to start acting like a better prince, more worthy of his imminent title. He says “I shall hereafter, my thrice gracious lord, be more myself” (3.2.92-3). At this point, the audience realizes that Hal has been playing so many different roles that it is unclear who Hal really is. When he says he will be more “himself,” meaning that he will be a more respectable young man, it is confirmed that his unruly behaviour is no more than an act, and his decent character is his true self. This performance by Hal is a very deliberate strategy.

The other purpose it serves is to protect his title. Hal has many difficult challenges to face as monarch. His father’s title as king is unstable and perhaps illegitimate due to the deposition and execution of Richard II. During the main action of the play, Henry is being faced by rebels who want him overthrown. In staging his planned reformation, Hal could secure a reputation as an strong, honourable, and democratic leader, whom no one will want to resist. There are many examples of how good Hal is at putting on an act. In Act II Scene V, there is one moment in particular where the audience can see this plainly. Hal and Falstaff stage a role play between King Henry and his son, with Falstaff playing the king. After Falstaff becomes carried away with himself as usual, Hal sees that this is unrealistic and interrupts him, insisting that they reverse roles. Hal fits well into the role of king, which shows how thoroughly he knows his father, and how he can speak and act like a royal. If it is so easy for Hal to play this role despite his rebellious persona, it leaves the audience questioning which of his personalities are real and which are a façade. For example, when speaking with Poins in Act II, Hal divulges that he “is so good a proficient in one quarter of an hour that [he] can drink with any tinker in his own language during [his] life” (2.4.16-18), which is to say that he is so advanced in fitting in with the commoners that in as little as fifteen minutes he can have them feeling comfortable around him and speaking their own language. In other words, he is a wonderful deceiver. Even the bartenders have crowned him the “king of courtesy” (2.4.10), and as described above, he is on familiar terms with all the commoners. Their affinity for him, he claims, is because of his humility. With this talent, he will be able to command the common masses when he is king. Having the support of the common people can be a great asset, however the young prince is not ashamed to call them “loggerheads” (2.4.4) behind their back. This shows that Hal can be quite manipulative, and that he is not afraid of deceiving people to get ahead. Clearly, Hal has a connection with the commoners of Eastcheap. However, when he is king, it is not in his best interest to rule to their wishes all of the time. Therefore, this camaraderie allows Hal to know what is appealing to the lower classes. If, as king, he must make decisions which are not favoured by this group, Hal would know how to make them appear advantageous. In the spirit of Machiavelli, appearing to be an noble king is much more important than actual nobility.

Honour is the final and arguably most difficult lesson for Hal to learn before becoming king. Seemingly rebellious, lazy and always in with the wrong crowd, Prince Hal has not been living up to his father’s expectations. In Act III, King Henry has called his son to court to speak with him, and he begins a long and harsh condemnation of the Prince’s actions. Scathingly, he says that Hotspur, who is the king’s enemy, “hath more worth interest to the state than thou the shadow of succession” (3.2.98-99). He means that Hotspur’s bravery and honour have made him in the king’s eyes more worthy to be the next king than his own son, the prince. He describes Hotspur’s bravery with “He doth fill fields with harness in the realm, turns head against the lion’s armed jaws, and, being no more in debt to years than thou, leads ancient lords and reverend bishops on to bloody battles and to bruising arms” (3.2.101-105). He calls him an “infant warrior” and a “Mars in swaddling clothes” (3.2.112-113). He then says that Hal’s behaviour, in comparison, is so reprehensible to himself that he might as well “fight against me under Percy’s pay... to show how much thou art degenerate” (3.2.126-128). To say that the damage inflicted upon the kingdom by Hal’s behaviour is comparable to taking up arms against it is particularly hurtful thing to say to one’s son. Clearly Hal is affected by this. He confesses that his father’s accusations are true, and says he “will redeem all this on Percy’s head” (3.2.132). He says that the day when “this gallant Hotspur, this all-praised knight, and your unthought-of Harry chance to meet” (3.2.140-141), will be a day of bloody revenge and redemption for himself. This is an important scene, for it occurs in the midpoint of the play. Seeing how disappointed his father is in his actions, Harry swears never to return to his degenerate ways and promises to redeem himself.

This is the moment when Hal will make his dramatic reformation as mentioned previously. From this moment on in the play, there are no more long, silly tavern scenes, there is only preparation for war. The juxtaposition between Hotspur and Harry’s character, made by the king, puts into focus the symbolic relationship between the two. They are mirror opposites of each other. Hotspur symbolizes everything that Prince Hal could be, and Hal symbolizes everything that Hotspur is not. It is clear to the audience that Shakespeare is setting up an unavoidable confrontation between the two, to be culminated in Act V. It is in this Act that Harry begins to show his transformation into maturity. Although Hotspur is his enemy, he says “I do not think a braver gentleman, more active-valiant or more valiant-young, more daring or more bold, is now alive to grace this latter age with noble deeds” (5.1.89-92). Being able to see the truth of a man’s character, unclouded by hatred for him, his a sign of wisdom and levelheadedness. He admits that “For my part, I may speak it to my shame, I have a truant been to chivalry” (5.1.93-94). Admitting his past faults and expressing shame for them shows Harry’s growth. He then politely offers to have a final battle to determine the outcome of the war with a single fight between the two rivals, in order to save lives of soldiers on either side in an all-out battle. We the audience see the beginnings of a mature young man, and Harry’s redemption. His father begins to see this as well in Act V, Scene IV. Henry meets Douglas on the battlefield. As Douglas is a strong, hot-headed fighter and the king is rather aged, they are ill-matched. If their fight were continue it would almost certainly end in the king’s death. Harry sees this and comes to his father’s aid, saving his life. The king says “Thou hast redeemed thy lost opinion, and showed thou mak’st some tender of my life in this fair rescue thou hast brought to me” (5.4.47-49). Finally Hal has achieved his father’s approval. He goes on to kill Hotspur, his adversary and constant over-shadower. This final act is a personal redemption for Hal. He needs to conquer the person he has always been compared to in order to feel equal to Hotspur’s reputation. With Percy’s death, Hal usurps the honour and bravery once belonging to his enemy. He is thus redeemed. As a hero in war, Hal has had a dramatic reformation as promised in Act III, and has proved his ability to govern and to be a competent monarch.

Prince Harry began the play of Henry IV Part I as a struggling, wild, and wayward young man, completely unsuitable to take the throne. We watch him learn many lessons which prepare him for his destiny. Drinking with the commoners, although it seems idle and indulgent, has taught Hal how to be democratic as a ruler, and has gained him the support of a large group of subjects. In a Machiavellian style, Hal has learned how to manipulate appearances in order to gain redemption in the eyes of the people. Finally, Hal has learned that honour and bravery, qualities which he had not previously valued, are particularly important for a king, especially in times of war. These lessons have prepared the prince to be king, and his actions in this play have shown that he will be a capable, ethical, and clever ruler.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. Henry IV Part One. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. Print.

Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. New York: Random House, Inc., 2006. Print.