Prince Hal Character Analysis

William Shakespeare’s historical play Henry IV is a story about performing the role of a king. It asks us, how are we to know and remain true to ourselves when we are constantly expected to remain in character and adhere to the roles in which other people have given us? Prince Hal is one character that has to pay the debt of a performance that he “never promised” (1.2.187). However, Prince Hal is not the only one who has a role to play. King Henry, the usurper to Richard II’s throne, is continually seeking ways in which he can prove to his people that he is worthy of his crown, while Hotspur, the rival to Plantagenet rule, seeks ways to rally forces to overthrow it. King Henry, Prince Hal, and Hotspur are all contenders for kingship who play
In Eastcheap, he says, “Yet herein will I imitate the sun” (1.2.175), and that the common folk will be the “base contagious clouds” that shield him until he is ready to assume his responsibilities (1.2.176). Unlike Henry, who hid himself entirely, Hal hides behind his seeming lack of grace and nobility in order to surprise people, and gain their trust when he eventually does reveal that he has these qualities within him. In addition, the lessons he learns in Eastcheap are invaluable to a king. As he is able to change his colors for the people he comes across in the taverns, he becomes familiar with the lower classes that will be the foundation of his kingdom and the soldiers in his wars. He says in confidence of his success in assuming different roles, acknowledging the importance of language in assimilation, “…I can drink with any tinker in his own language during my life” (2.5.16-17). Furthermore, it is in the taverns that he engages in his drunken playing with Falstaff, practicing future roles, and demonstrating his understanding of the people he will be continually dealing with as a ruler, such as Hotspur. Hal tells the King, “I am doubtless I can purge / Myself of many I am charged withal” (3.2.20-21), or that the gaining of a sound reputation is simply a matter of changing his clothes, and that “I shall hereafter, my thrice gracious lord, be more myself” (3.2.93-94). However, this “self” is still dependent on other people, such as Hotspur, whom he thinks that by defeating in one-to-one combat, he can exchange roles