Figurative Language In Prince Hal's Speech

A title of prince may, at first, seem unearned, but its rewards also come with an expectation of maturity, self-control, and respect for others. In this brief passage from the play Henry IV playwright William Shakespeare further develops the character of Prince Hal, son of King Henry IV as he commemorates the efforts of a fallen rebel, Hotspur, though they were “Ill-weaved ambition” (90). This passage is evidence to the fact that, Hal has begun to sway from his boyish tendencies and immature acts and become the noble king he was born to be. This excerpt also develops the character of Fallstaff as we learn that he has fully immersed himself into his low-brow tendencies. Hal uses this passage as a chance to provide both of these fallen men with

eulogies to show his respect. Hotspur’s death provides a means to contrast between himself, Falstaff and Prince Hal’s regard for life and honour. These soliloquy’s help to provide the audience with an evidence on how these characters react in the face of danger, whether they value bravery, honesty or discretion.

The passage begins with the striking first words, “For worms, great Percy” (89) which represent the beginning of an out of character eulogy given by Prince Hal as he stands over Hotspurs body. This line is interesting because he chooses to use the words “worms” and “great” in succession which are clearly contrasting words to further the idea of how the mighty have fallen. The imagery in the scene accurately represents the power balance currently in England, as Hal stands over Hotspur who lays with the worms. He makes use of synecdoche not saying goodbye to him as a person but rather saying “fare thee well, great heart” (89). These two lines imply that he had immense respect for the bravery and heart for the leader of the rebellion against his father had. Prince Hal uses vivid imagery describing the earth in which he has slain Hotspur on as “two paces of the vilest earth” (93) as well as the lines shortly before as a means to further a major theme in this play which is the struggle for power and land. These lines are used to describe the “stout gentleman” (95) that Hal had viewed Hotspur as and contrast that with the earth in which he just described to be vile. This eulogistic speech also is a testament to Hals explicit and forthcoming nature.

There is a shift in his eulogy, when Hal has realized he “should not make so dear a show of zeal” (97) as this man he praises is the leader of the rebellion against his father’s throne. This relates back to a major theme in the play of father and son and prince Hal’s efforts to gain his father’s approval. Followed shortly after by a shift in which Hal shows his arrogance as he “thank[s himself] for doing these fair rites of tenderness” (100) referring to the eulogy he has just finished giving to his fallen enemy. Using heavenly imagery, he shows his respect for Percy by asking him to “take thy praise with thee to heaven” (101). The final line before the next shift, “but not remembered in thy epitaph” (103), is both relating to Percy’s “ignominy” (102) spoken about in the line before but makes the structural decision to place it on a separate line so it also has a second meaning of his legacy will “not be remembered in [his] epitaph” (103).

His friendly demeanor with his speech to his feigning friend Falstaff provides much needed contrast shortly after his formal referral to Percy. This is evident is in referral to his weight asking why “all this flesh [couldn’t] keep in a little life?” (105). Even in death Hal still refers to him as “Poor Jack” (105) contrasting him with the recently finished speech in which prince Hal honoured a fallen enemy. His lack of respect and informal nature comes fully into fruition in between line 107 and 112. This section of the reading is when imagery is used to portray Falstaff as “so fat a deer” (109) implying that he was harmless and had been easily killed as he couldn’t put up a fight. This idea of zoomorphism and informality of a speech to a friend is furthered through the authors use of homophone’s when he says “so far a deer today, though many dearer in this bloody fray.” (110) using contrasting words deer and dearer which sound the same but have different meanings. This speech and its syntax is evidence of Hal’s lack of discretion, even in dreary times such as death on a battlefield and also is consistent with the theme of Falstaff being the punching bag for all Hal’s jokes. Finally, he uses several rhyming couplets throughout these lines with the effect of differentiating each of their meanings and keeping a low class friendly feeling. His choice of saying “I will see thee by and by” (111) could imply that he was aware that he was not dead or more likely could be heavenly imagery and he could be referring to the idea of afterlife. Hal ends the paragraph is a very clever way saying “till then in blood by noble Percy lie” (112). His use of the word lie in that sentence is not only a homonym but also verbal irony as the author is joking with the idea that not only was Falstaff lying on the ground but also was lying about his death.

What follows is a major shift in this passage.

The informal nature of Hal’s speech is continued with Falstaff as he rises up and refutes Hal has said. He begins by furthering this idea of zoomorphism and deer imagery as he mocks him saying “Embowled? If thou embowled me today, I’ll give you leave to powder me and eat me too tomorrow” (113-114). His abbreviated words and language choice turns this soliloquy into a low-brow colloquial speech. Falstaff is very intent on defending his honour saying he had to fake dead or “that hot termagant Scot had paid me scot and lot” (116). This sentence contains a reference to Termagent who was a fictional Muslim god known for his anger and that’s how he describes the Scottish man who nearly killed him. Again he makes use of homonym’s using “scot” to mean both Scottish man and how he nearly killed him. The main theme of Falstaff’s speech that is portrayed to us through repetition is the idea of being a counterfeit. Falstaff believes that “to die is to be a counterfeit” (117) meaning that a dead person on the ground is counterfeiting a live one. This brings a new theme to the passage of life and death and how each of these character truly value it. He concludes this section of the passage with his final thought that “the better part of valor is discretion” (122) and therefore in his defensive tone says his discretion, not faking, saved his

life.

This final shift is a continuation of Falstaff’s speech but now rather than contrasting himself against what Hal said, he refers to his similarities between him and “gunpowder Percy” (124). He uses the metonym gunpowder to refer to a gun which is to say he is dangerous and his damage is sudden and decisive. More so he implies through this that he fears Percy like he would fear a gun. He draws similarities between the two when he “worries he would prove the better counterfeit” (126) and stabs him for good measure.

Although Prince Hal had been acting immature and boyish prior to this part of the work, his respectful eulogy for the fallen Percy is a testament to how his attitude has changed. This passage is also successful in contrasting the values of the three character. The use of language and various literary devices helps to emphasize the different major themes that are evident within this passage.