The most intriguing character in Henry IV Part I is Prince Harry. This troubled young man struggles with his father's expectations, his destiny to ascend the throne, and his wild friends. He initially seems little more than a rebellious youth, but he ends the play very differently. This essay examines connection with the common people, appearance, and honor in battle as attributes that led Henry to become a competent and trustworthy monarch. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One of the most important lessons Hal learns in the show concerns his connection to ordinary men. Time spent with his friends in Eastcheap is especially beneficial in teaching him this skill. Many princes raised in the royal family have lived a pampered life, protected from reality. This would make monarchs out of touch and oblivious. Hal is an exception as he spends his youth in taverns with the common people, learning their priorities and struggles. This comes primarily from Falstaff, with whose instructions he is becoming acquainted with London's underground scene, 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 ordinary people and have first-hand knowledge of how his decisions will be received by them. For example, at the beginning of Act II, Scene IV, Hal talked to the bartenders at 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 also learned their slang: “They call drinking deep, dying scarlet; and when you inhale your irrigation they shout “ahem!” and I declare to play” (2.4.14-16). From this we can say that he spends a lot of time with ordinary people and is not ashamed of having family relationships with them. This scene, while seemingly inconsequential, represents how important it is for Hal to build an alliance with the common people. He knows this will serve him well as king. This attitude is completely in contrast with that of the father, who believes that his son, "every day swallowed up by the eyes of men, was filled with honey and began to hate the taste of sweetness" (3.2.70-72). This means that by knowing well and spending every day with ordinary people, Hal will become boring to them and end up hated. In his eyes, this would not be a good way to start his reign as king. However, this has not yet happened. Indeed, the common people have fully embraced Hal: "They already take for their safety that, though I am only the Prince of Wales, yet I am the king of courtesy, and they tell me openly that I am... a brave boy, a 'good boy'" (2.4.8-12). Harry clearly intends to use this to his advantage, saying "when I am king of England I will command all the good boys of Eastcheap" (2.4.13-14). it is clearer and modern compared to that of 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 seem, few really know what you are” (Machiavelli, 81 ) Throughout the show, Hal uses appearance to his advantage. In Act I, Scene II we meet him in a tavern in Eastcheap. He is part of a highway robbery plan with his friends believing that he is the son of a king and one day destined for the throne. However, at the end of the scene, his monologue reveals his true intentions. He says his conduct so far is not dishonorableIt was nothing more than a disguise. The lines "My reformation, glittering o'er my fault, will show fairer... than that which has no element to set it in motion" (Shakespeare, 1.2.191-3), reflect how his actions are intentional . This show he is putting on while pretending to be wild has a purpose. He would obviously impress his current supporters, but he might also appear so spectacular to his opponents that they would forget all his past misdeeds. We learn that Hal intends to redeem himself at an appointed time. He takes this opportunity in Act III, when he visits his father. After the king's harsh sentence, he promises to start behaving like a better prince, more worthy of his impending title. He says, "Henceforth, my thrice-gracious lord, I will be more myself" (3.2.92-3). At this point, the audience realizes that Hal has played so many different roles that it is unclear who Hal really is. When he says that he will be more "himself", meaning that he will be a more respectable young man, it is confirmed that his unruly behavior is nothing more than an act, and his respectable character is his true self. This performance by Hal is a very deliberate strategy. The other purpose it serves is to protect its title. Hal faces many difficult challenges as monarch. His father's title of king is unstable and possibly illegitimate due to the deposition and execution of Richard II. During the main action of the play, Henry is confronted by rebels who want to overthrow him. By enacting his planned reform, Hal could secure his reputation as a strong, honorable, democratic leader whom no one will want to resist. There are many examples of how good Hal is at acting. In Act II, scene V, there is one moment in particular where the audience can see this clearly. Hal and Falstaff enact a role-play between King Henry and his son, with Falstaff playing the king. After Falstaff gets carried away as usual, Hal sees that this is unrealistic and interrupts him, insisting that they reverse roles. Hal fits the role of king well, 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 character, the audience wonders which of his personalities are real and which are a facade. For example, when speaking to Poins in Act II, Hal reveals that "he is so good in a quarter of an hour that [he] can drink with any tinkerer in his own tongue in [his] life" (2.4.16 - 18), that is, he is so advanced in adapting to ordinary people that in just fifteen minutes he can make them feel at ease around him and speak their language. In other words, he is a wonderful deceiver. Even the bartenders have crowned him “king of courtesy” (2.4.10) and, as described above, he has familiar relationships with all the common people. Their affinity with him, he claims, is due to 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, yet the young prince is not ashamed to call them "knuckleheads" (2.4.4) behind their backs. This shows that Hal can be quite manipulative and that he isn't afraid to deceive people to get ahead. Clearly Hal has a connection with the common people of Eastcheap. However, when he is king, it is not in his best interest to always rule according to their wishes. Therefore, this camaraderie allows Hal to know what attracts the lower classes. If, as king, he were to make decisions that are not favored by this group, Hal would know how to make them appear advantageous. In the spirit of Machiavelli, appearing as a noble king is much more important than true nobility. Honor is the final and probably hardest lesson to learnfor Hal before he became king. Seemingly rebellious, lazy and always in the wrong company, Prince Hal has failed to live up to his father's expectations. In Act III, King Henry calls his son to court to speak with him, and begins a long and harsh condemnation of the prince's actions. Severely, Hotspur, who is the king's enemy, says, “has more interest in the state than you have the shadow of succession” (3.2.98-99). It means that Hotspur's courage and honor made him more worthy in the king's eyes to be the next king than his son, the prince. He describes Hotspur's courage with "He fills the fields with harness in the kingdom, turns his head against the armed jaws of the lion, and, being no more indebted to the years than you, leads ancient lords and reverend bishops to bloody battles and to wounded weapons". " (3.2.101-105). He calls him a “warrior child” and a “Mars in swaddling clothes” (3.2.112-113). Then he says that Hal's behavior, in comparison, is so reprehensible to himself that he could also "fight against me under Percy's pay... to prove how degenerate you are" (3.2.126-128) Saying that the damage inflicted on the kingdom by Hal's behavior is comparable to taking up arms against it is one particularly painful thing to say to one's son. Clearly Hal is affected by this. He confesses that his father's accusations are true and says that he will "redeem all this on Percy's head" (3.2.132). valiant Hotspur, this lauded knight and your unexpected chance to meet Harry" (3.2.140-141), will be a day of bloody vengeance and redemption for him. This is an important scene because it takes place halfway through the play. Seeing how his father is disappointed by his actions, Harry vows to never return to his degenerate ways and promises to redeem himself. This is when Hal will make his dramatic reformation as previously mentioned. From this moment on in the comedy there are no longer long and silly tavern scenes, there is only the preparation for war. The king's juxtaposition between Hotspur and Harry's character brings into focus the symbolic relationship between the two. They are mirror opposites of each other. Hotspur symbolizes all that Prince Hal could be, and Hal symbolizes all that Hotspur is not. It is clear to the audience that Shakespeare is setting up an inevitable confrontation between the two, which will culminate 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, more active-valiant, or braver-younger, bolder, or bolder gentleman, is now alive to honor 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, is a sign of wisdom and balance. He admits that “For my part, I may say to my shame, I have trumped chivalry” (5.1.93-94). Admitting his past flaws and expressing shame over them shows Harry's growth. He then kindly offers to organize a final battle to determine the outcome of the war with a single combat between the two rivals, in order to save the lives of soldiers on both sides in an all-out battle. We as viewers see the beginnings of a mature young man and Harry's redemption. His father also begins to see this in Act V, Scene IV. Henry meets Douglas on the battlefield. Since Douglas is a strong and hot-headed fighter and the king is quite aged, the two are ill-matched. If their fight continued, 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: "You have redeemed your lost opinion, and have shown that you have some tenderness for my life in this beautiful rescue which I.