Prince Harry is quite the interesting character. While his father, King Henry IV, thinks ill of him and even wishes Hotspur to be his son instead of Harry, the reader learns at the end of Act 1 Scene 2 that this is all a part of Harry’s plan.
Harry associates himself with the ruffians of London, the highwaymen and thieves playing along with their antics and gaining a bad reputation for himself – one his father greatly disapproves of, but Harry sees it differently. According to Harry, if he has a bad reputation beforehand then when it is his time to shine his drastic change will stun everyone and make him seem even better than he is. He states, “my reformation, glitt’ring o’er my fault,/ shall show more goodly and attract more eyes / than that which hath no foil to set if off” (lines 191-3) which means that when he reveals himself to be a great person/leader everyone would be so amazed at his turn around that they would appreciate him more than if he performed these same tactics as an ordinary, upstanding man from the beginning. Like the idea, also mentioned in his speech, that if there are always holidays, having fun would become tedious because it’s all you do. I find this both very intelligent and interesting. While this is a great idea, it makes me wonder about politics. When we elect a president, I feel like we look at EVERYTHING that person has done throughout their life and condemn them for the bad, but here, Harry would be rewarded for getting passed his bad side. Perhaps that’s because the people have no choice or electing vote?
It’s also amusing how King Henry IV mentions preferring Hotspur because he is the more upstanding man when he is the one plotting; meanwhile his son is pretending to be a lowlife while plotting on how to make a better leader.
I also wonder if Harry is Henry V or not. I recall watching the film with Kenneth Branagh and thinking that Henry V is this great guy and leader (though it was so long ago I can’t remember if that’s true) and comparing him to Harry seems rather unlikely because of his deceiving plans, but does that make him really smart or sneaky? Maybe because I couldn’t see the character I watched doing something as vile as hanging around highwaymen, but I could be wrong! I’m interested to see where that goes.
There are many characters in this play but I feel as if Prince Harry’s role takes on many aspects of it. He is both smart and fun (so far). When his highwaymen friends set up the theft that they want Harry to join in, he is at first hesitant but when one of them turns it into a game against each other, he decides to join. It is as if he knows just how far he can go and what he can get away with.
2 comments:
Prince Hal does indeed become Henry V, as he anticipates in his speech in 1.2. We will want to consider if we admire him for his "reformation," or if we despise his crafty politics.
While Prince Hal does become Henry V, it's important to remember that he's not there yet. He's still relatively young and not come into his own yet; still messing around and basically "slumming" with all of his less-than-savory friends. I'm not particularly fond of him at this point in his life, if only because he's so willfully deceitful and immoral. Again, I can only think of his association with characters such as Falstaff and Poins as a sort of rebellious slumming around, done not because he needs to, but because he can and get away clean with it--in short, because he's bored and feels like it. It will be interesting to see how he grows up into the great leader you recall.
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