Transformation Of Prince Harry In Shakespeare's 'King Henry IV'

Mayra Diaz
Professor Briggs
English 117A
March 2, 2018 King Henry IV Paper #2 Transforming is in the eye of the beholder. The transformation of Prince Harry, also known as Hal, is that evidence in William Shakespeare's King Henry IV. His personal alteration is shown from his emotions deep down in his soul. Hal's point of view contrasts from his father's point of view. Hal's character is shown with a carefree manner as an eccentric Prince of Wales, much to his father's chagrin. He vows to his father he will mend his conduct and accept his responsibilities as future King of England. His attempt at developing is successful because of his interactions with Falstaff and his father as

For instance, “Yea, there thou mak’st me sad, and mak’st me sin / In envy that my Lord Northumberland/ Should be the father to so blest a son—/ A son who is the theme of honor’s tongue,/ Amongst a grove the very straightest plant,/ Who is sweet Fortune’s minion and her pride,/ Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,/ See riot and dishonor stain the brow/ Of my young Harry. O that it could be prov’d / That some night-tripping fairy had exchang’d/ In cradle- clothes our children where they lay, / And call’d mine Percy, his Plantagenet!” (I.i.78-89). In this passage, King Henry IV is saying this lines at the beginning of the play that induce conflict between Prince Hal and Hotspur. Henry characterizes the acclaim and affluence of Hotspur by calling him ‘the theme of honor’s tongue’; in analyzing, he says, Prince Hal has been besmirched by ‘riot and dishonor.’ He then mentions an old English folk superstition about fairies who exchanged young children at birth. Henry desires that a fairy had replaced Hal and Hotspur at birth, so that Hotspur were really his son and Hal the son of another. This quote is important for several deductions. It indicates the rivalry of Harry and Hotspur, and it helps authorize Henry’s exhausted, troubled condition. Additionally, it lets the readers know that Harry is mainly considered a disappointment, and, by introducing both Harry and Hotspur as potential son figures for Henry, it installs the concept of spitting images in the play. For example, “By being seldom seen, I could not stir/ But like a comet I was wond’red at,/ That men would tell their children, “This is he”;/ Others would say, “Where, Which is Bullingbrook?”/ And then I stole all courtesy from heaven,/ And dress’d myself in such humility/ That I did pluck allegiance from men's hearts,/ Loud shouts and salutations from their mouths”(III.ii.45-53). In this passage, King Henry is