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Shakespeare

Kyle Yuan

9/23/17

Mr. Child

Inconsistencies in the Prince: a Commentary on Hal in Henry IV Part 2 Scene Two

In the beginning of Henry IV Part 1, Hal is a dishonorable prince who wastes most of his

time with members of Englands deplorable underclass, particularly Falstaff a crooked, selfish,

deceitful, but incredibly hilarious character who serves almost as a father surrogate to Hal. At the

end of play, Hal undergoes an extraordinary transformation where he finally honors his royal

pedigreemarked both by when he saves his once disappointed father from Douglas and when he

symbolically defeats Hotspur and emblematically leaves from Falstaff on the battlefield to address

royal, stately matters. This transformation was intentional by Hal as he declared in the scene ii of

Henry IV Part 1 that he plans a remarkable reformation of himself that shall show more goodly and

attract more eyes (Part I.I.ii.221), and will pay the debt [he] never promised (Part I.I.ii.220).

But the momentum of Hals character development seems halted in the first scene Hal

appears in Henry IV Part 2. While separated from Falstaff, Hals newly acquired nobility from the

end of Part 1 is debased by his association with Poins (a Falstaff associate and member of the

English underclass); Hal does understand Poins status, or lack of, and his exchanges with Poins in

Act II scene ii of Part II suggest that his conflict between a life of majesty or mob certainly was not

resolved at the end of Part I. This commentary will examine Hals early interactions with Poins in

Act II scene ii of Part II as symptomatic of Hals conflicted nature that can be subsequently used as a

lens to read such conflict as Hals incapacity to fully leave his dishonroable past despite his princely

faculties which give him the ability to rise above it his oratorical skills and his aptitude for deceit.
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Hals first appearance and aura in Part II is not only noticeably delayed but also lackluster. As

briefly noted in the introduction, Hal bravely staves off the Percy insurrection in Part 1: finally

earning respect from his father (the King), who replies to Hal [w]ith all my heart (Part I.V.v.25)

after Hal gathers the princely confidence to ask his father for permission in deciding Douglas fate,

and his younger brother, John of Lancaster, who understands the high courtesy (Part I. V.v.33) of

Hals orders. More precisely it is Hals decision to honor Douglas, albeit an adversary, for Douglas

valors shown upon [the] crests (Part I.V.v.30), illustrating Hals humble, chivalrous and merciful

personae that potentially makes him more kingly than the King and the especially vengeful, violent

Hotspur. However, this royal energy that Hal radiates in the end of Part I is directly at odds with the

very first words he speaks in Part II to Poins: Before God, I am exceeding weary (Part II.II.ii.1).

Poins questions whether weariness durst not have attached one of so high blood (Part II.II.ii.2-3),

but it is worth highlighting the immediate dynamic of the dialogue between Hal and Poins. The fact

that Poinsa mere feloncan find the self-assurance to muster a sarcastic, wisenheimer reply to

the Prince of England rather than ask why Hal is exhausted, demonstrates Hal has not fully

actualized the self-reformation he professed in scene ii of Part I, which included Hals

acknowledgment that his social positionality does not permit his disgraced friends who he ruthlessly

casts as the contagious clouds (Part I.I.ii.205) that smother up his beauty from the world (Part

I.I.ii.206).

What is more important is rather than establish authority on his eminence over Poins, Hal

renders himself vulnerable by revealing his conflicted nature. Hal questions himself in front of Poins

of whether acknowledging his desire for a small bear discolors the complexion of [his] greatness

(Part II.II.ii.5). Hal being outwardly so disturbed by his desires for a small beer illustrates the

strength of his inner disharmony, and raises sincere questions of whether his self-assurance in his

capacity for deceit, especially with his own coming of age project, is warranted even after defeating
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Hotspur: has he potentially deceived himself in whether he can truly take over his fathers reign? But

Hals failure to ask more respect from Poins after Poins cynically asks if a prince should not be so

loosely studied as to remember so weak a composition (Part II.II.ii.7-8)a comment which mocks

the hubris of royalty, and consequently, Halseems to provide an immediate answer. In fact, Hals

response, claiming then my appetite was not princely got (Part II.II.ii.9), seems to expose his own

self-doubt in whether he truly can be a prince. His grapple is not with the beeralthough divine

right would enable him to abstain from alcohol, unlike the mortal creatures who creature [a] small

bear (Part II.II.ii.11)but his continued conflict on whether he has the capacity to leave the

underclass; Hal understands that it is a disgrace is it [for him] to remember thy [Poins] name (Part

II.II.ii.13), or even know how many pair of silk stocks Poins has. (Part II.II.ii.14-15). Towards the

end of his response to Poins, Hal asks an almost rhetorical question phrased into a remark of how

God knows whether those that bawl out the ruins of thy linen shall inherit His Kingdom (Part

II,II.ii.24). Here, Hal attempts to analogize his situationwhich expresses disdain for his intimate

knowledge of Poins shirts that bawls out [in] ruins [presumably the creases of Poins shirt]and

address the obvious issue of whether his associations jeopardize his divine right to kingdom. His

possible reference to Mark. 10.14 and his statement on how the midwives say the children are not

in the fault (Part II.II.ii.25-26) seems to ask for remorse and mercy from God of his predicament

with his lowly friends.1

Hals response to Poins is also filled with various word playsnot only religious references.

His reference to low countries (Part II.II.ii.22) alludes to both the Netherlands but also to the

brothel district, his phrase to made a shift to (Part II.II.ii.22) means to change but also to

change a shirt, and his reference to holland (Part II.II.ii.23) refers to the Netherlands, but also to

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Mark 10.14: Suffer the little children by to come unto me and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God.
From Page 252 of Shakespeare, William, et al. Henry IV, part 2. New York, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009.
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linen. Poins takes note of this and outlines why Hals internal turmoil exists: How ill it follows,

after you have labored so hard, you should talk so idly (Part II.II.ii.28-29). In other words, Hal truly

does have the linguistic aptitudes and education of a Prince, but his idly natureone where an

individual like Poins can spot out is also terribly ironicforbids him from breaking through the

foul and ugly mists/Of vapours that did seem to strangle him (Part I.I.ii.209-210), or colloquially, as

a non-royal would describe, Falstaff and crew.

When Hal attempts to continue dread on his circumstance with his dying father, especially

remorse for the fact that his heart bleeds inwardly (Part II.II.ii.46) towards his father given he

cannot express much of his sorrow in that surrounds himself with a lowly crowd, Poins rebukes

such statement for its hypocrisy, calling Hal a princely hypocrite (Part II.II.ii.52). Again, Poins

ability to chastise Hal (the prince) and Hals desire to seek Poins approvalwho Hal even describes

as vile company (PartII.II.ii.47) that is responsible for his conflictalso reinforces the apparent

fact that Hals internal discord stems from his inability to leave his friends, making him the princely

hypocrite as he attempts to continue to rationalize his situation rather than change it. This is most

validated by Poins remark to Hal before Bardolph arrives: you have been so lewd and so much

engraffed to Falstaff (Part II.II.ii.59-60).

As the early exchanges between Hal and Poins in Act II ii of Part II illustrate, Hals internal

mayhem stems from his inability to choose between either the English underclass or the English

royalty: both are mutually exclusive from each other and Hals attempt to reconcile the two

profoundly distinct lifestyles and entities only perpetuate his interior discord. Such discord taints the

nobility of Haldriving him further into a life of dysfunction, dishonor, and self-distrust with

Falstaff and Poins. Furthermore, excluding his oratory and combat abilities which bring him great

honor in Part I, the one Hal treasures and is most proud of is his deception; it enables him to

achieve the greatest honor of shocking his father in Part I, but it also continues to in many ways, to
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outsmart him. After Bardolph arrives with Falstaffs letter, which disappoints and angers Hal, Hal

asks Poins to go along with him and punish Falstaff with a disguise: a low transformation that shall

be mine, for in everything the purpose must weigh with the folly (Part II.II.ii.738-740). Here, Hal

proudly compares himself to Joves tendency to disguise himself when he visited mortalsimplying

his high royal status over others. By disguising himself against Falstaff, Hal believes he can simply

conceals his royalty to play with vile company (Part II.II.ii.47), but he is deceiving himself since it

only further entrenches him in a toxic lifestyle. It is Hals hubris in his capability to disguise himself

and outwit others that furthers his mental torment, and ironically, furthers his lack of conviction, his

agony and his distance from what he truly wanted most in Part I: that is the crown.