Falstaff shows little deference for the prince, twitting him about his lack of grace and his devil-may-care attitude and behavior. The two vie with each other in trading amusing insults. The subject of this discourse ranges from drinking to purse-snatching. Prince Hal, far from engaging enemies of the Crown in armed combat, is amusing himself in witty verbal exchange with Falstaff.
After Falstaff has departed, the prince learns from Poins that the robbery will provide a wonderful opportunity to gull Falstaff. First he refuses to go along with the others even "for recreation sake" then, after listening to Falstaff's denunciation of him, he changes his mind and finally he refuses once more to be one of the thieves at Gadshill. Hal amuses himself at Falstaff's expense. The themes of leadership and honour in the murky political world of King Henry IV (by Dr Jennifer Minter) In a world rife with social and political turmoil, William Shakespeare’s King Henry IV part 1 is, at its core, a commentary on the qualities that are most important to a successful ruler.Since the subject of robbery has been introduced prior to the arrival of Poins, the way has been prepared for details about the Gadshill enterprise in which Hal and Falstaff are asked to participate. But Falstaff matches him in rebuttal indeed, some critics argue that the fat knight excels him.King Henry IV: Part One.
Falstaff socializes with the lower class and is said to give the general impression of a prattling coward trying to amuse others by falsely reasoning away matters that are quite obviously. Prince Henry is the heir to the throne, who goes out carousing with Falstaff. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.In Act 1, Scene 2 the reader is introduced to Prince Henry and Falstaff. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Henry IV, Part 1 and what it means. Prince Hal cannot resist such a good chance to trick his old companion he will take part in the robbery at Gadshill.A summary of Part X (Section1) in William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1. The great sport will be to expose Falstaff as a coward and liar.
Left alone, the prince now soliloquizes in blank verse. This may begin in the eighteenth century with Samuel Johnson.All the dialogue so far has been in prose. Much of the early criticism I found concentrated on Falstaff and so. Henry IV, Part One, has always been one of the most popular of Shakespeares plays, maybe because of Falstaff.
Hal, and even Poins, uses the same general style, which provides a significant contrast to that used, for example, by the lowly carriers in Act II, Scene 1.But most important in this scene are the characters of Falstaff and Prince Hal. Sir John here, and throughout the play, is a speaker of superior prose, prose marked by a vivacity, brilliance, and finish evidenced from the very beginning in his first two speeches with their balance, antitheses, and allusive elements. Occasional vulgarisms in the man-to-man exchange between Falstaff and Hal should not mislead the reader. But one should note that, colloquial though it is predominantly, it is the prose of upper-class, sophisticated speakers.
Add to all this Falstaff's alleged interest in bawds and houses of prostitution. Time, a symbol of the ordered life as used here, could not possibly concern one whose hours are spent largely in drinking sack (a strong sherry-type wine, especially popular in the days before gin and whiskey), overeating, and wasting half the day in sleep induced by gluttony. If, for the moment, we take literally what Hal says about him in his first speech (213), Falstaff emerges as one devoid of any sense of responsibility.
Here, demonstrating for the first of many times his upper-class learning, he provides a brilliant rhetorical commentary on gross reality and, as always, is fully aware of what he is doing. Is his way of life unknightly, ignoring as he does noblesse oblige, the obligations of rank? Well, let Hal remember that Falstaff "takes purses by moonlight" and thus does not follow "Phoebus, he, 'that wand'ring knight so fair'" (16-17). Yet he is anything but embarrassed.
Rhetorically and poetically, the moon may represent more than one thing here it is unmistakably a symbol of instability, not only because it does not remain the same size to one's eyes as time passes, but because (as Hal points out) it governs the tides of the sea, which ebb and flow. The figurative language here admits to interesting interpretation relevant in a play, the main theme of which is rebellion.Traditionally, the sun is a common symbol of royalty in this instance, it represents the king, who stands for law and order. Cheerfully, he adds to his offenses: he is one who engages in robbery by night and thus goes "by the moon," not by Phoebus the sun.
The culmination of Falstaff's rejection of law and order comes in his comic plea to the prince, urging him to have nothing to do with "old father antic the law" and to honor thieves, who are admirable men of "resolution" (65-70).Hal obviously enjoys this repartee with Falstaff, who indeed is, as he will say later, not only witty in himself but the cause of wit in others. But the reference to the gallows and hanging, the usual punishment for robbery in Shakespeare's England, has been introduced by the young prince, who will not, for the moment, let his lively companion ignore it, thus the reference to the "buff jerkin" worn by sheriffs officers and to "durance," meaning not only "long lasting" but "imprisonment" (48-49). "Diana's foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon," which is described as "noble chaste," are other refined terms used by Falstaff to describe criminal activity.When Hal's reply makes this very point, Sir John is quick to change the subject, or to try to do so. The opposition of day and night is that of order and disorder. And this conclusion finds support in his witty, elegant circumlocutions and epithets: When Hal becomes king — and Falstaff is always aware of Hal's status as heir apparent — let robbers be honored let them be called "squires of the night's body," not "thieves of the day's beauty" (27-28).
He is "as melancholy as a gib cat or a lugg'd bear." And Hal matches him simile for simile. This is grim humor, appropriately like a jest on the gallows itself, for in Elizabethan times the hangman received the clothes of his victims and therefore was referred to ironically as the best-dressed man in England.Wit or no wit, the subject of hanging is not a pleasant one, and Falstaff changes the subject and mood. Wit rescues him from this ignominious position, as he makes a play upon the word suits (petitions or solicitations made at court suits of clothing). Immediately Falstaff pictures himself as a learned judge — and then is told that, far from being elevated to the bench, he will function as the common hangman.
How serious, how repentant he really is becomes clear at once. For the moment he becomes the penitent old sinner, acknowledging that he is "little better than one of the wicked." The style he adopts is that of the pulpit, biblical in its simple parallelisms and repetitions (95-98). Now, having been matched by Hal in the combat of wits, he adopts another role. Earlier (54-60), it was made clear that Falstaff willingly let the prince foot all the bills at the tavern.
Thus, much of the action in this comic subplot stands as a parody of the serious, public action in the main plot moreover, the theme of rebellion is common to both. Ostensibly finding such virtue in thieves, Falstaff sustains the force of his earlier reference to robbers as "squires," "gentlemen," and "Diana's foresters." If one chooses to analyze this amusing reversal of values closely, it becomes apparent that Falstaff and all who willfully engage in robbery as a vocation are rebels against the Crown. He declares that, if Hal does not join in the enterprise, Hal lacks honesty, manhood, and good fellowship and that, in retaliation, Falstaff himself will be a traitor when the prince rules England. When Hal suddenly asks, "Where shall we take a purse tomorrow, Jack ?" (111), Falstaff responds with enthusiasm: "'Zounds, where thou wilt, lad I'll make one." And yet once more his wit saves him when Hal dryly comments on this sudden shift from "praying to purse-taking": Thieving is Falstaff's profession is it not proverbial that the wise man should follow his own vocation?When Poins arrives with the details relating to the proposed robbery, we learn more about Sir John.
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