Henry IV, Part 1

“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 proved

That some night-tripping fairy had exchanged

In cradle-clothes our children where they lay, And called mine ‘Percy,’ his ‘Plantagenet’!

Then would I have his Harry, and he mine.”

King Henry establishes the contrast between the reputations of Prince Hal and Hotspur, which causes Hotspur to become Hal’s chief rival. Though Hotspur rebels against the king, his prowess on the battlefield and other virtues earn him respect and fear. Prince Hal, on the other hand, lives a disgraceful, prodigal life, consorting with the lower rungs of society. The king invokes folklore in which fairies swap human children; he wishes the two Harrys were swapped as Hotspur demonstrates The Qualities of a King.

“Marry then, sweet wag, when thou art king,

let not us that are squires of the night’s body be

called thieves of the day’s beauty. Let us be Diana’s

foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the

moon, and let men say we be men of good government,

being governed, as the sea is, by our noble

and chaste mistress the moon, under whose countenance

we steal.”

The liberties that Falstaff takes with Prince Hal show, on the one hand, Falstaff’s likable personality and affection for the prince, and, on the other, the extent to which Prince Hal has denigrated his station as heir to the throne. Falstaff invokes the goddess Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, to embellish the reputation of thieves. He hopes that their association with Henry will lift their position in life once he is king.

“I know you all, and will awhile uphold

The unyoked humor of your idleness.

Yet herein will I imitate the sun,

Who doth permit the base contagious clouds

To smother up his beauty from the world,

That, when he please again to be himself,

Being wanted, he may be more wondered at

By breaking through the foul and ugly mists

Of vapors that did seem to strangle him.

If all the year were playing holidays,

To sport would be as tedious as to work,

But when they seldom come, they wished-for come,

And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.

So when this loose behavior I throw off

And pay the debt I never promisèd,

By how much better than my word I am,

By so much shall I falsify men’s hopes;

And, like bright metal on a sullen ground,

My reformation, glitt’ring o’er my fault,

Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes

Than that which hath no foil to set it off.

I’ll so offend to make offense a skill,

Redeeming time when men think least I will.”

While Prince Hal enjoys his time with Falstaff and his band of rogues, his love for them is not as sincere as Falstaff’s love for Hal.