by Benan Saracoglu, Blogging Circle 1
At the current time, there are three people who may be eligible for the crown. These three include Mortimer(name thrown in the Goblet by Hotspur), Prince Hal, and the current king, King Henry IV. Of these three, one is a (supposedly) failing King who has already dethroned(and indirectly killed another king), another is completely absent, and the third is extremely vain and shown to have no true loyalties. I’m left wondering how these three contendors for the crown will come together in this War of Roses.
Of the three, even though King Henry IV is presented as the foil and eventual mirror to King Richard, I actually believe that Prince Hal is more akin to King Richard than his father is. I speak for this because of their actions and intents. Both Prince Hal and King Richard best fit the description of a ‘rose’ the most in my opinion, while we know nothing of Mortimer yet, and Henry IV just doesn’t shine as brightly as the two others do. Mortimer’s name does translate to “still water/dead sea”, so perhaps that is something to keep in mind for his character. Both Richard and Hal are very selfish individuals, whose self-interests always take precedence. As for Prince Hal, in class we talked extensively about the truth of this character, and the beginning of this character is more clearly explained in scene 1.2, where Prince Hal’s soliloquy closes the scene:
(1.2, 1184, 170-192)
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(missed) he may be more wondered at…
—
My reformation, glittering o’er my fault,
shall show more goodly and attract more eyes
than that which hath no foil to set it off.”
I think these quote specifically reveals to us just the kind of person he is, that is, one who is extremely vain and self-centered, and truly manipulative; unlike his father, who may be subltly or indirectly manipulating strings, Hal is an experienced puppetmaster, acting purely for his own gain in an experimental way, one that best fits his whims and present situation. While Richard was also very self-centered and absorbed, and reflected a rose in his delicacy and beauty of language, his thorns are not nearly as sharp or venomous as what we see in the language of Prince Hal, his thorns have matured from an early age, asa it is he who has a plan incubating from the very beginning with a long term goal in mind. But while Hal reflects Richard closely in these senses, Mortimer shares a familial blood relation, and perhaps this divine power, if it were coupled with a similar cunning to Henry IV’s son, could prove for an extremely vicious power struggle yet, reflected in the children of Kings, who learned from their parent’s weaknesses’.
I really like the comparison you draw between Prince Hal and King Richard. There are, as you point out, a lot of similarities. It may be interesting to add to this by considering the commentary being made on being born into one’s role, especially since this is a play and all these roles are acting roles.
I don’t know if I’d call Prince Hal a puppet master though; to me, he’s more of a puppet who knows he’s a puppet, but also that everyone else is as well.
I like that you compare Hal to Richard, because not only is it true that both of their own self-interests seem to take precedence in their minds, but King Henry himself makes that comparison: “As thou art to this hour was Richard then / When I from France set foot at Ravenspur, / And even as I was then is Percy now.” (3.2.94-96). I think this comparison also relates to the idea of divine right to rule that you mention, because Henry taking the throne is presented as a generally evil act, and Percy fails to take the throne. The relation to Richard only strengthens the idea that Prince Hal is the rightful king.
I think I definitely agree with Rivka’s interpretation of Hal as more of a self-aware puppet than the puppetmaster, though, because as I think I mentioned in my own blog post, Hal is “herein” deciding to “imitate the sun” (1.2.170), which I interpreted as him taking advantage of an existent impression of himself in order to look better in finally doing his princely duty.
Benan,
I really like your analysis of Prince Hal! I thought the same thing about him being rather selfish. The fact that he isn’t really present in any of the royal courts for a majority of the play is something that should definitely play into whether or not he’s fit to be a king. His plan to seem even more suited for royalty makes sense to Hal himself, but in reality doesn’t make too much sense. If he hasn’t proven his responsibility up until this point in his life, can one action really show us that he can effectively be king? When it boils down, Hal’s actions are not considering the good of the country he wants to lead. He only thinks of himself.
It’s really neat how many different perspectives the characters in Henry IV draw out. Personally, I don’t see Hal as quite so manipulative as you do. I wonder how much your opinion of Hal has changed on completion of the play.
I’d agree that Hal is a selfish character. Although he was born into being a Prince, and did not sign up for it, we learn that he has reneged on his council duties and has basically been living like a heathen out in bars.
I don’t know if Hal’s idea on a complete transformation was really a master plan or just a coming to realization for him. The “imitate the sun” part sort of sounds like Hal is merely playing another part.
By the end of the play, I think Hal has proved himself to the audience as well as his father as having the potential to be a very capable King. Hal does acts of pure kindness in private, by giving Falstaff the credit for the death of Hotspur. Hal has nothing to gain from that act, yet he does it to help his friend.
Interesting analysis!
The comparison of Prince Hal to Richard is very accurate! Before reading the last acts of the play, I thought of Prince Hal as just the part of the prince, he didn’t really want the throne. I felt this because in my eyes a prince, who wants the crown, does not hang out in the tavern with “the commons.” Now, however, my impression of him, is he is selfish. He seems to not care what everyone feels nor thinks. Hal betrayed all who friended him. Nobel? I think not! Instead, he is a trader. So with this being said, I agree with Rivka and Allison, he is the puppet. The strings are not controlled by a mere person, but controlled by means of selfishness and entitlement!
I completely agree with your comparison of King Hal and Richard and I am shocked that I did not realize the similarities before. They both have individualistic mindsets when it comes to ruling an entire Kingdom. We never read monologues of these characters expressing their concerns for the people they ruled, only for themselves. There is a difference between King Richard and Prince Hal and that is when the Kingdom was threatened, Prince Hal stood up and fought for everyone where as King Richard fought only for his crown specifically. Now that we’ve read the entire play, would you agree that Hal is a bit more honorable than Richard?
I think your interpretation of the rose imagery is spot on. I like how you compared and contrasted Richard’s character/actions with Hal. In my blog post I talked about the garden and blood imagery present in both plays and how public opinion of Richard shifts in this play. So, I think it was very interesting that you used some of the garden imagery to talk about Hal’s character.
Comparing Hal and Richard is a wise move, as you are right in how similar they are to one another. Using the rose comparison makes a lot of sense, as they didn’t just call the war that for nothing! While I do see the similarities between Hal and Richard in how selfish they both are, I’m willing to buy Hal as a much more cunning and ambitious character. I think he would surely make a better ruler than Richard, even though he has little to know ruling experience. He seems to be calm, collected, and above all else more patient than any of the other names mentioned. He is willing to sit idly by and wait for the crown to come to him, and I personally think that makes him the best contender to participate in the War of the Roses, as king!