![]() It was, after all, the king’s money that was snatched. Returning the stolen money with interest is a magnanimous gesture on Hal’s part, but he is also upholding his princely reputation. He gets much pleasure and amusement in unmasking Falstaff, showing him as a coward and liar. Although the trick on Falstaff was Roin’s idea, it is a way for Hal to join in the fun without actually participating in the crime itself. The robbery incident at Gadshall gives us an example of his imagination and his game playing. The Prince of Wales, furthermore, is a very prudent man, yet somewhat disingenuous. Hal says the purse was snatched on Monday and that he became a “man of all humours” at precisely twelve o’clock midnight (II.iv.94). Berating Falstaff for his lack of time-ordered line, he says, “…unless hours were cups of sack, minutes, capons, clocks the tongue of bawds, dials the signs of leaping houses…the sun a fair hot wench… (I.ii.7-10)”. Hal always knows what time it is Falstaff does not care. Falstaff has a complet disregard for law and order Hal knows thieves are hung (II.ii66), and tells Falstaff that although he may be a madcap prince, he’s definitely not a thief (II.ii.142, 138). It is the contrast between the two men, furthermore, that gives rise to their best verbal repartee. He is much younger than Falstaff, but can match him insult for insult and pun for pun (II.ii.63-83). ![]() Their verbal exchanges exemplify that Hal is intelligent and a man with a definite sense of order, particularly as it pertains to the law and to time. It is with Falstaff that Hal can exercise his wit. Meanwhile, he will have a good time idling with the king of the Boars-Head Tavern, Sir John Falstaff. The prodigal son will return to King Henry’s court, but all in his own good time. Hal knows his true nature and he will give up the “perpetual holiday” when it pleases him ( I.ii.191-214). He is rebellious, but he does not need to reform. ![]() When he speaks of his reformation, he is being ironic. He is not wasting his time there, but is practicing for events that will occur later. It is a world that has meaning for the prince, however. Second, he is well aware that the environment he has chosen to move in, the tavern society, is a place of disorder and idleness. First, he is not confused, in a dilemma, or even feeling guilty about being a wayward son. In his soliloquy at the end of Act 1, Hal reveals much of his nature. In shirking his princely duties, he has chosen to act the part of the prodigal son until his father’s throne is threatened and it is time to answer duty’s call. The significance of the scenes at Boar’s-Head Tavern, Hal’s role-playing with Falstaff, his parodies of battles and of Hotspur, and his slumming in low-level society is that they are time frames in the emergence of Prince Hal’s personality, but they are calculated time frames of his own choosing. One of the main themes in Shakespeare’s King Henry IV, Part 1, is Prince Hal’s “act of becoming” as he moves from Falstaff’s “sweet wag” (I.ii.23) to King Henry’s “fair rescuer” (V.iii.48).
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