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Henry IV, I

INTRODUCTION: When looking at I Henry IV, we see that the play is all about the mixing of opposites—duty versus irresponsibility, tragedy versus comedy, father versus son. In the character of Prince Hal, we get the black sheep of the family so-to-speak, a prince who seems to enjoy the company of commoners and the realm of taverns to the company of the court and the realm of England. His father opens the play with a disparaging speech regarding Hal in which he muses on how much better a son might the rash, hot-tempered Hotspur make than the errant Prince: “Yea, there thou mak’st me sad, and mak’st me sin/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 I 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” (I. i. 76-85). However, in the character of Falstaff we are presented with the tutor-buffoon, one of Hal’s closest companions and one of his favorite targets for ridicule.

THESIS: Falstaff is Hal’s surrogate father, his friend, his mentor and his drinking buddy in I Henry IV, but he will abandon Falstaff in II Henry IV when duty calls and, Falstaff will die in Henry V because of his pain over Hal’s (the newly crowned king) banishment of him. Nonetheless, in I Henry IV, Falstaff serves the role of surrogate father while at the same time serving as a contrast to the real relationship between Hal and his father, Henry IV.

BODY: After the scene in which Henry IV muses on the prospect of Hotspur for a son, we are treated to a tavern scene wherein Falstaff and Hal plan the robbery at Gadshill. However, Hal secretly plans to rob Falstaff with the help of Poins and the actions that ensue at Gadshill serve as comic material for much of the rest of the play. However, by choosing such companions as Falstaff, Ha...

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Henry IV, I. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 07:37, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1685630.html