In the opening scene of the play Prince Harry or Hal is not seen rather the audience hears what his father, the king, thinks about him. The audience first meets Hal and a drunken Falstaff. They are having a witty banter, but this could be Hal’s first betrayal of Falstaff. Though Hal explicitly tells Falstaff that when he becomes King that he will not spare a thief, even if it is his friend. This honesty can be a betrayal, because Hal is trying to blend into this the society outside of court which he addresses in this soliloquy:
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 mist
Of vapors that did seem to strangle him. (Shakespeare 1.2.165-173) …show more content…
He understands their boisterous behaviors, but also realize that he knows that they cannot control it. But here he is, a prince, imitating their ways to hide his nobility and refined ways. Hal uses the metaphor of a sun and a cloud to show that he can shine bright but he chooses to be hidden by a cloud to cast a negative light on himself. This is a genius thing that Hal does, because if he is constantly exceptional at his duty then the people are going to expect it from him. He uses this clouds with foul and vulgar behavior to alter his behave. Until, the sun wants to be liberated then it will thrust himself from the mist and vapors and let himself shine
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 mist
Of vapors that did seem to strangle him. (Shakespeare 1.2.165-173) …show more content…
He understands their boisterous behaviors, but also realize that he knows that they cannot control it. But here he is, a prince, imitating their ways to hide his nobility and refined ways. Hal uses the metaphor of a sun and a cloud to show that he can shine bright but he chooses to be hidden by a cloud to cast a negative light on himself. This is a genius thing that Hal does, because if he is constantly exceptional at his duty then the people are going to expect it from him. He uses this clouds with foul and vulgar behavior to alter his behave. Until, the sun wants to be liberated then it will thrust himself from the mist and vapors and let himself shine