An Analysis Of An Ideal King In Shakespeare's Henry IV

When Hal makes his promise to his father that he will end the rebellion, William Shakespeare tells his audiences that the prince starts his transformation to become an ideal king in Henry IV, Part 1. These lines illustrated Hal’s plan to become an ideal king with some concrete steps, such as meeting Hotspur on the battlefield and washing his shame with the blood on his face. It is hard to believe that a prince who spends all his time with highwaymen can come up with a serious plan and quickly identify a chance to express it to the king. Moreover, Hal is given a variety of options to start his transformation to become an ideal king, but his response indicates that he will only achieve this goal by regaining his “honor” on the battlefield. What are the factors contribute to Hal’s decision to make this promise and how do they reflect the “honor” that Hal is trying to obtain? It seems like the prince has a general direction to pursue his “honor” and some sort of stimulation push him to make this particular resolution. As Shakespeare guides his audiences to the …show more content…
This eagerness gives rise to a comparison of the benefit among the options for Hal’s transformation plan. In other words, the prince wants to find the option that gives the best reward in shortest time. The decision of ending the rebellion seems to be the most effective option compared to the other options in Hal’s hand. One possible explanation is that ending the rebellion allows the prince to obtain esteem and respect in a short period of time by defeating the rebels on the battlefield. Another possible explanation is that the rebellion can attract more people due to its significance across the whole nation. In either case, Hal determines that ending the rebellion is the most effective method to reclaim his “honor”, and therefore the prince is more likely to make a promise such as suppressing the