Close analysis of Act III of Henry IV
The scene begins in a very sombre mood, as Henry is disappointed because of his son’s lacking in royal and leadership skills. As Hal had anticipated Henry begins to lecture him. Henry tries to provoke Hal by making his current lifestyle sound very common and not at all fit for a prince. He says things like ‘such poor, such bare, such lewd, such mean attempts, such barren pleasures, rude society’. Henry is saying this to try and provoke Hal to make him say that he will stop behaving like this and start acting like the Prince of Wales. But what he eventually says is even better. Hal says that he has acted badly but he is sure that he can redeem himself. Hal says that the rumours that Henry has heard are not as bad as they seem and that he has not been acting his true self. Now Henry expresses his worries about Hal’s behaviour but particularly about the state. Once again Henry tries to provoke his son. He says how Hal’s younger brother has to take his place in council. Then he says that Hal has lost all his dignity and it will be his downfall. Henry says that to be truly admired by your people you have to be exclusive. If Henry had acted like a commoner and not hidden himself from the common people, when he did come into the public then adults and children would not awe at him. He was exclusive. Then he talks of the ‘skipping king,’ Richard II who kept shallow jesters around him and let his royalty be mixed with commoners was soon scorned by his people. What he is trying to say is that unless Hal starts acting like royalty he will lose his subjects when he becomes king. To this Hal says that he will try and be more like his true self.
