How are the two sides of Prince Henry's nature conveyed in this passage? Look at the apparent banter between Henry and Poins. Henry's apparent dissatisfaction at the philandering, tavern lifestyle manifests itself in act two scene two

We see this same dissatisfaction and longing for freedom in Henry’s boredom at he beginning of the scene. He is obviously tired of the monotony and hedonism prevalent throughout tavern life and the first thing he says to Poins is ‘Before God I am exceedingly weary’. The metaphor of ‘the small beer’ is then used to represent Henry’s self disgust at his ‘desire’ for drinking the watered down ale of the taverns instead of the rich beer of the courts. These comments (being so early in the scene) can be interpreted as slightly ironic since the Prince has come into the tavern then immediately expressed his boredom and dissatisfaction at it. The two sides of Henry’s nature are therefore exemplified as he paradoxically wants to live out his libertine lifestyle and drink the ‘small beer’ but is disgusted at the weariness and boredom this life invokes.

Mirroring this is Henry’s treatment of Poins where paradoxically, humour is used to express a gross discontent at the friendship that has been forged. In his ridicule of Poins Henry talks of being as far in the ‘devils book’ as ‘thou and Falstaff’ and makes comments such as ‘it is a disgrace to me to remember thy name’. The humour that is conveyed therefore is one of mockery with a much darker side. The fact that Henry is not interrupted throughout this scene means that he is free to speak his mind and conveys an inner, maybe even subconscious desire to disassociate himself with the people from the tavern. In the midst of the banter with Poins, we therefore see Henry’s discontentment with his peers and former friends.

Similarly, Henry’s possible dissatisfaction with the people of the tavern is coupled with his struggle between responsibility and immaturity. Henry is in a transition from his juvenile libertine lifestyle to a more calculated pragmatic man. We see hints that he might turn into a man like his father with cold monosyllabic phrases such as ‘let the end try the man’. Alternatively, he is still in the immature naïve state of mind at the end of the scene when he concerned at playing a joke to see ‘Falstaff’s true colours’ without ‘himself being seen’. These two juxtaposing attitudes convey Henrys double sided nature and show he is in an internal struggle between two different frames of mind.

Overall, Henry’s actions are interpreted by the tavern folk as being harmless but they do realise his gross dissatisfaction at tavern life and his attempts to change this behaviour. . He is however in a period of self disgust and self loathing, although he has not yet emancipated himself from the chains of immaturity and is still in a transition towards being a pragmatic, machiavellian king.