Flastaff is concentrated on his own wishes and desires; he is not obliged to put on an appearence that succeeds in seducing his father and nation. This character steals and lies for a living but plays this role with vigorous gusto and lives his life with no other pressing factors than his own needs, showing that he is much truer to himself than Hal. Falstaff’s innate characteristcs are not born out of malice but from the fact that he tries to get the maximum out of life with the minumum effort possible. He is basically concentrated in enjoying himself to the fullest. There are numerous situations through out the play that clearly portray Falstaff’s sense of being; he is willing to commit highway robbery for the money and entertainment, he tries to avoid paying the pub’s bill, he insists that someone sole his ‘golden’ ring, he chooses the worst men for his army so that he can keep most of the money designated to the suposedly high-ranked experienced soldiers and he lives through the battle by managing not come face to face in combat with the enemy.
Hal’s pressure to act righteoulsy because of his kingship is also linked with his fathers expectations. Through out the first part of the play, King Henry is always comparing his son to the noble Hotspur which undoubtedly forces Hal to measure up to his fathers standards. At first, the king believes that Hotspur and Hal are as different as night and day; he portrays Hotspur as a bold, honor bounded man that is always ready to face danger in the name of glory. The quote "By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap / To pluck bright honour from the pale-faced moon, / Or dive into the bottom of the deep … / And pluck up drownèd honour by the locks" (I.iii.199–203) said by Hotspur himself emphasizes King Henry’s thoughts. His remarkable accomplishments (defeating the Earl of Douglas) contrast highly on Hal who appears to be lazy, cowardly and self-indulgent. The king believes that Hotspur is "the theme of honour's tongue," but that "riot and dishonour stain the brow / of my young Harry," (I.i.80, 84) and actually wishes that Hotspur were his real son. Hal is not completely true to himself nor to others due to the fact that his actions are nor originated to satisfy his wishes but to fulfil his responsability.
While Hal is deeply concecerned with honor Falstaff’s hearty appetite for life leads him to believe that the niceties of courtesy and honor are useless to him, as the following quote demonstrates: "Can honour set-to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No…. What is honour? A word" (5.1.130–133). Hal is willing to sacrifice the appearance of honor to achieve his plan of lying low and letting people think poorly of him, confident that he can regain it at will. Hal's idea of honor even goes so far as the point that, by killing Hotspur, he believes that Hotspur's honor becomes his own. Once again, it is possible to see that Falstaff’s actions are purely based on his desires, while Hal’s are conditioned by honor for what kind of image would a king project if he did not value honour?
Another fact that proves that Hal is more concentrated in playing the right role as the future king than being true to his needs is the fact that he hints that he will be forced to leave Falstaff behind when he steps into the throne even though there is a clear friendship between them. In order to project and image of authority that creates respect he believes it necessary to detach himself form everything that might link him to the life of stealing and drinking that he had previously led. This undoubtedly shows that he is neither true to himself nor to others.
To conclude, throughout the play Falstaff is indeed much more true to himself and to others and Hal is. This is shown through the various actions and positions that Shakespeare makes these characters carry out and take for they demonstrate that Hal’s are born out of the need to meet and surpass his father’s and nation’s expectations, whilst Fallstaf’s originate in order to satisfy his own wishes and desires.