Comparing Identity In Henry IV And Henry V

In his historical plays Henry IV Part 1 and Henry V, Shakespeare investigates the themes of identity and what makes a good king. In exploring these themes, Shakespeare compares the characters Hotspur and Hal. In addition to both Hotspur and Hal being called “Henry” and “Harry,” Shakespeare directs readers to compare the two by naming both of their wives Kate, only one of which is historically accurate. Hotspur and Hal’s interactions with their wives characterize Hotspur as a fully-realized man unfit to be king and Hal as a good king without an internal self. Shakespeare uses these characters to argue that having an internal identity and being a good king may be incompatible.
In many of his plays, Shakespeare establishes love as a forum for

Shakespeare first presents Hal in a tavern making fun of Falstaff for being “so fat-witted with drinking of old / sack, and unbuttoning thee after supper, and / sleeping upon benches after noon” (Henry IV Part 1 1.2.2-4). When with Falstaff and his tavern friends, Hal speaks in prose, mocking Falstaff in a crude but jovial manner. Once alone, Hal immediately switches to verse, unveiling his plan to break “through the foul and ugly mists” to create a transformation that “shall show more goodly and attract more eyes / Than that which hath no foil to set it off” (1.2.209,221-222). By describing Falstaff as “base contagious clouds” and “foul and ugly mists” (1.2.205,209), Hal establishes Falstaff is not truly a friend but an object Hal is using to make himself look better. Within this plan, Hal successfully adjusts his language, both vocabulary and meter, depending on whom he is with. He plans to make this switch “when he please again to be himself” (1.2.207), clarifying that the calculating, courtly Hal who speaks in verse is the true self, not the casual, friendly Hal who speaks in prose. As his interactions with Falstaff and his soliloquy express, Hal manufactures relationships and adopts language to achieve his goals and match the context and people around

Hotspur’s relationship with Kate clarifies that genuinely argumentative and war-minded. Although his relationship with Kate reveals a somewhat softer interior, he and Kate do not fit the roles of king and queen and, therefore, are unfit for the throne. Hal, however, is disingenuous even with Kate, emphasizing that he may not possess an interior persona. Instead, Hal woos Kate using humble, casual, and loving language to support the unification of England and France, both having a subservient queen and becoming a symbol of English-French unification. Through these characters, Shakespeare argues that what makes an individual may not make a good king. Kingship is an act of theater, requiring tailoring language, personality, and actions to the present situation. There need not be a deeper interior underneath. Having an interior self may detract from one’s ability to minimize personal values and desires and prioritize the kingdom’s