Henry IV, Part 1 929image of Hal that Vernon describes falls just short of
godly. Hal is glittering all in gold, as gorgeous as the
midsummer sun, gallantly armed, and riding “with
such ease into his seat / As if an angel [dropp’d]
down from the clouds” (4.1.108–109).
Henry’s forces win the Battle of Shrewsbury, and
Hal proves himself worthy by saving his father from
death at the hands of Douglas and killing Hotspur.
No longer the juvenile delinquent, Hal has come
of age and assumed his true position as the future
Henry V.
Alexander L. Kaufman
prIde in Henry IV, Part 1
William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 can be read
as a rumination on the disastrous consequences of
leading a prideful existence. The sin of pride may
perhaps be the most deadly and dangerous of the
Seven Deadly Sins; those who are guilty of exhibit-
ing too much pride may succumb more easily to the
other six cardinal sins. Pride can best be described
as an individual’s excessive love for his or her abili-
ties and talents. In some cases, the prideful person
believes that God’s powers and accomplishments
are beneath his own. While Hotspur is clearly the
character who is the most prideful, the title char-
acter is another notable figure whose prideful acts
contribute to one of the play’s central themes: the
danger of civil war.
Royal and ecclesiastical law stated that God
chose and appointed the monarchs of medieval
and early modern England, and therefore any act
of deposition or regicide would be an act against
the Lord and thus an act of extreme pride. It is
interesting, then, that the play is concerned with
the concept of power and who should rightly wield
it: God or the king? The play opens with a discon-
solate Henry IV planning a pilgrimage to the Holy
Land so as to make amends for his role in the death
of Richard II, his predecessor as king and political
nemesis. What Henry fails to realize is that both
his deposition of Richard and his role in Richard’s
death set into motion a series of rebellions that
begin almost immediately at the start of Henry’s
reign. In overthrowing Richard, Henry has, in a
sense, usurped the power of God: After all, it was
God who decided Richard would rule, and God
should also have decided when (and how) Richard
would exit his reign. In supplanting God’s powers,
Henry demonstrates a very proud personality. It
is ironic, then, that Henry’s prideful acts of secur-
ing (some would argue stealing) the crown from
Richard would initiate more British revolutions.
Moreover, these revolutions, which would culminate
in the Wars of the Roses, are in turn led by prideful
figures such as Hotspur. At the opening of the play,
Henry is understandably tired of the bloody battles
and of those enemies that are “like the meteors of
a troubled heaven” (1.1.10), yet he, too, is like the
meteor: dangerous, unnaturally violent, and lumi-
nous for all to see.
The meteor becomes an important symbol, for
those characters in the play who display its qualities
are also those who are the most proud. The char-
acter who exhibits the most pride is Hotspur, the
rebellion’s leader. Even within the king’s company,
Hotspur is contemptuous toward his sovereign lord.
Henry, who is enamored with Hotspur’s martial
abilities and courage, is blind to the upstart’s plans.
Once the rebellions in Wales and Scotland are
underway, Hotspur is furious when Henry demands
all of the prisoners that he took in his battle against
the Scots be handed over to his king. The king is
himself angered over Hotspur’s defiance and the
youth’s attitude of superiority of mind and power.
Even at this early moment, Hotspur wholly believes
that he is outside the king’s sphere of power and
authority: “By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap,
/ To pluck bright honor from the pale-fac’d moon”
(1.3.201–202). Hotspur, too, is enticed with the
notion of regicide, for he enthusiastically described
to Worcester and Northumberland, his allies, how
he would kill Henry: “I would have him poisoned
with a pot of ale” (1.3.233).
As the play’s narrative progresses to the inevita-
ble battle between the royalist forces led by Henry’s
son, Prince Hal, and the rebels, who are at Hotspur’s
command, the ill effects of Hotspur’s proud manner
become all too apparent. Preparing for the Battle
of Shrewsbury, the rebels realize they are decidedly
outnumbered; this does not bother Hotspur, for he
believes this disadvantage will lend “a lustre and
more great opinion, / A larger dare to our enterprise”
(4.1.77–78). By the end of the battle, the rebels are