Despite how long Prince Henry disregards his father, and neglects returning home for long periods of time; it is clear that Prince Henry respects his father to a certain degree due to the respect that he yearns to receive from the King. If the Prince truly does not care about his image in the eyes of the King, then he would consort with the tavern folk forever ceasing to rise to the position of future king of England. However, this is not the case. In the line: “I do beseech your Majesty may salve, / The long-grown wounds of my intemperance” (III.ii.155-156) the Prince begs for his father’s forgiveness if he can stay true to his word, and win the battle between himself and Hotspur. The lessons that the Prince acquires from his father do not
As a king, Henry becomes known for being a man of resilience, strategy, and combat. These traits, according to Machiavelli, are necessary to become the “ideal king.” As stated by Machiavelli, “…a prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules.” (Machiavelli) This can be seen when the Dauphin presents Henry with a gift of tennis balls and an insulting speech practically telling him to stay out of grown men’s affairs. This gives Henry the leverage he needs to start a war with France without looking like the instigator. He can now put the blame of war on the Dauphin and the many lives of whom will be killed. Henry uses this to move toward his strength and show his full potential.
Raising a child is always a challenging and time-consuming task, and raising a prince is even more difficult. Henry puts his leadership aside to focus his efforts upon preventing Prince Hal from absolute corruption or even betrayal. Hal enjoys the company of an unruly thief, the drunkard John Falstaff, as well as several other less respectable persons. Henry is more realistic and rational than Richard, and he is able to see that his position is not a good one. He may fear that he is a bad example for his son, for he too was a robber when he stole the throne. He fears that his son will ruin his image as king or even assist in overthrowing him;
Throughout Henry IV, Falstaff, an important character impacting Henry’s growth; was said to act somewhat like his mentor, guiding him through the lower class society and its wilderness. This clearly portrayed their solid relationship, as Henry seemed to learn from Falstaff and use it for his good. However, it is found shocking when Falstaff is found on his death bed in Henry V leaving the Hostess say “The king has killed his heart.” The example metaphorically speaks of Falstaff’s unbearable pain from the King’s rejection; his betrayal was a trigger to Falstaff’s downfall and sickness. Henry seemed to disown Falstaff as he chose to rule his country rather than be found in pubs. Although found upsetting by many audience members, it is possible that Henry saw himself in Falstaff if he had not chosen to grow up, thus chose the best for himself and his
King Henry IV must also contend with his son, Prince Hal, who’s not the honorable prince he had hoped him to be. He feels it is “an honorable spoil” not to have “a son who is the theme of honor’s tongue,” when he learns of Northumberland’s son Hotspur’s victories, which, should be “a conquest for a prince to boast of” (1.1.74,80, & 76). Pangs of jealousy strike Henry’s heart caused by the differences between his son and Northumberland’s. So much so, he wishes “it could be proved that” someone, or something, “had exchanged in cradle clothes, their sons at birth” (1.1.85-87).
Although King Henry and Falstaff are extremely different characters, both do act as father figures in Hal’s life with Falstaff as a surrogate father and King Henry as Hal’s birth father. With King Henry, this fatherly relationship emerges as one of blindly scolding and ordering around his son, an example being when the King criticizes Hal’s friends, “rude society” (3.2.14). The relationship with Hal and his surrogate father, Falstaff, though is much more relaxed with Falstaff teasing Hal, by touching on Hal’s slight insecurity of taking care of his princely duties, calling Hal “true prince” (2.4.106). Although both these relationships are very different in how relaxed they are, there is a similarity of King Henry and Falstaff acting as fatherly figures in Hal’s life.
The Glass Castle. Sounds like a story about some fantasy kingdom with a castle made of glass, but it’s not. This is a story about the early life of a young woman, Jeannette Walls. From drinking to living in the desert to running to New York, her life is a roller coaster ride. However, there is one thing you notice in the story: forgiveness. This happened many times in the Walls family. The act of forgiveness ultimately led the family to peace.
King Henry even sent his son Henry, later the "Young King", to live in Becket's household, it being the custom then for noble children to be fostered out to other noble houses. Later that would be one of the reasons his son would turn against him, having formed an emotional attachment to Becket as a foster-father. Henry the Young King was reported to have said Becket showed him more fatherly love in a day than his father did his entire life.
Mahatma Gandhi once stated, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Jeannette Walls is a best selling author known best for her personal memoir “The Glass Castle” where she describes her unconventional childhood, negligent upbringing, and her struggle to defy all forces and break the cycle of deprivation. Their alcoholic father, Rex and their narcotic mother, Rose Mary raised Jeannette and her three siblings with no steady income and lived in a state of absolute instability. Despite his many flaws, Jeannette managed to keep faith in her father when everyone else had abandoned hope. After many broken promises, drunken riots, and complete desertion Jeannette’s confidence in her father vanished and she moved on
Among the upper classes, he proved over and over again that he was not a good king. He rarely, if ever, participated in Parliament, and often did not attend sittings of the king's council. When the council sat at Westminster, Henry usually managed to be somewhere else (Storey, 35). These actions give a picture of a king who, though solicited for his opinions, did not want to get involved in the
Even though outnumbered, King Henry gets through to his troops with his encouraging words. They understand that at that moment they are and always will be equal. They are risking their lives while “the men in England safe in their beds.” If King Henry does not care for status, neither should his troops. King Henry even says he is not above them, “whoever sheds his blood with me today shall be my brother.” Even though they are not blood related, the King will consider these men his brothers, due to their bravery to risk their lives. I think that is one of the most important lines from the
Plato’s The Apology and Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince provide two opposing views of the ideal ruler and government. The seminal works attempt to uncover the true definition of justice which becomes the basis from which they craft their vision of effective civil leadership. The two men, both influenced by the times of similar conflict and chaos in which they worked, espouse divergent beliefs regarding proper and effective authority. This difference is rooted in a fundamental incongruity between their views of human nature. Socrates, as an ancient Greek philosopher and teacher, views the individual as a sacred and beautiful being capable of reason and great wisdom while Machiavelli believes that the people are inferior to their leaders
This gives Hal a constant sense of inaptness. Knowing that his father thinks low of him drives him more towards Falstaff who praises him at all times, giving him the support he needs at such age. Hal’s disobedience is partly a stubborn reaction to his father’s criticism and partly a rebellion that is natural in his age. On the other hand, King Henry IV is haunted by a sense of guilt that is translated to a feeling of suspicion towards his own son. The source of this guilt is his usurping of the throne and, in a way or another, being a participant in the killing of Richard II, if not by giving the orders at least by turning a blind eye to it. King Henry IV unconsciously harbors a belief that God will punish him for doing this through his son. He expects that it will either be the fall of Hal when he succeeds him or Hal overthrowing him and taking over the throne. However, both options lead the king to treat his son with caution. An example of this is his fury when he wakes up to find that his crown is missing and thinking that his son wishes his death to become the king.
Hotspur's is decidedly not political or diplomatic in his orientation. Quite to the contrary, he is a figure unafraid to express anger, resentment and hostility toward the King. As he does so, he speaks with the tongue of a warrior, impassioned by his sense of honor and resistant to any calming reason. He speaks sarcastically and derisively with his own father for being reluctant to turn his back on Henry IV. Particularly because the Duke of Northumberland and his son had been so critical to helping Henry
Henry V is a wise and loyal king, changing from a wild youth to a mature king. He is described to be an intelligent, thoughtful and an efficient statesman. He thinks carefully whether to invade France or not which represents his responsible character. King Henry gives a very strong speech which gave courage and confidence to his army that they could win the battle. This character describes him to be a king of great ability to fight and having good administrative skills. Throughout the play Henry’s nature is religious, merciful and compassionate.
Henry the Fifth has been noted as England’s best King throughout history. He was loved among the common people and nobles alike for his fairness, his effectiveness on the throne, his justness, and his ability to relate to people of all classes. The kings that reigned before him, especially his father King Henry IV and King John, provide a striking contrast to Hal’s attitude on the throne. Kings of the past had not experienced the life of the common people, and chose to lead their lives in the realm of the castle. As we witnessed in I Henry IV, Hal’s father even went as far to discuss this approach to ruling at length with Hal. Henry IV believed that a king was best admired and supplicated if he was kept