Hal’s Adolescence

“Where shall we take a purse tomorrow, Jack?” (1. 2. 98), exclaims an excited Prince Henry, known among his friends as “Hal.” Despite his royal upbringing, the wild introduction to the Prince’s favorite hang-out spot, the tavern, suggests the rebellious young Prince’s crude humor and hobbies. In fact, Prince Henry’s friends, notably Falstaff, even joke about his royal blood, humorously commenting that “There’s neither honest, manhood, nor good fellowship in [Prince Henry], nor [he] cam’st not of the blood royal” (1. 2. 135-136) if he doesn’t fight for ten shillings and partake in the petty robbery with the group. As Esman (1998) suggests, Hal seems to be going through a bit of a rebellious and impulsive phase during the majority of “Henry IV Pt 1”  King Henry IV certainly seems to disapprove of his first son’s thoughtless actions and petty crimes, expressing his disappointment time and time again to his royal counterparts. Although the play itself is easily a commentary on the history, Shakespeare seems to have inadvertently built in an additional bildungsroman centered around Hal’s life.

Of course, the bildungsroman as a literary genre didn’t surface until much after Shakespeare death and as Esman (1998) points out, adolescence was not a recognized developmental phase. Hal’s careless actions and deliberate opposition to his father’s wishes, however, imply a universal defiance of the age. As a first born prince headed to the throne, Prince Henry perhaps lashes out and spends his days away in the tavern with his pal out of spite or stress. Regardless, his actions mirror much of what I witness of Dartmouth students who are away from home for the first time.

Like a common Dartmouth student first entering the Greek life, Hal surrounds himself with his “bros” – mainly Falstaff and Poins. Despite their older age, these are the characters who encourage Prince Henry to transform into “Hal.” They essentially show him the way to the good life. The similarities are uncanny in the Prince’s soliloquy at the end of 1. 2. “I know you all, and will awhile uphold/ The unyoked humor of your idleness” (1. 2. 188-9), Prince Henry speaks to himself, “Yet herein will I imitate the sun…” (1. 2. 190), Hal continues to speak of his silly guise that will inevitably be thrown off when the time is right for his redemption. The Prince embodies any and all typical adolescent egocentrism and truly believes that the world revolves around his daily actions, ready to be surprised when his “reformation” is revealed.

He isn’t necessarily wrong. After all, Prince Henry is the heir to the throne in a monarchy about to enter a civil war. There are rumors of his frivolous spending and expectations that have been put away for the time being. Even still, his days in the tavern are filled with crude talk and “hogheads,” the old time version of a keg. He even has the text book disappointment talk with his father (after practicing the talk with Falstaff in advance), who clearly disapproves of his first son’s terrible reputation. The Prince, however, does shape up, which is the piece that convinces me that Hal’s story is the bildungsroman of its time. Understanding the fight to be fought and the personal threats to his father, the King, Prince Henry promises “I will redeem all this on Percy’s head/ And, in the closing of some glorious day, / Be bold to tell you that I am your son…” (3. 2. 132-4).

The Prince reveals his dynamic character and his response to emergency is nothing short of adult – quite the opposite of the tavern-dwelling Hal. Even in the absence of a term coined for adolescence, Prince Henry embodies the very sense of this developmental phase in his words, actions, and changes, so much that his behavior is reminiscent of many college students on this very campus. As Esman (1998) proposes, Prince Henry’s dynamic development is so realistic that his growth is easily applicable to rebellious teens now in the 21st century.

Esman, Aaron H. “Shakespeare’s Adolescents.” Adolescent Psychiatry (1998): 25-37. Web. 20 July 2015.