"Breaking through the foul and ugly mists": In Shakespeares historic play King Henry the Fourth, Part One, the ingenious playwright uses an interesting and powerful method of presenting the honorable by introducing that character at the rock bottom of his potential and, as Hal puts it, "breaking through the foul and ugly mists/ Of vapors that did seem to strangle him" (I.ii, 155-6). Chiasmus, in Shakespeares plays, is the inversion of two characters reputation and personality traits. In I Henry IV this technique can be seen in the shifting of the readers perception of Harry Percy, more vividly known as Hotspur, and Hal, the Prince of Wales. Hotspur and Hal start out on two utterly opposite ends of the spectrum of honor and nobility. As the play progresses, we can witness Hals transcendence, turning point, and rise to the peak of his potential. We also are shown Hotspurs gradual dive to shame (and ultimately death) as he loses his temperance and patience, and is consumed by confidence and greed. The literary effect of chiasmus terminates with, once again, the characters on opposite ends of the spectrum, but somewhere along the shift, they cross paths and the original hierarchy is inverted.At the beginning of the play, Prince Hal starts out on the lower half of the hierarchy. He spends the majority of his time in the tavern, drinking away the money that he "earns" by robbing travelers during the night. He is introduced to the readers as immature, irresponsible, and ignorant to his destiny and potential. But Shakespeare doesnt let his readers see Hal this way for long: in I.ii, Hals intention of transcendence to princedom is evident in his revealing soliloquy:"Yet herein will I imitate the sun,Who doth permit the base contagious cloudsTo smother up his beauty from the world,That when he please again to be himself,Being wanted he may be more wondered atBy breaking through the foul and ugly mistsOf vapors that did seem to strangle him."(15...
