Henry wants Hal to be like the Pope is to us today. We had a class discussion on this topic, and we showed how the Pope draws a crowd when he appears because it is so rare. It gives curious attention to the Pope that he would not otherwise have if he regularly appeared in public.We have just seen how King Henry feels about kingship and about his son, but now lets look at how Prince Henry and his friends look at themselves and kingship. Both Falstaff and Hal know that they are not the most respected people, but they do nothing to change in the beginning of the play. Both of them are bad influences on each other, especially Hal on Falstaff. Falstaff constantly reminded Prince Henry how he corrupted him. Falstaff said to Hal:O, thou hast damnable iteration, and art indeed able to corrupt a saint: thou hast done much harm upon me, Hal, God forgive thee for it (EL 488-489).At the beginning of this play, Prince Henry and Falstaff talk about how they are going to change their ways, but we see no proof. We see many different times in the play where Prince Henry believes that he will have the commoners support because he acts just like them. At this point in the play, he doesnt see how his current lifestyle will prevent him from becoming king. Wisely however, Prince Henry claims that he will redeem himself and be praised for his reformed lifestyle. It doesnt appear that this is going to happen until the end when Prince Henry defeats Hotspur in the battle. It seems that his predictions have come true. There were many different references to changes in Hals life at the end of the play. For instance, Falstaff tries to give him wine on the battlefield, but Prince Henry rejects it angrily. Also we see how Hal begins to seriously belittle Falstaff for his cowardice and fatness. Prince Henry begins to become the kind of honorable, praiseworthy son that he expects.Throughout this play, Prince Henry played a major part in describing the e...
