“I see a strange confession in thine eye.”

Northumberland has received conflicting reports about the fate of his son, Hotspur. While he is unsure which message to believe, he decides to take guidance from the emotional sincerity of the message. The look in Morton’s eye is enough to tell him that Hotspur is dead, showing the significance of personal interaction and investment in a world where messages and rumors cannot always be trusted. Morton, Northumberland is sure, is at the very least sincere.

“I am not only witty in myself, but the cause that wit is in other men.”

Falstaff’s comic aside is also a comment on his role in the play. While he has little effect on the narrative’s political events, he inspires comedy and wit in characters like Prince Hal, giving the play’s larger-than-life figures depth and complexity.

“When we mean to build,

We first survey the plot, then draw the model;

And when we see the figure of the house,

Then must we rate the cost of the erection,

Which if we find outweighs ability,

What do we then but draw anew the model

In fewer offices, or, at least, desist

To build at all?”

Lord Bardolph’s extended metaphor compares the rebellion to the construction of a house. This suggests that the rebel lords view their actions as more than mere insurrection. Lord Bardolph believes that he and his co-conspirators are in the business of constructing a new state—of building England according to an ambitious vision. The metaphor implies care and craftsmanship more than emotion or violence.

“We are time’s subjects, and time bids be gone.”

The parting words of the conspirators nod to the theme of Confronting Aging and Mortality. They are not getting younger, Hastings implies, so they need to act. This reference to the passing of time speaks to the urgency of their situation and the danger they face. They are in a precarious position, and they must not hesitate as to hesitate would be to concede ground to the king and, likely, to lose their lives. Their plans are thus motivated in part by the same sense of fate that dogs the man they are rebelling against.

“Well, you shall have it, though I pawn

my gown. I hope you’ll come to supper. You’ll pay me all

together?”

Falstaff’s interaction with Mistress Quickly illustrates how his charisma operates. At the beginning of the scene, Quickly is trying to organize Falstaff’s arrest due to his unpaid debts to her. By the end of the scene, he has convinced her to pawn her possessions to lend him the money with which to pay her back. Falstaff’s charm creates a world of circular logic, in which characters are so beguiled by his absurdity and his wit that they begin to view the world from his perspective.

“Every man would think me an hypocrite

indeed.”

Prince Hal is accused by various other nobles of being self-centered and wayward, yet he is capable of a level of considered introspection that suggests depth to his character. He is aware of his own reputation but also of the way in which his declarations of innocence might backfire against him. He cannot simply distance himself from Falstaff, due to accusations of self-interest and hypocrisy, so he must act in such a manner that people are convinced that he is a good man.

“He was indeed the glass

Wherein the noble youth did dress themselves.”

Lady Percy’s metaphor of a mirror suggests that her late husband, Hotspur, was a model for the noble youth of England, providing a model for masculinity that others sought to imitate. Yet her words also hint at the problems her husband faced. Like a looking glass, Hotspur was easily broken: He was killed in battle by the man who will be king, suggesting that who he was and what he represented were as fragile and as untouchable as a mirror and its image.

“It angered him to the heart. But he hath forgot

that.”

Even minor characters are aware of the intricacies of Falstaff’s character. An incident that once “angered him to the heart” was quickly forgotten (8), speaking to the cascading, intense nature of Falstaff’s emotions, as well as the fleeting nature of his declarations. He issues declarative, emphatic statements only to forget them soon after. Falstaff lives as he speaks, with fierce emotion that rarely lingers.

“I

cannot endure such a fustian rascal.”

Falstaff and Ancient Pistol have a similar reputation for criminality. Whereas Falstaff is charming enough to be forgiven for his transgressions, however, Pistol is rarely welcomed anywhere, as evidenced by Doll Tearsheet’s reaction to him. Ancient Pistol serves as a foil for Falstaff, hinting at how Falstaff would be treated by the world if he lacked his charisma and wit.

“Peace, good Doll, do not speak like a death’s

head, do not bid me remember mine end.”

Buried beneath Falstaff’s flirting and his ribaldry is a hint of pathos. He is an old man who does not want to be reminded of his own mortality, even jokingly. He jokes about everything else so as to avoid the subject of his own demise and warns others against raising the subject.

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

In a reflective mood, King Henry reviews the price he has paid to become king. He fought his own rebellion to take the crown, and now he can barely sleep at night. His health is declining, and he must fight back rebellions from people who were once allies, so much so that he is not able to accomplish what he would like as a monarch. The crown he has fought so hard to obtain has become a burden.

“Jesu,

Jesu, the mad days that I have spent! And to see how

many of my old acquaintance are dead.”

Shallow’s comment mirrors Falstaff’s earlier discomfort with his own mortality. The visit of Falstaff has put Shallow in a nostalgic mood, only for him to remember that many of his old acquaintances are dead. Rather than a reunion with an old friend, the visit of Falstaff is a reminder to Shallow of his own mortality.

“My old dame will be undone now for

one to do her husbandry and her drudgery. You need not

to have pricked me; there are other men fitter to go out

than I.”

As Falstaff recruits soldiers to put down the rebellion, the possible recruits offer up excuses as to why they should not go to war. Mouldy suggests that he is needed for domestic chores and begs Falstaff to pick someone else. Later, he bribes Falstaff to get out of the situation, revealing the lack of concern among the common people for the constant wars in the kingdom. The common people are not moved by the demands of kings or nobles; they simply want to get on with their lives.

“This offer comes from mercy, not from fear.”

Westmorland’s offer to the rebel lords is, he assures them, not a demonstration of weakness. Rather, the king and the prince are inclined to be merciful and to offer a diplomatic and pragmatic solution to the war. The certainty of his declarative statement, however, is undermined by his immediate betrayal. As soon as the rebels disperse, he arrests and executes the rebel lords. While the offer may not have been made out of fear, it was not made in good faith, nor was it at all merciful. This moral ambiguity among the play’s “heroes” complicates the play’s exploration of Shaping identity Through Moral Choice.

“Is this proceeding just and honorable?”

As he hears the news that he and his fellow conspirators are to be arrested for treason, Mowbray appeals to the prince’s sense of justice and honor. For rebels, Westmorland replies, such factors do not matter. The rebellion, from the perspective of the crown, was not an honorable undertaking, so the rebel leaders do not deserve to be treated honorably. The scene underscores that notions of honor and justice are malleable and subjective, hinting at a moral decline that began with the deposition of Richard II.

“Let it do something, my good lord, that may do

me good, and call it what you will.”

Having apprehended Coleville almost by accident, Falstaff is determined to gain credit from the state, evidencing the way in which he manipulates any situation for his own benefit. Prince John can call the situation whatever he wants, Falstaff says, so long as credit is given to Falstaff in court. Any mention is preferable for Falstaff compared to no mention of his name at all.

“If I had a thousand sons,

the first human principle I would teach them should be to

forswear thin potations, and to addict themselves to

sack.”

Falstaff’s speech about his love of the alcohol sack reveals the tragedy of his situation. Falstaff is an old man, but he engages in a speculative discussion of how he might raise the sons that he will never have. Prince Hal was the closest he ever knew to a son, as defined by Falstaff: His relationship with his surrogate son was built on alcohol, an addiction that has hampered his efforts to live a meaningful life. His praise of sack is an admission of how much of himself he has lost to alcohol.

“And wherefore should these good news make me sick?”

As the play reaches a climax, King Henry receives good news: All his enemies are conquered. Yet he notes that he is not in a physical condition to celebrate. He feels sick, with his death approaching fast. The irony of the king’s victory is that he will not live long enough to enjoy it, making the news itself seem bitter.

“Why doth the crown lie there upon his pillow,

Being so troublesome a bedfellow?”

Prince Hal’s character growth is evident in the way he looks at the crown on his father’s pillow. Rather than something to covet, the crown is a symbol of his father’s strife. He has seen the effect that the crown has had on his father and has learned the responsibilities and difficulties of being a king. This implies that when he himself becomes king, he will not see the crown as an entitlement but as a symbol of responsibility.

“But thou, most fine, most honored, most renowned,

Hast eat thy bearer up.”

The prince shares his newfound interpretation of the crown’s symbolism with his father. In almost confessional tones, he admits to his father that he has seen the effect the crown has had on the king, conveying the wariness which he now feels with regards to his own rule; the juxtaposition of the various superlatives attached to the crown with the metaphorical framing of it as a devouring force underscores the dramatic shift in Hal’s understanding of what it means to rule. This signals to King Henry that his son is not the wayward, irresponsible youth that he long feared he was and allows the two men to reconcile—an instance of The Evolution of Relationships Through Life Changes.

“Yea, Davy, I will use him well; a friend ith’ court

is better than a penny in purse.”

Falstaff is far from the only character who believes that the prince’s ascension to the throne will be a boon. He is at the top of a pyramid of disreputable characters who hope they will benefit from Falstaff’s proximity to the new king; Shallow, quoted above, is among them. Rather than real friendship, these characters show their cynical self-interest in the way they hope to personally benefit through their relationships to power.

“The service that I truly did his life

Hath left me open to all injuries.”

The Lord Chief Justice is made to realize that, in a monarchy, legality and duty are often subjective. Though he served the previous king and the law to the best of his ability, his very punctiliousness makes him vulnerable to revenge by the new king. That King Henry V does not act upon the Justice’s fears is another sign of his rapid maturation.

“I know thee not, old man.”

With six short words, the newly crowned King Henry V disowns his old friend and, in a symbolic sense, his old life. The moment marks the culmination of the play’s exploration of shaping identity through moral choice, as the new king casts off Falstaff because of what Falstaff represents. Nevertheless, the words are a crushing blow to the knight; not only does he lose his possible influence at court, but he also loses the friendship of a young man whom he often looked upon as a surrogate son. The interaction is devastating for Falstaff, revealing the pathos behind his comic façade.