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William ShakespeareHenry IV, Part 1
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1597A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Roman Deities
The Renaissance marked a resurgence of interest in Roman and Greek mythology. Newly translated works of Ovid, Plautus, Homer, and other classical authors had a great impact on Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Renaissance literature, poetry, and drama were richly adorned with classical imagery and allusions to the extent that they eventually became cliché.
Shakespeare uses Roman deities as a motif to enrich the themes of Henry IV, Part 1. For example, Falstaff, planning to rob the pilgrims, says, “Let us be Diana’s / foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the / moon, and let men say we be men of good government, / being governed, as the sea is, by our noble / and chaste mistress the moon, under whose countenance we steal” (1.2.26-31). Diana was the virgin Roman goddess of hunting, and this invocation lends an ironic tone of chastity or purity to the thieves’ actions. Diana is also associated with the moon, which moves the sea. Falstaff’s allusion to Diana and the moon implies the thieves are guided by a higher power, ennobling their actions while absolving them of culpability and illustrating Falstaff’s Virtues: The Futility of Honor.
Similarly, Shakespeare uses classical imagery to describe Prince Hal when he begins to reform his reputation. Vernon reports on Hal preparing for the upcoming battle:
I saw young Harry with his beaver on,
His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly armed,
Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury
And vaulted with such ease into his seat
As if an angel dropped down from the clouds,
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus
And witch the world with noble horsemanship (4.1.110-16).
Vernon compares Hal him to Mercury, the fleet-footed Roman messenger god, and sets him astride Pegasus, the winged stallion of Greek mythology. Vernon’s reaction shows Hal as A Calculating Prodigal Son who succeeds in dazzling the English nobility with his reformation. In another reference to a Roman God, Hotspur says that Hal and his forces “come like sacrifices in their trim, / And to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war / All hot and bleeding will we offer them. / The mailèd Mars shall on his altar sit / Up to the ears in blood” (4.1.119-23). Demonstrating courage, cunning, and resolution, The Qualities of a King, Hotspur aligns himself with Mars, the Roman god of war, in describing the coming slaughter at the Battle of Shrewsbury. Hotspur implies that his opponents will be sacrifices to the god of war himself.
The Cloud-covered Sun
The cloud-covered sun is a symbol of Prince Hal and his plan to debase and then redeem his honor. It is thus linked to the theme of A Calculating Prodigal Son. After he is introduced alongside Falstaff and the other denizens of the Boar’s Head, Hal delivers a soliloquy containing the following lines:
Yet herein will I imitate the sun,
Who doth permit the base contagious clouds
To smother up his beauty from the world,
That, when he please again to be himself,
Being wanted, he may be more wondered at
By breaking through the foul and ugly mists
Of vapors that did seem to strangle him (1.2.204-10).
The symbol of the cloud-covered sun mirrors Hal’s character arc. He will dazzle all the more when he reveals his true nature. The phrase “base contagious clouds” shows his opinion of Falstaff and the others, and the clause “when he please to be himself again” shows the prince’s manipulative personality. A difference between the sun and Hal is agency. The sun has no choice when clouds block it, but Hal chooses to hide The Qualities of a King. He withdraws from court and disgraces himself so, later, his virtues will shine more brightly. Hal does not predict the civil war sparked by Hotspur, but he uses it to break out of the low reputation “that did seem to strangle him” (1.1.210).
The Two Harrys
One of the most prominent motifs in Henry IV, Part 1 is the “two Harrys,” Hal and Hotspur, which illustrates the theme of The Qualities of a King. Hal and Hotspur’s characters and qualities are compared throughout the play, usually to the prince’s detriment. For example, King Henry admires Hotspur, despite his insolence, because Hotspur is everything the king could hope for in a son. Hal, by contrast, is stained by “riot and dishonor” (1.1.84). The king even laments that the two were not switched at birth. Although the two young men are the same age and share the same first name, they are referred to by nicknames that emphasize the quality of their characters. “Hal” is a hypocorism (a pet name) used by the prince’s low-born friends. The repetition of this name evokes his tarnished reputation. In contrast, the nickname “Hotspur” was given to Henry Percy during his Scottish campaigns, reflecting his readiness to attack and ferocity on the battlefield. The two young men acknowledge their rivalry. Hal says, “Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere, / Nor can one England brook a double reign / Of Harry Percy and the Prince of Wales” (5.4.66-67). The two young men are foils to each other; neither they nor the kingdom can survive their living in proximity. This conflict is brought to a resolution when Hal kills Hotspur in battle. Hotspur’s reputation remains intact, and defeating him raises Prince Hal’s esteem.
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By William Shakespeare
