Although Henry IV is the title character of the play, I will be
primarily focusing on the character of Prince Hal. The maturation of Hal from a
boy to a man is evidently seen throughout the play. At the start we see Hal as
a young prince who lays around and is always drunk. Our first impression of him
is a player who doesn't have a care in the world. Hal does not take it
seriously that he is the heir to the throne of England. He is acting like a boy
and not the man that he should be representing. This is especially evident in
the first scene where he is first in a bed with two women, and then joking
around with Falstaff. It is also seen when he and Poins steal the loot from
their friends, after they had stolen it from travelers. Not only did they steal
the money, but then they taunted their friends about it. Hal starts off as an
immature boy but as the play progresses the audience is able to see him grow
up.
Thankfully, Hal has a turning point where he starts to mature:
when he has a talk with his father. Hal's meeting with the king shows him the
danger that is coming to the kingdom. The play shows that in the face of danger
Hal becomes a man. He steps up and demands respect and helps his father lead
England into battle. The way Hal interacts with Falstaff also changes as he
matures; instead of making fun of the man and thinking of him as useless, Hal
respects Falstaff enough to put him in charge of a group of soldiers. This
decision shows that Hal is still maturing, because it ended up being a bad
tactical idea; Falstaff was not a good leader of the regent of soldiers. He
squandered the money and got the least strong and powerful people possible for
his soldiers. We see Hal take leadership in leading his people before and
during the battle. Prince Hal continues to mature and this is seen when he
speaks of Hotspur; he talks about his rival with respect that we would not have
seen at the beginning of the play.
The play is suggesting that age does not make you a boy or a man.
Rather, how you deal with the circumstances that you given determines your
maturity. In the face of conflict, Hal becomes a man. Looking at Hal in his
first appearance on stage, to his last, he looks like a completely different
character. The primary event that seems to change Hal for good is the war that
made him become a leader. Men from every era go to war as boys and come back as
men. The war that Prince Hal went through forced him to see what the real world
was like, and that he couldn't mess
around for his entire life. Before this time in his life, he did not have a
cause to worry about, but King Henry IV made sure he knew about the danger to
the kingdom. Once Hal was pushed to become a leader, he made a point to be a
good one.
The theatre space that was used for Henry IV Part One was
a thrust stage. It was interesting because I sat on stage right, so I could see
the people directly across from me as I watched the play. Having part of the audience
directly in front of me showed me other spectators reactions and how theirs
were different or similar to my own thoughts. The thrust stage also made it
easier for the actors to be close and interact with the audience, making it
easier to become enveloped in the play. The costumes were very authentic and
were respectful of the setting of the play. The characters clothing covered
their entire body, which was common in the times of Henry IV. The everyday
people wore clothing made of cloth and were neutral colors because dye was
expensive. In contrast, the nobility wore more sturdy looking attire which were
vibrantly decorated with color and detail. Hal's wardrobe changed as his
character developed. He started off with loose, light colored clothing to show
his uncaring and easy nature. When he matured, he wore darker, harder materials
of a soldier. This change in costume expressed Hal's change from a soft boy, to
a hard and serious prince.
The scenery changed depending on the setting and level of seriousness
of the scene. The constant moving guided the audience, and showed that the play
was constantly moving forward. The changing of the scenery made the play easier
to follow because it always visual led the audience to know where the
characters were. For example, there was a moving platform that was used less
for serious settings such as Hal's bedroom and the pub. When the platform came
out, it allowed the audience to know that the setting was informal. The
lighting was used to show the time of day and seriousness of the matter. The
more light, the lighter the matter being discussed. The darker and redder the
light, then the more serious and dangerous the conversation was that was being
had. If there were many people on the stage, then the lighting would direct the
viewer toward who was speaking and who should be viewed. The scenery, costumes,
and lighting of the play made the events of the story easy to follow and
allowed for the story to truly be developed.
As the story of Henry IV Part One progressed the level of
seriousness did too. Hal was a character who's behavior changed throughout the
play; his maturation during the story went along with the change in attitude of
the play. The scenic design of the stage showed the progression of Hal and of
the other events in the play. The scenery, costumes, and lighting all allowed
the story to be told in a way that was easy for the audience to follow and set
the mood for each scene. Henry IV Part One was a play that showed the
maturation of a prince from a boy to a man.
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