Henry IV, Part 1 Theme

Principles

While "honour" is perhaps the play's most important theme, it's also the most difficult concept to pin down. In the mouths of various characters, the definition of honor ranges from being synonymous with an individual's courage on the battlefield to a mere "word" used in an attempt to elevate the physical horrors of warfare to something more lofty and intangible. From Henry IV Part 1's beginning, Hotspur is praised as the very embodiment of honor, while Prince Hal is marked by the "stain" of "dishonour." This allows the play to consider the kind of behavior that makes one a good leader and a strong king. In this way, honor is closely related to the theme of "Power."

Power

Henry IV Part 1 offers an elaborate meditation on kingship. As a monarch who has usurped the throne and alienated his most important allies, King Henry must figure out a way to maintain power while the rebels challenge the legitimacy of his reign. The play also considers the qualities and characteristics that make one a good leader by examining the younger generation. By contrasting the calculating and manipulative Prince Hal to his courageous and valiant foil, Hotspur, Shakespeare explores the relationship between principles and monarchy. The play's dramatization of the crisis of succession would have also resonated with an important Elizabethan political issue – at the time Henry IV Part 1 was written, Queen Elizabeth I had no children and no heir.

Warfare

Throughout Henry IV Part 1 we're reminded that civil war is a family affair, one that threatens to tear apart the collective kingdom. The play begins and ends with portrayals of warfare and promises that civil strife will continue in the sequel, Henry IV Part 2. In the play, war is largely associated with masculinity and honor. For Prince Hal especially, the battlefield is a place for redemption and transformation. While several members of the nobility attempt to elevate the physical horrors of war to something lofty and noble, the play also gives voice (via Falstaff) to the idea that the violence of warfare is meaningless and hollow.

Family

Family relations are at the heart of Henry IV Part 1. Shakespeare is particularly concerned with father-son relationships between Hal and King Henry, Hal and his surrogate father-figure, (Falstaff), and Northumberland and Hotspur. On the one hand, the meditation on family relations offers a way for the play to humanize the historical figures Shakespeare makes into characters of political intrigue. Yet, the play also reminds us that civil war and the struggle for the crown is a family affair. Male relationships dominate the play, but Henry IV Part 1 also takes a look at husbands and wives. As it contrasts the relationships between the Percys and the Mortimers, it explores Elizabethan notions of gender and sexuality.

Art and Culture

Henry IV Part 1 makes several self-conscious references to the workings of Elizabethan theater. Most notably, the wild impromptu skit at the Boar's Head tavern presents a "play-within-a-play" that offers an opportunity for Shakespeare to explore the relationship between rebellion and the stage. Because it's a space where Prince Hal can practice being "king," the tavern is also a kind of training ground or important rehearsal space for the young man who will inherit the throne. Frequent play-acting and character impersonation throughout Henry IV Part 1 give voice to the notion that "kingship" is just another "role" to be played. The play's concern with meta-theatricality aligns it with other important works, including Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Rules and Order

The play's concern with "Rules and Order" is closely linked the theme of "Power." In Henry IV Part 1, two stories of rebellion and disorder run parallel – the story of Prince Hal's "teenage" rebellion against his father and the rebel uprising led by the Percy family. While the play makes clear the gravity of both threats to stability in Britain, it often deflates the seriousness of civil and familial disobedience with comedic episodes and parody. Rebellion is frequently associated with effeminacy and women and should be considered along side "Gender." Shakespeare's also interested in the relationship between theater and rebellion.

Language and Communication

For Shakespeare, the mastery of languages, speech, and rhetoric is closely aligned with authority and control. Early on, Henry IV Part 1 establishes freedom of speech as a powerful tool of rebellion and resistance to authority, especially for Hotspur. Yet, it becomes clear throughout the play that Hal's capacity for language acquisition establishes him as a man fit to rule, whereas Hotspur's lack of rhetorical control and disdain for foreign speech reveals him to be an unfit leader. At times, language is associated with manipulation, deceit, and effeminacy, but, as in all Shakespeare's work, language is ultimately synonymous with power. The play also famously portrays a broad spectrum of language as it covers various regional and class dialects spoken in England and Britain

Gender

Henry IV Part 1 offers an interesting meditation on gender. For the most part, the play is concerned with masculinity and honor and relations between men – fathers and sons, uncles and nephews, brothers, cousins, male colleagues, and so on. Given that the play's main story line is one of primogeniture (how the prince will inherit the crown from his father), this is unsurprising. The play's three female characters are marginally significant but the play goes out of its way to dramatize and examine relations between husbands and wives. In Henry IV Part 1 women are always linked with rebellion and are frequently viewed as threats to masculinity.