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Early in Henry IV, Part 1, Prince Harry delivered a soliloquy in which he announced his elaborate plan for self-transformation. After spending his youth among thieves and mountebanks, he planned to mesmerize his father, the court, and his future subjects by renouncing his rebellious past and devoting himself to the kingdom. Part 1 traced the first half of this self-transformation, from youthful reprobate to promising prince. Part 2 picks up where Part 1 left off, tracing the final arc of Harry’s journey from prince to king. Though Harry proved his valor by defeating the honorable Hotspur in battle at the end of Part 1, we see in the early acts of Part 2 that he remains in a transitional space. For instance, he hasn’t yet fully renounced his old companions in the taverns and brothels of Eastcheap. Just as he and friend Poins took part in playing a prank on Falstaff in act 2 of Part 1, they do so again in act 2 of Part 2. Yet the shadow of responsibility clearly hangs over Harry in a new way, even as he continues to participate in common tavern pranks.
As an example of Harry’s struggle, consider the brief exchange Harry has with Poins in act 2, scene 2, where he confesses that he feels sad about his father’s illness. Harry clearly feels odd about his grief. He seems to believe that others expect him to be happy about the king’s imminent demise. Such a response would be appropriate for a power-hungry reprobate, which is how many people in England continue to see Harry. But even though Harry does feel sad, he still needs to manage his public image. Hence, even during his confession, he doesn’t quite make his grief explicit: “I could be sad, and sad indeed too” (2.2.41; emphasis added). What’s more, Harry has a hard time admitting that Poins is a genuine friend. Poins belongs to the common folk Harry’s kept company with as part of his plan for self-transformation. But a real bond has developed between them, and Harry struggles to accept it. Indeed, he doesn’t call Poins a friend directly, but indirectly likens Poins “to one it pleases me, for fault of a better, to call my friend” (2.2.40–41). These careful qualifications show Harry struggling to maintain a political performance despite his true feelings.
In the last two acts of the play, however, Harry abandons Eastcheap for good, reconciles with his father, and ascends the throne, completing his transformation from Prince Harry to King Henry V. The last stage in his self-transformation requires Harry to reconcile himself to the burden and responsibility conferred by the crown. We witness evidence of this stage in act 4, scene 3, when he pledges to his father that he took the crown not from a lust for power but from a desire to duel with the enemy “that had before my face murdered my father” (4.3.324). With the death of King Henry IV and the coronation of King Henry V, Harry at last brings his plan to fruition. Comporting himself with the bearing of a true king, he shows kindness and compassion to those who, like the Lord Chief Justice, worry that he will harm them as vengeance for petty grievances. Less kind are his final words to Falstaff, whom he cruelly banishes from his presence in act 5, scene 5. Now that he is king, Harry rejects his former mentor, the mischievous lord of misrule, whom he replaces in his affections with the very symbol of law and order: the Lord Chief Justice.
