King Henry IV, Part 1

The biblical parable of the prodigal son serves as a model for understanding Hal’s character, albeit with some key differences. The parable, from Luke 15:11-32, describes a son who asks his father for his inheritance only to squander it through wild living. He returns to his father begging for forgiveness. The father gladly accepts him back into his home and even celebrates his return with a feast, much to the consternation of a more responsible brother who did not waste his inheritance. When Hal is introduced, he frequents taverns, wastes money, overextends his credit, and associates with unsavory characters like Falstaff, Poins, and Bardolph. However, unlike the biblical prodigal son, this behavior is apparently calculated. At the end of Act I, Scene 2, Hal explains:

So when this loose behavior I throw off

And pay the debt I never promisèd,

By how much better than my word I am,

By so much shall I falsify men’s hopes;

And, like bright metal on a sullen ground,

My reformation, glitt’ring o’er my fault,

Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes

Than that which hath no foil to set it off.

I’ll so offend to make offense a skill,

Redeeming time when men think least I will (1.2.215-24).

He will use his “reformation” to increase his standing at court. This revelation lends cynicism and dramatic irony to his interactions with Falstaff: The audience knows Hal is using Falstaff and their friendship is on borrowed time. Hal is calculating and political, almost Machiavellian. He is willing to manipulate his way to the top.

Hal’s plan is accelerated by the imminent civil war, which provides the opportunity to redeem himself.