Furthermore, the value of the change of persona is not something that Prince Henry 'learns' over the course of the play, like Hotspur learns that he has held honor too high in his moral hierarchy of personal values. Prince Henry's fondness for low life is partly a calculated public relations move. "So, when this loose behavior I throw off/and pay the debt I never promised, / by how much better than my word I am," he says to the audience, when he is alone. (Act 1, Scene 2)

So, if the Prince is not the hero of Henry IV, Part 1, is Falstaff the hero? Falstaff expresses radical sentiments that go contrary to the military success seemingly idealized at the end of the play. "Can honor set to a leg...what is honor? A word. What is in that word honor? What is that honor? Air. A trim reckoning! Who hath...
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