Shakespeare's Ideas Of Identity In Henry IV, Part I

Shakespeare’s Ideas of Identity
William Shakespeare questions identity throughout his works, but this theme is especially apparent in Henry IV, Part 1. Typically, Shakespeare will have characters question themselves and their importance to show identity; however, he expands on this in several ways in this play. This struggle relates to the society that Shakespeare was accustomed to, yet this struggle is still faced today. Identity is something that people still struggle with because of the numerous ways it can be defined. One’s identity can be linked to their appearance, name, personality, occupation, race, or political views. This identification issue is not an easy fix especially in today’s world with enormous peer pressure, high expectations, …show more content…
One example of this in Henry IV, Part 1 is when Falstaff tries to get Prince Henry and Poins to rob someone with him, and instead of helping him, they decide to prank them by robbing him once he has robbed the travelers. They begin planning their prank when Prince Henry states, “Ay, but ‘tis like that they will know us by our horses, by our habits, and by every other appointment, to be ourselves.” Poins reassures him by saying, “Tut! Our horses they shall not see: I’ll tie them in the wood. Our vizards we will change after we leave them. And, sirrah, I have cases of buckram for the nonce, to immask our noted outward garments” (Shakespeare 14). The phrases “our horses” and “our habits” show that Prince Henry thinks of his appearance as external. His horse and clothes are the defining things about himself even though he mentions everything else, he is mostly worried about his external appearance. This is directly related to his lifestyle because he is a leader and someone in constant view of the people, he must look more important than the typical citizen. While Prince Henry shows his views on identity are linked to appearance, his friend Poins has a different take on identity. He views identity being something that does not depend on appearance because appearance can be easily changed. Poins opinions about identity are not apparent in this dialogue, but one can infer that we would describe identity as a constant. The words “vizards,” “buckram,” and “immask” all refer to the disguise they will wear to rob Falstaff. Their faces can be hidden by masks while their clothes can be covered by cloaks making them unrecognizable. The simplicity in which they can change their look shows that identity can still define someone, but it is fluid and easily