Therefore, he promises that he’ll straighten up when he needs to, and tries to justify his past irresponsibility by saying that it’ll make him look all the better once he’s reformed. His warmth and openness made me see him as a young man who knows he’s behaving inappropriately, but is having too much fun to stop. He gestures to the audience at the beginning of the soliloquy, directly appealing to the audience, and during the speech, I felt as though he was trying to get us on his side. Hal’s “I know you all” speech, which on paper I tend to read as Hal revealing himself as a cold manipulator, comes across as an irresponsible young man trying to justify his behavior. This is not a calculating Hal who is only ruining his reputation to make his ultimate reformation look all the better – his attitude is too completely open and joyful for that. He spends his time drinking and making merry, and the first the audience sees of him is when he’s in bed with two women. Alex Hassell plays Hal as an irresponsible, chiefly pleasure-seeking young man. The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Henry IV Part One showcases the similar immaturity of Hal and Falstaff while illustrating their growing distance in their relationship as Hal matures and Falstaff stays the same.
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