SOURCE: Meyers, Walter E. “Hal: The Mirror of All Christian Kings.” In A Fair Day in the Affections: Literary Essays in Honor of Robert B. White, Jr., edited by Jack D. Durant and M. Thomas Hester, pp. 67-77. Raleigh, N.C.: The Winston Press, 1980.

In the following essay, Meyers contends that Shakespeare's Hal is a developing, subtle, and complex character who assumes many roles in the Henriad.

The first problem is what to call him—Hal, Harry, Henry? And the question of his names echoes about the reality of this somehow puzzling character. No critic denies that in discussing Hamlet, say, we face a mystery, but with Hal, the debate continues whether this character, on whom Shakespeare lavished so much attention through three plays, is better understood by reference to Machiavelli or to Cecil B. de Mille. Is Hal a poster hero, a George Washington, with Shakespeare prefiguring...