Even before we encounter Hal and his tavern cronies, King Henry indicates the depth of his dissatisfaction with his son, and he does so in contrast to Hal's arch-rival, the young Henry "Harry" Percy or Hotspur.

In envy that my Lord Northumberland
Should be the father to so blest a son,
A son who is the theme of honor's tongue
Amongst a grove the very straightest plant,
Who is sweet Fortune's minion and her pride,
Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,
See riot and dishonor stain the brow
Of my young Harry. O that it could be prov'd
That some night-tripping fairy had exchang'd
In cradle-clothes our children where they lay,
And call'd mine Percy, his Plantagenet!
Then would I have his Harry, and he mine.
(I.i.79-90).

Henry's own "young Harry," as we see for ourselves in the next scene, is associated with the riot and license of the lower class inhabitants, with Falstaff embodying all of its characteristic faults and vices. At the play's midpoint, Henry elaborates on Hal's deficiencies as a blood successor to the English throne, scolding his heir-apparent:

I know not whether God will have it so
For some displeasing service I have done,
That in his secret doom, out of my blood
He'll breed revengement and a scourge for me;
But thou dost in thy passages of life
Make me believe that thou art only mark'd
For the hot vengeance, and the rod of heaven,
To punish my mistreadings. Tell me else,
Could such inordinate and low desires,
Such poor, such bare, such lewd, such mean attempts,
Such barren pleasures, rude society,
As thou art match'd withal and grafted to,
Accompany the greatness of thy blood,
And hold their level with thy princely heart?
(III.ii.4-17).

The key dramatic issue upon which the "upper world" plot of Henry IV: Part I turns is whether Hal is equal to the "greatness of (his) blood," whether he has the necessary attributes to become a true king of England.

Shakespeare's audiences undoubtedly knew the answer to this question, for the historical Hal became Henry V, an exemplar of the English monarchy whose renown echoed over the two centuries before the play was written. During his interview with his father, Hal says that he can purge himself and vows that "I shall hereafter, my thrice gracious lord / Be more myself" (III.ii.92). But the path to Hal's redemption is clear to us from the first scene in which he appears. At end of the first act's second scene, Hal speaks of his association with Falstaff and his tavern cronies:

I know you all, and will awhile uphold
The unyok'd humor of your idleness,
Yet herein will I imitate the sun,
Who doth permit the base contagious clouds
To smother up his beauty from the world,
That when he please again to be himself,
Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at
By breaking through the foul and ugly mists
Of vapors that did seem to strangle him.
(I.ii.193-201).

Hal is, in fact, a brilliant personality, worthy of the crown, but he remains in touch with the common folk as will be evident in his role as Henry V. To become "himself," however, Hal must first jettison his contacts with the lewd members of Falstaff's circle. The final break will not occur until the conclusion of Henry IV: Part II, when Hal becomes king and tells Falstaff that he "knows him not." But here, Hal's development is still in progress, and his movement from the lower lights of London's taverns to the higher lights of authentic majesty begins and takes on momentum. After Hal courageously saves his father from Douglas, Henry IV says of his son, "Thou has redeem'd thy lost opinion" (V.iv.48). Hal goes even farther. He shows himself to be the equal of Hotspur in personal prowess, achieving unsurpassed stature as a hero. Henry IV: Part I shows Hal to be the genuine article, the youth who will become Henry V and lead England to military victory by mobilizing the courage and admiration of the common man.