Prince Henry

Character Analysis

Henry is King John's young son. We don't get to hang out with him until the very last scene of the play, when Shakespeare pulls him out of a magic hat after King John gets sick. Prince Henry shows himself to be of a sensitive, caring nature, and he's amazed at the brevity of human life. He seems like a pretty good kid.

Does this make us feel like England is in good hands at the end of the play? Probably not. Henry is a kid, first of all. Second of all, the play as a whole has shown us that thoroughly good people don't often fare so well in the political world.