My mom always warned her ten children saying, "Be careful of the company you keep. People will judge you by your friends." Shakespeare certainly reflected that in Henry IV parts one and two. The young Prince Hal hangs out with a bunch of drunks and cut-purses, cheats, and scoundrels! He enjoys himself until pragmatism (the death of his father and his ascension to the throne) spurs him to cut the strings to his former buddies and eventually execute one for stealing a pyx from a church, ironic since Hal's own father (and by inheritance himself) stole the throne of England. The hypocrisy of the powerful is unlimited.
