Shakespeare shows an account of guilt in 1 HenryIV and draws a picture of how it literally consumes a king for his past deeds throughout his ruling time.  Henry IV’s overthrowing king Richard II seating himself on the throne is presumably the source of his guilt. Once a strong and chivalric nobleman, Henry Bolingbroke now turns out to be a weak and aged king Henry in 1 Henry IV. We, the audience, can take a peek into his spooky soul through his words usage throughout the play.

In the beginning of the play, the audience hears the tension and hardship king Henry going through by the word “ shaken,” which echoes the sound of civil war across his kingdom. It can also be a reminder to the audience, those who have seen King Richard II, of Henry Bolingbroke and his usurpation of  the throne, followed by taking King Richard a prisoner and having him assassinated. As a result, we aren’t surprised at all seeing him tremble at the news of civil war, since it may bring King Henry back through flashback to Henry Bolingbroke. He may have foreseen another uprising and be terrified of another invasion to his illegitimate kingship.

Robbery, Rochester, Roads- all seem to symbolize the sick environment of king’s kingdom that gives rise to highwaymen. The robbery scenes in Act 2 Scene 2 and 4, to my mind, is an allegory of King Richard’s kingdom loss to Henry. Henry, in a sense, robbed this kingdom, like a highwayman, from King Richard. Falstaff, along with Gadshill and Peto firstly robs the travelers, and then he gets robbed by Hal and Poins. By this robbery scene Shakespeare maybe tries to give his audience a subtle hint that King Henry and Falstaff both act out of same motivation even though Henry hasn’t got robbed ( he still has his kingdom) in the play unlike Falstaff.

Shakespeare makes it more relevant to the plot of 1 Henry IV by creating the character the Highwaymen where the king himself holds one on the same skeleton.