Hal tells his father that:
Percy is but my factor, good lord,
To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf.
And I will call him to so strict account
That he shall render every glory up
(III. ii. 147-50).
The language of commerce here suggests "a world in which practical cunning is the key to every triumph," but even this attitude of Hal's is seen to be a front when he allows the credit for his victory to be taken (Rubinstein 294). Through all of Hal's prticipation in robbery and symbolic language implying te same in others, both sides of a true rebellion seem to have honor on their side.
Perhaps this is why Hal must eventually turn his back on Falstaff completely. For all of his friends lightheartedness and lack of a truly evil spirit, there is simply no honor in the way the knight conducts himself. It is not merely the fact that he robs, but that he is even unprincipled...
Ultimately, Henry IV Part 1 uses both robbery and rebellion as a way of showing the contrasting positive notions of retribution and redemption. Falstaff has no real interest in these, and so is eventually left behind as others progress.
Works Cited
Mabillard, Amanda. "1 Henry IV: Analysis." Shakespeare Online, 2006. Accessed 31 August 2009. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/playanalysis/1henryIVcommentary.html
Over, William. "Review: Henry IV Parts I II." Theatre Journal 31(4), pp. 545-6.
Rubinstein, E. "1 Henry IV: The Metaphor of Liability." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 10(2), pp. 287-95.
Shakespeare, William. The First part of King Henry IV. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Wentersdorf, Karl P. "Shakespeare and Carding: Notes on Cruxes in 1 Henry IV and in Twelfth Night." Shakespeare Quarterly 36(2), pp. 215-9.
