Hotspur Act 1 Scene 1

Henry IV takes place in the very early 1400s and generally uses true historical events and characters throughout. While based on the history of England, it conveys its message and meaning through an often satirical and comical context, providing an enjoyable experience for the audience. Characters such as Falstaff and his fellow thieves keep the story unusually captivating and clever. Of the play’s many themes, loyalty, honor and relationship stand out as most important. These matters are highly involved in family affairs and Shakespeare effectively exposes the calamity and emotional intensity that often goes hand in hand with such conflict. While the personal conflicts of the royals here take on great import, they are equally important and applicable to all families through today. We see these conflicts, resulting from the tensions between expectation, hope and reality, in the father-son relationships between Prince Hal, Hotspur, Falstaff and King Henry IV. Prince Hal, the legitimate heir to the throne, finds himself constantly disappointing his principled father, Henry IV, who believes that his son’s troublesome behavior lacks the true makings of a king. This creates a great tension in their relationship and leads the King to speculate upon his son’s capacity as well as to his very allegiance, in a long, very heart-felt confession seen in Act 3, Scene 2. This confrontation, however, serves as a means to an end in solidifying their relationship and loyalty.

Hal and Hotspur share some of the same metaphors, most notably, their common use of debt as a metaphor for honor and responsibility, which indicates how they both see these values in a mercantile fashion. In Hal’s first soliloquy, he says he will “pay the debt I never promised” (I.2.77), a reference to his plan to act like a drunken thief, so when he becomes king, he will seem like a greater leader. Hal saying he will pay the “debt”, or him being an effective king, displays how he thinks that he can easily exchange his immature behavior for honor and that being a good king can instantly buy the favor of the people. Also, the word debt implies that Hal believes that the king has an important obligation to be honorable to the kingdom. Hotspur also uses the metaphor, saying King Henry IV “Studies day and night / To answer all the debt he owes to you / Even with the bloody payment of your deaths” (I.3.184-186). Because Hotspur’s father and uncle helped King Henry take the throne, Hotspur believes that the king has a responsibility to treat them well, which he does not fulfill. This illustrates how Hotspur also views honor as a transaction: when given, it must be repaid. Both Hal and Hotspur believe that honor can be exchanged like goods, and they view honor, like debt, as a responsibility that must be maintained, indicating they understand the importance of honor in society.

Act one, scene one, stresses the motif of honor in war, in characters, and, most importantly, in offspring. However, while Henry sees “riot and dishonor” in his son, Hal sees a father who has stolen his title by disgracing a king (1.1.84). Shakespeare wouldn’t dream of imposing his personal beliefs of who is honorable or who is dishonorable for the simple fact that it is obvious honor is perceived differently by each individual, as in each character’s perception and the imagery that surrounds that character. As Hal tries to discover the true meaning of honor, readers take the journey along with him. Hal realizes that honor is ambiguous when utilized to plead for emotional retort, yet leaves no margin for error when used as personal description,

King Henry IV shows no compunction for voicing his distaste of his son, Hal’s, actions while praising the valor displayed by Sir Henry Percy, commonly known as Hotspur. Given his debaucherous behavior and residence in the tavern, Hal has disappointed his father to the point where he has lost his Council seat to his younger brother and the devotion of a father to his firstborn, an admiration instead directed to Hotspur for his military might. Expectations proved to be a force of delusion, as Hotspur believed that the King’s notions about his character gave him the cover to act dishonorably and Hal, as a hyper self-aware prince with a plan, distanced himself from the judgments of others in order to independently secure his own fate; thus,

Shakespeare has utilized techniques like foreshadowing, contrasting, setting and language to portray Hal as dishonourable. Shakespeare portrays Hal from the beginning as being dishonourable and unruly through the use of foreshadowing that is used by other characters. After talking about how honourable Hotspur is, King Henry IV contrasts him with his own son; ‘riot and dishonour stain the brow/ of my young Harry.’ The heavy contrast here foreshadows Hal’s character as being that of dishonour because we have just been given an image, through foreshadowing, about how grand Hotspur’s honour is, then King Henry gives and

This has been effectively represented through Hotspur, as he undertakes roles as political deceivers to manipulate and sway events in his favour. Within the beginning act of the play, Hotspur embraces excuses and utilises political deceptiveness to shift the blame of withholding prisoners from Henry IV onto another party. Hotspur reinforces that the individual who are in control of the prisoners was, “Fresh as a bridegroom … He was perfumed like a milliner” (Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 33-35). Shakespeare's use of similes highlight a defensive tone for Hotspur, portraying that he is easily provoked and arrogant by his way to divert himself out of trouble by manipulating certain events.

Hotspur's is decidedly not political or diplomatic in his orientation. Quite to the contrary, he is a figure unafraid to express anger, resentment and hostility toward the King. As he does so, he speaks with the tongue of a warrior, impassioned by his sense of honor and resistant to any calming reason. He speaks sarcastically and derisively with his own father for being reluctant to turn his back on Henry IV. Particularly because the Duke of Northumberland and his son had been so critical to helping Henry

The question that Shakespeare raises throughout the series of Henry IV, Part I, Henry IV, Part II, and Henry V is that of whether Prince Hal (eventually King Henry V), is a true manifestation of an ideal ruler, and whether he is a rightful heir to his father’s ill-begotten throne. England is without a true king, being run by a ruler without the right of divine providence on his side– altogether, a very difficult situation for a young, inexperienced, and slightly delinquent Prince to take on. The task of proving himself a reliable Prince and a concerned ruler is of utmost importance to Hal, as he does not enjoy the mantle of divine right– perhaps by being an excellent ruler, Hal can make up for the

Falstaff’s soliloquy questioning the value of honour is an ironic contrast with how Hotspur and Hal regard honour. By now the contrast between their highly ordered morality and Falstaff’s own moral disorder is obvious. Falstaff’s inclusion at this point, when Hal has left his side and moved on, is necessary to point out the differing morality between the two, which was once so similar. Falstaff is of paramount importance to the sub-plot dealing with Hal’s decision between continuing his carefree lifestyle or maturing into the role he is destined to play as a respected prince and later king. This soliloquy continues the theme of another of Falstaff’s in Act 4 Scene 2, in which he is equally undisturbed by his amorality, and shows that his highest concern is for his own well being.

The King complains that ‘riot and dishonor’ stain the brow of his son whereas Hotspur is the theme of honor’s tongue (Wells 141). Henry uses the successes in war of Hotspur, "Mars in swaddling clothes," as a rod for Prince Hal’s back (Wells 143), accusing his son of being unfit to inherit the crown. To many critics, Hotspur is immensely attractive and rather comical in his impulsive impetuosity–"he that kills some six or seven dozen Scots for breakfast, washes his hands, and says to his wife, ‘Fie upon this quiet life, I want work’" (2.5.102-6). Yet, this commitment to bright honor is a dangerous obsession preoccupying Hotspur so much that he is blind to all else. To Hotspur the more dangerous and perilous a situation, the more desire he has to throw himself helplessly into it. To him there are no consequences; he sees no danger. All Hotspur can see is the possibility of achieving great honors– "Doomsday is near, die all, die merrily" (4.1.134). Hotspur’s life is no more than a military commitment; he desires only to gain future glory, whether he wins or loses, lives or dies.

Lastly, the tense relationship between Hal and his father, King Henry IV is also a Shakespearean example of intergenerational conflict. Hal’s upbringing shows similarities with the tale of the prodigal son, which was popular in the medieval time period. Hal is a disappointment to his father, which we learn when King Henry tells Westmorland that he envies the Percy family for having such a noble and honorable son:

At first glance, the Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Henry V are not similar. This is because they truly are not similar – not in genre, since Hamlet is a tragedy and Henry V is a historical play; not in plot, since the protagonist in Hamlet hides in the shadows of conflict while the protagonist of Henry V charges head-first into it; and certainly not in tone, where Hamlet is disastrous and Henry V is triumphant. It is these dissimilarities of context that make Henry and Hamlet’s similarities in identity all the more interesting. Both Shakespearean protagonists are faced with extreme circumstances, and in such extreme circumstances, they both resort to the same human response: they question. In both plays and both characters, Shakespeare seems to explore the depth of such questions as they pertain to human identity and as they pertain to each character’s sense of control, thus seeming to pose a question himself: what does it mean to control one’s identity?

Shakespeare’s employment of dramatic struggle and disillusionment through his character Hamlet, contributes to the continued engagement of modern audiences. The employment of the soliloquy demonstrates Shakespeare’s approach to the dramatic treatment of these emotions. The soliloquy brings a compensating intimacy, and becomes the means by which Shakespeare brings the audience not only to a knowledge of secret thoughts of characters, but into the closest emotional touch with them too. Through this, the audiences therefore gain a closer relationship with Hamlet, and are absorbed by him because they are able to resonate with his circumstances, as he is faced with enduring truths of the human condition. Through these, the struggle and

Hotspur on the other hand, begins the play in his father's good graces, and seems to represent the chivalry that eludes Hal. Indeed, Hotspur, being in charge of repelling the Scots to the North, has shown his fierceness in battle and has proven to be an accomplished military man, which are the qualities that the King wishes Hal possessed. Hotspur, however, has a temper which worries his father, Northumberland. In Act 1, Scene 3, he urges his son to be calmer: ìWhat, drunk with choler? stay and pause a while (I.iii.13),î and calls his son ìa wasp-stung and impatient foolî (I.iii.16). Northumberland is much more cautious than Hotspur, or Worcester, and

  In Shakespeare's Henry IV Part One, the characters' many different conceptions of honor govern how they respond to situations.  Each character's conception of honor has a great impact on the character's standing after the play.  For instance, Falstaff survived because he dishonorably faked his own death, and his untrue claim that he was the one who killed Hotspur may get him a title and land.  On the other hand, Hotspur lies dead after losing a duel for honor.  Hotspur, who is in many ways the ideal man by the standards of his time, is killed by his lust for honor.  In creating Hotspur, Shakespeare has created a variation on the tragic hero of other works: the stubborn tragic hero, who, dying