1 Henry IV has sparked my interest in the philosophical issues deeply rooted within the play. The philosophical question of "what is honor?" is personified within three of the main characters: Prince Hal, Hotspur, and Falstaff. In my creative piece, I want to explore the notion of three types of honor within a letter from Hal's love interest. I chose to write a love-letter firstly because I was inspired by the relationship of Lord and Lady Macbeth. I wanted to recreate that kind of relationship with Prince Hal and a love interest.
The letter is a response to a previously sent letter by Prince Hal. The relevance to Shakespeare is that, whether or not people acknowledge it, he was a philosopher exploring the concepts of his time within his plays.
According to F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." Indeed, very few people have this quality, the playwright William Shakespeare being one of them. In many of his plays, "Henry IV, Part One" among them, Shakespeare juxtaposes different worldviews, ideologies, and even environments. His characters usually provide a clear example of a split among them in one of many perspectives. One of his characters in "Henry IV"Falstaffis first seen as an endearing, uproariously funny scoundrel and later reveals himself more of a lowlife with his view of honorhe seems
Although there was legitimate cause for President Jackson to believe that the Second Bank of the United States only served the interests of the wealthy in expense of the common people, I agree that Jackson’s actions hurt the United States economically and socially during this time period. I say this because Jackson’s actions to veto the bill to recharter the Second Bank led directly to Panic of 1837, which resulted in both a social and economic hardship for many citizens as profits, prices, and even wages decreased with a tremendous increase in unemployment rates.
The theme for honour and fidelity apply for both men and women in Shakespeare’s play ‘much ado about nothing’. Honour and fidelity is represented very differently for men and women as it would have been for the people in Elizabethan times. In this first section of the essay, I will be exploring double standards and Shakespeare’s awareness of the double standards between sexes and his feminist approach, the differences of honour and fidelity for men and women and upper class and lower class comparisons.
Honor is one of those concepts that is seldom defined. One’s reputation is based on his or her honor, integrity, honesty, and purity. William Shakespeare’s Henry IV is a one of his many plays that deal with the varying ideas of honor, as well as issues of courage, loyalty, and ambition, interposing examples of dishonor, weakness, and the deceitful plots among both the drunkards and noblemen. Shakespeare utilizes suggestive metaphors to create illusions, imagery, and to reinforce the different views of the major issues people were faced with in his time and in ours. His plays often focus on the imagery, either on some obvious important symbol, or some image pattern that recurs throughout the work. Readers are
Throughout the course of time, societies views have been persuaded by contextual influences, yet the core human values have remained unaffected. Through the texts by composers William Shakespeare and Tim Blake nelson and their texts Othello and the late 20th century contemporary film O, the key values of trust, honesty and loyalty are explored with contextual influences being reflected. The values are explored with the use of thematic development of the key issues jealousy and appearance vs reality and the use of dramatic devices in Othello and cinematic techniques in O. Shakespeare's accurate representation explored these values in an Elizabethan context where the values of loyalty, honour and fidelity were apparent. In contrast, Tim Blake nelsons film express similar views and attitudes to a more teenage-orientated audience and these values are replaced with modern contextual values such as popular culture, peer pressure and popularity.
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.
In Chaucer’s “Franklin Tale” the plot revolves around a married couple: the knight, Arviragus, his young wife, Dorigen, and a young squire, Aurelius who importunes and attempts to Dorigen. The characters can be said to oscillate between desire and their ego honor which affects what they say and do. Lacan’s definition of desire tells us that we desire for recognition from this “Other.” Our desire is to become what the other person lacks. Duby’s model of courtly love is a concept that focuses on chivalry, nobility and women being at the center. In this paper, I will examine what the story reveals about the relation each character has to his or her desire, how they act in accordance to their desire and the role magic or illusion plays in the plot and how it affect characters’ relation to desire.
Some would say that honor is a thing of the past; a thing long since extinct with the King Arthur and the knights of the round table. In fact, it is not, it is real and can still be seen all around through people all the time. In Charles Dicken’s novel, A Tale of Two Cities, honor and dishonor are main themes that are exemplified and enacted through many characters. To be honorable, or to act in honor, is to act in a way that is not necessarily socially acceptable, but is morally right, noble, and kind. To be dishonorable is to neglect the basic responsibility of treating every human being in the respectful manner they deserve, giving no variance to rank or status. Throughout the book different men show varying degrees of honor and dishonor.
In Henry IV, Part One Shakespeare revels in the opportunity to suggest the idiosyncracy of character through his command of a wide range of both verse and prose. As a result the play is full of rich and different character parts (Wells 141). Two in particular, Falstaff and Hotspur, hold diverse beliefs concerning the main theme of the drama, honor. In Shakespeare’s time, honor was defined as the special virtues which distinguish those of the nobility in the exercise of their vocation–gallantry in combat with a worthy foe, adherence to the accepted code of arms, and individual loyalty to friends, family, and comrades in arms (Prior 14). Throughout the play, honor plays an important role in
King Henry V is one of the greatest kings that ever ruled England and was a favorite among his people. One of the reasons behind this is the presence of two men in his life; his father, King Henry IV, and Sir John Falstaff, his lowlife friend and bar companion. Both men represent two opposite father - figures to the young prince. It is the Prince’s ability to take and acquire the best traits in each that makes him surpass both of them and become great. Prince Hal’s relationship with both men is one of conflict. On one hand, his relationship with his father is tumultuous, while on the other his relationship with Falstaff is confusing.
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, the author encapsulates chivalrous characteristics in his telling of a battle for love. In its fundamental form, chivalry idealizes a knight’s conduct, both on and off the battlefield (Gregory-Abbott). Chaucer employs this “heroic code [of] bravery, loyalty, and service to one's lord” to illustrate the idillic knight throughout the narrative (Rossignol). Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, exhibits the ideals of chivalry in the form of two knights, desperately in love with the same woman, and a wise Duke who embodies the voice of reason. Each knight upholds honor through compassion, troths, and heroism on the battlefield, despite their afflictions with each other.
Falstaff is a tavern haunter, who partakes in the ìdrinking of old sackî (I.ii.4), lying, stealing, and thinks of honor as merely ìa wordî (V.ii.74). Although Hal enjoys the company of Falstaff, it is clear by his soliloquy in Act I, scene ii, that he intends to reform himself and act as a true prince: ìreformation, glittering o'er my fault, Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes, Than that which hath no foil to set it off, I'll so offend to make offence a skill, redeeming time when men least think I will (I.ii.9).î This shift in character is exemplified in the final battle, where Hal makes the chivalrous gesture of offering to ìTry fortune with [Hotspur] in a single fight (V.i.74).î
Prince Hal’s destiny is shaped for him by many forces: his association with the ne'er-do-well Falstaff, the expectations of his father, King Henry IV, and the constant comparison between himself and Hotspur. All three of these forces create in Hal a sense of honor that is an integral part of his education as the ideal king, and throughout the action of Henry IV, Part I, Hal is gaining a knowledge of honor that will shape him into the King that he will become. However, it seems that Hal ultimately chooses one form on honor over the other, although he must compare the honor of Falstaff and the conceptual honor of a chivalric hero before he comes to a final conclusion.
In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, there are multiple examples of morality and immorality throughout the book. In this novel, morality is defined as conforming to the normal rules of conduct, while immorality is not conforming to the widely accepted standards of behavior. Though there are multiple characters that are immoral, one character that is continually portrayed as immoral thus far is Lord Henry. Lord Henry’s ideas about any topic in particular are immoral as he merely identifies with what others expect from him. This can be shown when Lord Henry is speaking to Basil about his own decisions and opinions.
VALUE BASED QUESTIONS CLASS X ENGLISH Q1. What according to you are the essential values that go into the making of a true gentleman? Q2. Briefly explain the values that you have learnt from the two young boys of Verona? Mrs.Packletide is vain and full of self-importance and can go to any extent to maintain her public image. On the basis of your understanding of the story, Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger, briefly describe the values that can make one lead a truly happy life. Today’s youth is too engrossed in itself to care for their elders. What values does the story “Letter” arouse in you? What is the moral that you learn from the poem “The Frog and the Nightingale”? What lesson/moral does the “Mirror” teach us? What human weakness does it point