Hotspur is an impatient, excitable, but most of all courageous man who strives for honour. In fact, most of Hotspur’s time is spent thinking about honour;
“Send danger from the east unto the west,
So honour cross it from the north to south,
And let them grapple.”
Danger and honour perhaps go together, and he strives for both and Hotspur is famous for winning honour in battle.
He seems fearless and looks forward to risks, even battles. Even when he is dying, he is more concerned about losing his honour than dying;
“I better brook the loss of brittle life
Than those proud titles thou hast won of me.
They wound my thoughts worse than thy sword my
Flesh.”
He even says it is better to live a short life full of honour than a long life with none;
“O gentlemen, the time of life is short!
Spend that shortness basely were too long
If life did ride upon a dial’s point,
Still ending at the arrival of an hour.”
Hotspur lives for honour, and this can be a virtue indeed, as well as bravery.
He has an excellent reputation as a fighter, which Prince Hal even jokes about;
“The Hotspur of the north, he that kills me some six or seven dozen of Scots at a breakfast, washes his hands, and says to his wife, ‘Fie upon this quiet life, I want work.’”
Hal thinks that Hotspur is always in want of fighting, and will, perhaps kill unmercifully and think nothing of it.
Prince Hal’s own father, King Henry, even mentions “this Hotspur, Mars in swaddling clothes.” Mars is the God of war, so this praise is exceptionally high. The king often wishes Prince Hal and Hotspur were swapped at birth;
“A son who is the theme of honour’s tongue…..
Sweet Fortune’s minion and her pride.”
“That this same child of honour and renown,
This gallant Hotspur, this all- praised knight”.
He also says “He has more worthy interest to the state
Than thou the shadow of succession.”
He knows Hotspur to be this great warrior and that would be a good son to have. To strive for honour as he does, never afraid. His own son is nothing like Hotspur and would be happy to sit in pubs all day, but I think that may be partly due to Falstaff.
He is so renowned, that even his enemies praise him;
“I do not think a braver gentleman,
More active- valiant or more valiant young,
More daring or more bold, is now alive
To grace this latter age with nobles deeds.”
Hal says this about Hotspur, but Hotspur is not so gracious to Hal.
His virtues may be few, but they are important to him and he is very worthy of them.
However, even Hotspur has his weaknesses. He is also quarrelsome, impatient, tactless, hot tempered and determined; “ Why what a wasp stung and
Impatient fool/
Art thou to break into this
Woman’s mood.”
This shows his temper and what he is like when he is perhaps impatient.
He is always quick to disagree, as if he enjoys arguing, for example, when England, Wales and Scotland are being split up, he just has to argue with Glendower about how the river bends so he has less land;
“Methinks my moiety, north from Burton here,
In quantity equals not one of yours.”
The audience would have been horrified at the thought of this as they also lived in a time of political uncertainty. Glendower eventually gives in, but Hotspur replies that he cares not. This is almost childlike behaviour. No one else would have got away with mocking Glendower;
“I do not care…
But in the way of bargain, mark ye me,
I’ll cavil on the ninth part of a hair.”
Hotspur is not the kind of person to just give up and will do whatever it takes.
His short fuse is a weakness, he decides he will not hand over prisoners, and is suddenly willing to risk his life for it;
“And if the devil come and roar for them,
I will not send them.”
He becomes “Drunk with choler” over so small a thing, really, and this makes him vulnerable to Worcester’s scheming. He has a tendency to speak his mind at whatever the cost, which is difficult for other rebels to deal with. They have to restrain his anger often.
Worcester comes up with perhaps the best criticism that Hotspur will actually listen to and understand; “In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame
And since your coming hither have done enough
To put him quite besides his patience.
You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault.
Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood-
And that’s the dearest grace it renders you-
Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage,
Defect of manners, want of government,
Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain,
The least of which haunting a nobleman
Loseth men’s hearts and leaves behind a stain.”
Worcester’s point is that although Hotspur can be brave and determined, sometimes it can lead to anger or rage which could worry people and make them ‘lose faith’ in him- if he cannot control himself, how can he begin to control others?
Some might say Hotspur has bad judgement, but I believe he just does what he thinks is right, for example when he reveals the rebellion secret to a lord, hoping he will join, but he doesn’t. However, he won’t tell his wife anything about it because he believes she might ‘gossip’, but she is actually quite worried about him. He thinks women cannot keep secrets;
“Constant you are,
But yet a woman. And for secrecy,
No lady closer.”
One could even call Hotspur sexist. Hotspur’s passion about honour and impatience for battle make him careless, for example, he forgot a map and could not remember the name of an important castle;
“A plague upon it!
I forgot the map.”
Is Hotspur really a good man ‘obsessed by war’? I believe his good qualities, although few are exceptional, although his bad ones seem to appear more frequently and unfortunately may be of more importance.