Henry The IV Part One

Henry the forth part one was written by William Shakespeare and it tells the tale of a rebellious leader called Hotspur who with the help of his close allies Worcester and Northumberland try to take over the king.

During the play Shakespeare uses many ways to explore the theme of honour. The significance of honour is very important in the play because Shakespeare uses it to portray the way that the person is feeling. In the tale we are told of many honourable men and we are shown some very shady characters.

At the beginning of the play prince Hal and Hotspur are in their local tavern called the boars head and they are engaging in some light banter. After a while Poins enters and announces that he has found out about pilgrims going to London with purses full of gold.

“By four o’clock early at Gladshill there are pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders going to London with fat purses full of gold”

Poins then explains to them he has arranged it for them to rob these pilgrims. Falstaff who is fine with the idea then leaves the room. Prince Hal is unsure but when Poins then tells him that they will not be at the robbery, but after Falstaff, Bardolph and Peto have taken the money the two will rob the money back off them. They wish to do this because Falstaff is a great liar and a coward and if it all goes to plan he will make up tremendous lies about being robbed by hundreds of men when all along it was only Hal and Poins. Poins goes and Hal has a moment to him self where he has a sililoquay. In this sililoquay he tells about how he will shake off his loose behaviour when he gains the thrown.

“So when this loose behaviour I throw off’

And pay the debt I never promised,

By how much better than my word I am,

By so much shall I falsify men’s hopes;”

I think the speech shows honour in Hal because he knows he is not at all acting like a prince when he is associated with low lives like Jack Falstaff and he wants to be able to show the people (“Falsify men’s hopes”) of England that when he gets the thrown he will be one of the best kings of England. This is ...

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“So when this loose behaviour I throw off’

And pay the debt I never promised,

By how much better than my word I am,

By so much shall I falsify men’s hopes;”

After they had robbed Falstaff and his group of robbers they were at the boars head drinking and engaging in banter of which Falstaff makes up that he was robbed this morning by hundreds of men.

“If I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of radish”

He even went to the extent of hitting his dagger against his sword to that it looks likes he has been in a fight. After Falstaff went on and on about being robbed they told him that it was them and his reply was

“By the lord, I knew ye as well as he that made ye.

Why, hear you my masters, was it for me to kill the heir

Apparent? Should I turn upon the true prince?”

His excuse is that he knew all along that it was the prince and that he just did not want to hurt the Prince of Wales. The exaggeration about the robbers and the excuse made about Hal is because in my opinion Falstaff wants to be honourable. He told Hal he fought 50 men because he wants to show off that he is honourable and not scared of dieing a hero’s death and the excuse that he knew it was Hal was because he didn’t want everyone to laugh at him because his pride was at stake. Falstaff is a man that never really gives up trying to show off even though he has just been caught out.

Now we shall go from one extreme to another- Hotspur. Hotspur is named because of his quick, rash decisions. At times Hotspur over does honour. The scene we first meet Hotspur in is where he is at the castle having an argument with the King. Northumberland and Worcester are also there and it is about a dispute over prisoners. Hotspur refused to hand over the prisoners that he had captured in the battle. The king summons him to his palace to explain why he hasn’t handed over the prisoners. Hotspur explains that he did not hand them over because the messenger that was sent irritated him so much that he made a rash decision and said he would not hand over the prisoners.

“My liege, I did deny no prisoners,

But remember when the fight was done,

Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword,

Came there a certain lord, neat and trimly dressed,

Fresh as a bridegroom; and his chin new reaped

Showed like a stubble land at harvest home.

He was perfumed like a milliner

And ‘twixt his finger and his thumb he held

A pouncet-box, which ever and anon”

What Hotspur found so irritating about him was that Hotspur is very honourable and this man was acting like war and that it disgusted him was a bad thing. Hotspur likes war so much because he loves the glory and all the things that go with it, like being a powerful leader.

Also that Hotspur had just fought a battle and had many scars and was covered in blood with ripped clothes and this Lord turns up and asks for the prisoners while taking snuff every so often in a very rude way.

Over all Hotspur is a very honourable person so much so that he in the end dies in a fight with Hal. The battle in which Hal kills Hotspur is in my opinion a fight for honour. Hal wants to win so that he can impress his dad and Hotspur wants to be the most honourable man in England - The King. The whole book is surrounded by honour and we are kept reminding this by each character.