Hotspur vs. Harry in Henry IV
At the beginning of the play it seems that the chief rebel, Hotspur, is in
dispute with the King but as the play progresses we find that the main contest
is between Hotspur and Hal, the King's son. At first thought, Hotspur seems to
be the easy winner, for all Hal does is spend his time with his friends
gallivanting around, stealing and drinking.
Hotspur, on the other hand, has returned from a battle in which he defeated the
Scots led by Glendower. He has taken many prisoners including the Earl of
Douglas, a Scottish warlord. Hotspur is a very valiant warrior who has won a
great reputation for himself on the battlefield. He is young and impetuous as
his name suggests.
Henry IV has more admiration for Hotspur than his own son Hal, and is envious of
Northumberland for having such a son:
'a son who is the theme of honours tongue'.
' in envy that my Lord Northumberland should
be father to so blest a son'.
The King feels that Hotspur reminds him of himself, when he challenged Richard
for the throne. Hotspur is brave and valiant and has a good reputation with the
people, whereas Hal compared with Richard does not care for the welfare of the
country and spends his time entertaining himself with poor company.
Hotspur has nothing but disrespect for Hal. During the play he calls him:
'the madcap Prince of Wales'.
He thinks of Hal as an unworthy opponent. From Hotspur's point of view the only
real opponent is King Henry, and yet it is Hal, 'the madcap of Wales', who
vanquishes him in the end, much to his surprise and dismay. We are neither ...
... middle of paper ...
...ly impresses Vernon, and his offer for single combat with Hotspur
shows concern for his future subjects. When the two finally meet, we know who
will be the victor for Hal becomes the great Henry V that wins at Agincourt.
They speak briefly together and then commence their dual. As Hotspur lays on
the ground at the point of death, Hal praises him and even lets Falstaff take
credit for the victory. The rebels have lost the battle and are defeated.
Works Cited
Bloom, Harold. Henry IV, Part One: Bloom's Notes. New York: Chelsea House, 1996.
Cruttwell,Patrick. Hernry IV. Shakespeare For Students, Vol. II. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1999.
Kantor, Andrea. Henry IV, Part One. London: Baron's Education Series, Inc, 1984.
Princiss, G.M. Henry IV Criticism. Shakespeare For Students, Vol.II. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1999.
Hal’s remark to his father indicates a now strong, independent mind, predicting that Douglas and Hotspur will not accept Henry’s offer because of their love for fighting. Henry’s reply in turn indicates a change in attitude towards his son, a newfound respect. Acknowledging Hal’s prediction, the king orders preparations to begin, and we see he has his own set of solid moral values: knowing that their ‘cause is just’ helps him to reconcile with his highly honourable conscience that there is indeed cause for war. Still maintained is the conflict between the very format of the text, with Hal and Henry’s conversation held in formal verse typical of the court world, in which Hal is now firmly embedded. Falstaff, however, sustains his equally typical prose speech, which indicates to the audience the enduring division between the court and tavern worlds.
When we look at Henry as a king we have to look in the context of
Prince Hal is initially portrayed as being incapable of princely responsibilities in light of his drinking, robbery and trickery. Yet, Shakespeare reveals that Hal is in fact only constructing this false impression for the purpose of deceit. Prince Hal’s manipulative nature is evident in his first soliloquy, when he professes his intention to “imitate the sun” and “break through the foul and ugly mists”. The ‘sun’ Prince Hal seeks to ‘imitate’ can in this case be understood as his true capacity, as opposed to the false impression of his incapacity, which is symbolised by the ‘foul and ugly mists’. The differentiation of Hal’s capacity into two categories of that which is false and that which is true reveals the duplicity of his character. Moreover, Hal is further shown to be manipulative in the same soliloquy by explaining his tactic of using the “foil” of a lowly reputation against his true capacity to “attract more eyes” and “show more goodly”. The diction of “eyes” symbolically represents public deception, concluding political actions are based on strategy. It is through representation and textual form that we obtain insight into this
transformation of Prince Hal from a tavern crony into the next King of England. This is a
...te, further demonstrates the realist view that however hard one tries, it is impossible to fight the cycle of corruption.
Falstaff who seems to be Hal’s role model while in the Tavern, is putting forth a great deal of effort to have Hal conform into the lowlife that he himself has made himself out to be. Falstaff teaches Hal how to lie, cheat, and steal, but Hal seems to have a mind of his own. He tells his father that at any given moment he can change his character and be what his father wants him to be. Henry declines to believe these statements.
Henry V is not a simple one as it has many aspects. By looking into
The consequences of the Hal and Hotspur's choice in father-figures are indeed what leads the play to its final outcome. Hal, who sides with his father and not Falstaff, becomes a noble prince and redeems himself in the eyes of his father. Hotspur, on the other hand, sides with Worcester, and their collective tempers lead them to make the rash decision to revolt. Their tempers are also responsible for other poor decisions that evade the chance of truce, resulting in the inevitable failure of the rebellion. Indeed, all could have been prevented if Hotspur sided with his father, rather than his uncle, and Hal would have become a desolate criminal had he followed Falstaff.
Beowulf is one of those stories that make the reader think. Although the unknown author of Beowulf develops the main protagonist to represent both paganism and Christianity, the ideals conflict and create a unique epic poem. Throughout the story, the reader sees a mix of Christian and pagan ideals telling a story of an epic hero. Because the reader cannot decipher whether he is pagan or Christian, it is only logical to assume he represents both. The author develops Beowulf to speak as if the two religions work together to create one. Although it is hard for the reader to understand, Beowulf seems to understand exactly what he believes in. The author clearly knew what he was doing when he wrote Beowulf into life. Beowulf's beliefs made him into the great epic hero that he is.
The poem Beowulf is a renowned story that displays many different surroundings and religious beliefs. Some may believe the story of Beowulf portrays pagan beliefs or customs and others believe that the poem is more in agreement with Christian ethnicity. The author of Beowulf uses both Christian and pagan elements in the poem to define the heroic warrior, Beowulf, and the evil dragons. After reading Beowulf the author clearly shows how Beowulf is a man who is filled with Christian customs and is willing to die and defend the world against evil using the help of God.
Commercials make the viewer think about the product being advertised. Because of the amount of television children watch throughout the week, it allows the children to be exposed to the information over and over again. Per year, children are known to view thousands of fast food commercials. On a daily basis, a teen will usually view five advertisements and a child aged six to eleven will see around four advertisements (Burger Battles 4). Businesses use this strategy to “speak directly to children” (Ruskin 3). Although the big businesses in the fast ...
Hal is a cold, calculating Machiavellian ruler. According to Machiavelli’s popular theory, being a successful leader has nothing to do with being a nice person or doing the right thing. Instead, it’s about being inventive, manipulative, crafty, and willful. Hal is an intelligent character who put all those attributes to work when he articulated a grand plan to fool everyone around him in order to gain power. One critic claims that traditionally there are two common ways to interpret Prince Hal's development. The first is to see it as a celebration of a great king in training who grows in his responsibility and develops into a mature political leader. The second view sees Prince Hal as a cold Machiavel who uses his friends as means to a political end, without much regard for their feelings. (Johnston 1).
Shakespeare, William. Richard III. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1997), 515-600.
In his speech at the end of 1.2, Hal says that he is only spending time in the taverns and with misfits so that when he achieves glory, it will look even greater than it is. However, one might argue that really Hal is scared to take on the responsibility of being a prince and is using the time that he
Though the origins of the epic poem Beowulf lie in the Pagan Anglo-Saxon era, by the time it was recorded, most Saxons had converted to Christianity. The story seems to be told partly from a heathen point of view and also partly from a biblical. Beowulf seeks glory, crediting it to God, yet a lot of his works are said to have been fated, and he seems to be trying to earn immortality on the earth, and not in an afterlife or in heaven. To determine the role of religion in the poem, the difference between fate and God’s providence must be examined, and examples of Pagan beliefs and Christian beliefs in the story should be discussed.