The theme of honour Essay Example for Free

The theme of honour Essay The theme of Honours tongue. Is this a good description of Henry VI Part 1? Henry IV Part 1 is a Shakespearian play of the young Prince Hal who is many ways is not ready to accept his role as the Prince of England. He is immature and disloyal in his fathers eyes. He befriends drunkards, socializes in lonely taverns or whore-houses, and, at the beginning of the play, is not a fit prince, let alone a fit heir to the thrown. The second scene of the play Hals first is set in the tavern. We are immediately introduced to Hals friend, Sir Jack Falstaff. From his title, Falstaff might seem gracious, brave and sensible, some of the qualities that might usually be used to describe one who has been knighted. However, Falstaff is fat, drunken, old, flabby and a thief. In Act 2 Scene 2, and the scenes that follow, Falstaff is summed up a great deal. He is carrying Out a robbery upon some travelers, firstly showing his side as a thief and a rogue. Have you any levers to lift me up again, being down? This quote shows Jacks fat side. After Falstaff and his croanies have carried out the robbery, they are immediately robbed themselves by Prince Hal and his less abominable friend, Poins. When the men meet again at the tavern, Falstaff runs out a huge story of how the money was stolen by him successfully, but then immediately taken by a group of. A hundred . some dozen . Sixteen at least some six or seven (finally) if I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of radish. When the Prince and Poins prove Jack wrong he only replies that he knew that it was the two of them all along. On the other extreme in the play is a man named Hotspur. He is the son of the Duke of Northumberland and is everything the King wishes his son was; everything which Hal is not. In Act 3 scene 2 of the play, the King tells that his son might have been switched at birth with Hotspur, so that he could have a son to be proud of, not one he would be reluctant to let sit on the throne. Hotspur, Hals opposite in the play, is hot-headed, valiant, and a good fighter. Hal apparently has none of these qualities, reflected by the people with whom he socialises. Act 2 scene 4 contains the main climax of the play. This is the scene following the robbery. Towards the end of it, Falstaff and the Prince act out a play conversation between the Prince and his father, with the King examining his son on the particulars of his life. Firstly, the Prince plays himself, and the two act out a humorous scene, with fun being made of the good portly man whom Hal befriends. At the end of this play, the two switch with Jack as the Prince and the Prince standing as his father. Although Jack makes effort to lighten the situation, repeating the previous play, the scene darkens as this second act-out descends into a serious play. Towards the end of the second play (within the play ), Jack starts to squirm. to say I know more harm in him (Falstaff) than in myself, were to say more than I knowbanish Peto, banish Bardolf, banish Poins banish plump Jack, and banish all the world. I do, I will (the Prince replies). At this point, the climax of the play, Prince Hal reveals that his father will have the man hung. However, the play between the Prince and Falstaff is made to reflect the Princes views. This scene is the first scene of honour within the play, and the scenario itself that Hal will become King and forget his thieving friends is the most obvious and important reflection of honour throughout the play. The scenario is also accompanied by another theme of honour within the play. For example, at the very end of scene 1 in the fifth act, Falstaff runs off a speech showing his views on honour. Can honour set to a leg? No or rake away the grief of a wound? No. Honour hath no skill in surgery then? No. What is honour? A word air. This contrasts between Hals views on honour and how he displays it through the play (rising from the depths of a scum-filled tavern, to go to the battlefield and risk his life) and Jacks views on the word, magnifies the theme of honour which runs through the play.