ing with drunks at the tavern. Hal knows the time is almost upon him when he must “imitate the Sun” of a king. Hotspur, the valiant warrior, feels he has a handle on the true meaning of honor and understands that he must “pluck drowned honor by the locks” in order to win back his family’s honor that was lost when his father supported Richard II usurpation (1.3.205). The importance of honor to Hotspur essentially makes him a good man, however, his pride and bombastic nature will prove his fatal flaw, “I better brook the loss of brittle life/Than those proud titles thou hast won of me” (5.5.77-78). Honor seems to be a transferable quality. It rubs off onto Hal in act three, scene two, when his father reprimands him, “I know not whether God will have it so For some displeasing service I have done, That in his secret doom out of my blood He’ll breed revengement and a scourge for me; But thou dost in thy passages of life Make me believe that thou art only marked For the hot vengeance and the rod of Heaven To punish my mistreadings” (3.2.4-11).Hal transforms from the satirical jokester, into the, now, honorable Prince seen before us when he challenges Hotspur, “And all the budding honors on thy crest/I’ll crop to make a garland for my head” (5.4.72-73). Hal has now proved himself to his father and his prediction that “the time will come” when he vanquished his rival Hotspur (3.2.144). However, Hal did not rob Hotspur of his honor. Hotspur died gallantly defending his family’s honor, which only reiterates what an honorable character Hotspur was. This remains the troubling question Shakespeare forces readers to ask themselves: who is considered honorable and who is considered dishonorable? Throughout Henry IV characters challenge readers to define honor. Does it take the willingness to stoop to di...
