Honor In Plays Essay Research Paper Many

Honor In Plays Essay, Research Paper

Many tragic heroes had honor which was either their downfall or their positive

trait. In Shakespeare.s Henry IV Part 1, Hotspur, a hot tempered traitor,

makes honor his first priority for him and his family . Although the king

praised him, he led a rebellion against him. In Julius Caesar Brutus, a honor

driven conspirator, believes too much in honor and uses nor as a way to justify

his action. He is admired by the Roman people, but was easily manipulated into

joining a conspiracy and immediately took as the leader to killing Caesar. Both

of these characters are very similar in how they perceived and lived their

lives. Shakespeare creates Brutus and Hotspur as characters whose principle

concern is for themselves and honor which ironically causes them to make

unprincipled decisions which eventually causes their downfall. Hotspur lives his

life by the code of honor. Henry IV, the king at that time, honors and respects

Hotspur more than his own son. When Hotspur does not give the prisoners that he

had captured to the king, it is treason because he defies against the king.

Hotspur says that he did not want to hand over the prisoners because his army

had just fought a hard battle and were very proud of what they had done. When

the servant came looking very clean and trimly dressed, they felt that if they

gives the prisoners to him then Hotspur and his army would be giving away

everything they had worked and fought for. Hotspur feels that the king attacks

his honor when he orders those prisoner be sent to him. The king becomes angry

because Hotspur had time to think about his decision and Hotspur still had not

given the soldiers to him. The king says, . Send us your prisoners, or you

will hear of it. (Henry IV Part 1, I, iii, 126). Brutus also believes that

honor is what makes a man. He says, . For let the gods so speed me as I love

the name of honor more than I fear death. (Julius Caesar, I, ii, 95-96). He

thinks that killing Caesar is his duty because it will be for the good of all

Romans. When the other conspirators come over to Brutus.s house, Cassius tells

everyone that they should make an oath to follow through with the plan to kill

Caesar. Brutus disagrees and says that only people with evil intentions take

oaths and that they are doing what is the right and just. When Brutus makes his

speech after the killing of Caesar he says, . Believe me for mine honor, and

have respect to mine honor that you may believe . (Julius Caesar, III, ii,

15-18). But killing your friend and colleague is not honorable, so consequently

Brutus is not as honorable as he believes himself to be. Honor in both of these

characters is what makes them act and think they way they do. Hotspur believes

that he has been betrayed and wants to kill the king. Brutus wants to kill the

king also because he feels that it will be for the good of all Romans. They do

not think decisions through and eventually honor overrules other factors when

they make decisions. When time comes for Hotspur and Brutus to make decisions,

they turn out to be bad decisions which aren.t thought through. Furthermore,

Hotspur is a very poor decision maker. He decides to defy the king.s orders,

and by doing so commits treason in which some people can be executed. Hotspur

decides that his family deserves more than they have already received for taking

Richard out of the throne, but he does not take into account that Henry is the

king and has a lot of power. Although the king respects and honors Hotspur more

than his own son, he defies the king.s authority and decides to take the side

of his own family. When all of the conspirators gather together, Hotspur just

ridicules some of the other conspirators at a time when cooperation is a

necessity. He is very hot tempered and bases his decisions on his anger. What

makes Hotspur a bad leader is that he is easily manipulated by Worcester, his

uncle. Worcester makes all of the plans for the conspiracy and manipulates

Hotspur into taking control of the operation. Equally, Brutus is also a poor

decision maker. First of all, he decides to assassinate the king and in making

that faulty decision, he makes other flawed decisions. He decides that Cicero, a

wise and respected man, should not be in the conspiracy. The only reason Brutus

did not want him in the conspiracy is that he did not want competition for the

position as the leader of the conspiracy. When the other conspirators decide to

kill Antony along with Caesar, Brutus disagrees because he believes that Antony

will not cause problems for the future. The other conspirators try to give

reasons for killing Antony, Brutus does not listen, interrupts Cassius in mid

sentence, and just decides that they will not kill Antony. Cassius also

manipulates Brutus just as Hotspur was by Worcester. Cassius flatters Brutus and

pro

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