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Honour

The theme of honour is first introduced by Hotspur. Honour is what motivates him. His actions are affected by his constant pursuit of this grand ideal of honour. He believes he is upholding honour by leading a rebellion against an unjust king. This is shown by his speech in Act 1, scene 3, lines 199-206, in which he declares that "drownÐ"Ёd honour" must be plucked up from the bottom of the deep. In other words, he feels that honor has been disgraced by the king's rule and he want to resurrect it. He also sees honour in terms of military prowess; it is the respect one gets from others for performing heroic deeds on the battlefield.

Although on the royal side there is no direct mention of honor, the concept nonetheless underlies the entire conflict. The King's urgings to his son convey the idea that it is time for the young man to behave honorably and help to defeat the rebels. The need to uphold honor is what leads the men on both sides into battle. No one can back down and still retain honor.

Falstaff, however, satirizes the concept of honor. Unlike Hotspur who is obsessed with honour, he disregards it. For him, honor is just a meaningless word. Honour is but an abstract concept. It has no practical use, and is certainly not worth sacrificing one's life for (see his speech Act 5 scene 1). Falstaff is not willing to give up pleasure or risk potential bodily harm in obtaining honour. He would rather live a coward than die a hero with honour. The Ð''grinning honour' of the dead Walter Blunt who had died disguised as King Henry as a favour to the king provoked the comment, "Give me life, which if I can save, so; if not, honour comes unlooked for, and there's an end."

Hal's idea of honour is more subtle than that of either Falstaff or Hotspur; his perception of honour lies somewhere in between. For a time he was prepared to