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

provokes Brutus by telling him that it is his duty for his family is to kill the

king. He says, ? There was a Brutus once that would have brooked th? eternal

devil to keep his state in Rome as easily as a king? (Julius Caesar, I, ii,

167-170). Both Hotspur and Brutus are manipulated when a part of their character

is exposed by a conspirator. Hotspur and Brutus both take charge of their

conspiracies to kill their leaders and when they do, they are not proficient

leaders. They do not listen to others and do not cooperate with others. Hotspur

and Brutus think of themselves and are very selfish. In addition, Hotspur and

Brutus are both arrogant and egotistical. First, Hotspur believes that the king

will ransom Mortimer from captivity in Wales for the prisoners. When the king

gives an order, it has to be followed and Hotspur believes he can bargain with

the king. Then Hotspur believes that if he can get Richard II off the throne

then, he could get any king off the throne. Then when all the conspirators meet

in Wales to make final the terms of their plot against king Henry and to

determine how they will divide up the conquered kingdom, Hotspur ridicules

Glendower to his face because he believes the he is better than Glendower. Also,

Hotspur thinks he deserves more land than anyone else. His desire to be

honorable propels him to be arrogant and conceited. Equally, Brutus is also

stuck up in many ways. First, Cassius fawns towards Brutus to manipulate him for

his own purposes. Cassius explains to Brutus that Caesar is no better than any

other Roman, the Romans do not want an emperor, and that he has a duty to his

family to bring down an emperor. Brutus believes all of this because he himself

is jealous of Caesar and believes that he is better than Caesar. Also, when a

person does not listen to other opinions in a situation, that shows this person

believes he is always right and does not need input of others. Brutus displays

this arrogance in all of the important decisions that affected the conspiracy.

This arrogance led Brutus and Hotspur to be subordinate leaders and bad decision

makers. Their excessive belief in honor played a role in their arrogance which

crippled their leadership abilities. Brutus and Hotspur are characters who have

exorbitant views of honor which actually causes them to act in opposition to

their principles and rebel against their leaders. Their egos and their struggles

for power makes them susceptible to manipulation and corruption. Their

misinterpreted idea of honor affects their attitude and leadership abilities.

Brutus and Hotspur build their lives around honor and expect everyone else to

follow those same principles. They seem to value honor, but eventually do not

commit honorable acts. When people are easily manipulated and corrupt, they are

not reliable leaders. Leaders can not take into account just honor in making

decisions. This will lead them to view ideas in only one way. Leaders should

take into account other factors when they make decisions. For example, Adolf

Hitler, the leader of the Nazis looked at problems in one way. He believed Jews

were the cause of Germany?s economic problems and did not take into account

that Germany was to blame for the first world war and had to pay reparations for

it. Hitler?s arrogance and his own definition of honor caused him to make

decisions looking at them one way just as Hotspur and Brutus did. Hitler was

also obsessed with the Aryan race. He believed the Aryan race, Germans, were

superior to all other races and did not even listen to what other had to say.

The narrow way he looked at his views made him an unreliable leader and bad

decision maker. As we choose the leaders for our country, we should try to

evaluate what their morals and motivations are, so that we choose the most

secure and reliable leaders.

Shakespeare, William. Henry the IV, Part I. Edited with intro. by Barbara A.

Mowat and Paul Werstine. Folger edition. New York: Washington Square Press,

Pocket Books, 1994. Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Edited with intro. by

Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. Folger edition. New York: Washington Square

Press, Pocket Books, 1992.