Falstaff Thinks Leave People Decide Honorable, Falstaff

¶ … Falstaff thinks leave people decide honorable, Falstaff achieves gaining things practical, fortune fame. On contrary, people decide Hotspur honorable man, honor honor's sake, Hotspur takes danger death.

Falstaff and Hotspur in Henry IV, Part

William Shakespeare's 1597 history play Henry IV, Part 1 puts across an account involving Henry Bolingbroke (King Henry the fourth) and his struggle to maintain his throne as a series of rebellions emerge throughout the land. Even with the fact that the rebellion initially appears to experience progress conditions change as the king's son, Hal, and his eccentric friend, Sir John Falstaff get actively involved in assisting Henry. Falstaff's character is especially intriguing when considering that he prefers to use logics rather than morality with the purpose of being successful. Harry Percy (Hotspur) contrasts Falstaff and eventually comes to be defeated as a result of employing an honorable attitude in combat.

The play revolves around the character of Hal, but the king also has a strong influence on each of the characters and events in the storyline. Falstaff's character, however, is one of the most interesting individuals in the play because he is unwilling to act in accordance with rules, but still manages to draw appreciation from individuals who he interacts with. Even with the fact that he is aristocrat, Falstaff does not hesitate to damage both his image and his name in order to perform acts that he really enjoys. This person is well-acquainted with his notoriety across London and actually appears to see nothing wrong with his behavior for the first part of the play.

It is difficult to determine whether Falstaff befriends Prince Hal because he enjoys his company or whether he does so because he wants their relationship to assist him in receiving more appreciation from the king. Falstaff manages to influence most individuals to appreciate him as a result of being a comedian. Most audiences are probable to enjoy this particular character in spite of his many faults. It is as if his humor compensates for the fact that he is an immoral individual who solely expresses interest in life's material values. One of the reasons for which it only seems normal for someone to consider Falstaff to be a pleasant individual is that he sees life as a concept that needs to be exploited, regardless of the suffering that one causes to others by employing such an attitude.

Falstaff is a man who has no interest in moral values and who is well-aware of the fact that society is a corrupt place that rarely repays people on account of their honor or of their morality. As a consequence, he takes on a lifestyle that is criticized by most. Prince Hal is probably one of the only persons who is able to see beyond Falstaff's depravity and who even influences others in changing their opinion concerning this character. Falstaff openly puts across his opinion regarding honor: "Can honour set to a leg? No: or an arm? No: or take away the grief of a wound? No: honour hath no skill in surgery, then? No. What is honour? A word" (Shakespeare 76). Prince Hal and other aristocrats at the court are reluctant to punish Falstaff for his crimes and for his lies because they know that he never manages to perform an act that is malicious in nature. Falstaff is basically a clown who entertains them and who sees nothing wrong with his position as long as he has access to the resources that he is interested in.

Henry Percy is Falstaff's opposite when considering that he considers honor to be one of the most important things in life and that he is determined to punish anyone whom he considers a threat. King Henry's appreciation of Hotspur and the fact that he criticizes Falstaff demonstrates that the former is an honorable person who, even though is an enemy of the crown, is respected because of his military abilities and for his attitude in general. Hotspur is not necessarily a villain because he challenges the crown and because he fights Prince Hal. His behavior is perfectly normal when considering his interest in morality and that he wants justice to prevail throughout the land.