Redemption is a tricky subject in King Henry IV Part 1, because it is
directly tied to honor, which is an even more complex subject in this text. I chose
this line from Hotspur to write about: “No; yet time serves wherein you may redeem Your banish'd honours and restore
yourselves Into the good thoughts of the
world again, Revenge the jeering and
disdain'd contempt Of this proud king,
who studies day and night To answer all
the debt he owes to you Even with the
bloody payment of your deaths:
Therefore, I say-- .”
This line immediately stuck out to me because of its
relevance to the rest of the play, and its major characters. I think it lines
up perfectly with the play’s philosophy on redemption. The main example is
Prince Hal, he plans on acting reckless and immature so that when the time
comes, he can prove himself to the King and his people. He redeems himself
after a certain amount of time, just like Hotspur says can happen.
It seems in this
play that redemption is something anyone can obtain, no matter what they’ve done
beforehand. Which is confusing to me, because in a time where honor is so
important, I feel like it would be something that you can’t get back after
losing it. So people like King Henry IV, or Falstaff, shouldn’t ever be able to
redeem themselves for what they’ve done. Obviously Henry is the King, so he has
honor, but in my opinion he shouldn’t have any for the way he wrongly claimed
the throne. Falstaff should also have no honor, nor any chance to redeem
himself, but after every wrong or cruel thing he does in the play, he is still
in good standing with everyone else. Lastly, in this text redemption isn’t
something that can only happen during one’s lifetime, but in the world the play
takes place in, it’s only something you can obtain in life. At the end of the
play Hotspur isn’t seen as the evil man he once was before, the last battle isn’t
necessarily his fault, so the readers or spectators don’t feel as badly towards
him; he slightly redeems himself. But Hotspur sees it differently; he loses his
honor after he dies, so there is no redemption for him. “They wound my thoughts
worse than thy sword my flesh,” (5.4: 85-86). Redemption is something anyone can
obtain, but only in their lifetime.
Dan, I appreciate this probing inquiry into King Henry IV PT 1; you rove across quite a lot of the play here, and it's challenging work. I share your skepticism of the too-easy stage management of redemption; it is odd that his luster is something Hal can take on and off at will, and gives some support of Falstaff's ironic and very dark account of honor in the 5th act. But in that speech, he makes clear that honor is posthumous--that one cannot enjoy it securely while alive. There seems to be a contradiction, then, between what the play says and what you see it saying. How might you work this out?
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