Hotspur as Tragic Hero of Henry IV
In Shakespeare's Henry IV Part One, the characters' many different conceptions of honor govern how they respond to situations. Each character's conception of honor has a great impact on the character's standing after the play. For instance, Falstaff survived because he dishonorably faked his own death, and his untrue claim that he was the one who killed Hotspur may get him a title and land. On the other hand, Hotspur lies dead after losing a duel for honor. Hotspur, who is in many ways the ideal man by the standards of his time, is killed by his lust for honor. In creating Hotspur, Shakespeare has created a variation on the tragic hero of other works: the stubborn tragic hero, who, dying for his fault of honor, does not at last understand his weakness.
The fault of the classic tragic hero, hubris, is very similar to Hotspur's need for honor. While hubris is excessive pride, the quest for honor can be viewed as the quest ( of the proud ) to get more titles and accolades, more things to be proud of. In addition, Hubris and honor drive their victims to ultimate failure in a similar manner: Oedipus is driven to find out the truth about his origins by his own pride just as Hotspur is driven by his need for honor to fight against the odds. Each fault is as inevitably dooming as the other: the quest for honor leads to greater and greater risks taken for greater and greater honors, and hubris leads to the acceptance of greater and greater risks as the proud hero cannot back down. Thus Hotspur's need for honor is similar failing to hubris, giving him that characteristic of the tragic hero.
Hotspur's standing in his society is very high: he is ...
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...peare from other writers of the Elizabethan period and made his writings exceptional.
Works Cited and Consulted:
Bloom, Harold. Henry IV, Part One: Bloom's Notes. New York: Chelsea House, 1996.
Cruttwell,Patrick. Hernry IV. Shakespeare For Students, Vol. II. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1999.
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Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
Introduction: Recidivism or, habitual relapses into crime, has time and time again proven to be an issue among delinquents, which thereby increases the overall juvenile prison population. This issue has become more prevalent than what we realize. Unless a unit for measuring a juvenile’s risk of recidivism is enacted and used to determine a system to promote effective prevention, than the juvenile prison population will continue to increase. Our court system should not only focus on punishing the said juvenile but also enforce a program or policy that will allow for prevention of recidivism. So the question remains, how can recidivism in the juvenile prison population be prevented so that it is no longer the central cause for increased juvenile delinquency? Simply put, we must create a means of measuring juvenile’s level of risk and in turn, form an effective rehabilitation program that will decrease their risk level for future recidivism.
Juvenile crime in the United States is ballooning out of control along with adult crimes, and politicians and law enforcement officials don’t seem to be able to do anything about it. Despite tougher sentencing laws, longer probation terms, and all other efforts of lawmakers, the crime and recidivism rates in our country can’t be reduced. The failure of these recent measures along with new research and studies by county juvenile delinquency programs point to the only real cure to the U.S.’s crime problem: prevention programs. The rising crime rates in the United States are of much worry to most of the U.S.’s citizens, and seems to be gaining a sense of urgency. Crime ranks highest in nationwide polls as Americans’ biggest concern (Daltry 22). For good reason- twice as many people have been victims of crimes in the 1990s as in the 1970s (Betts 36). Four times as many people under the age of eighteen were arrested for homicide with a handgun in 1993 than in 1983 (Schiraldi 11A). These problems don’t have a quick fix solution, or even an answer that everyone can agree on. A study by the Campaign for an Effective Crime Policy has found no deterrent effects of the “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law recently put into effect by politicians (Feinsilber 1A). It has been agreed however that there is not much hope of rehabilitating criminals once started on a life of crime. Criminologist David Kuzmeski sums up this feeling by saying, “If society wants to protect itself from violent criminals, the best way it can do it is lock them up until they are over thirty years of age.... I am not aware of any treatment that has been particularly successful.” The problem with his plan is that our country simply doesn’t have the jail space, or money to ...
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
Presently, juvenile justice is widely acknowledged as being in a state of flux in the United States. The early 1990s saw the most substantial rise in violent crime committed by juveniles ever experienced in this country. On the heels of decades of skepticism about the effectiveness of parens patriae (the state as parent), this rise was the "proof" for many "experts" who believe that the juvenile justice system should be abolished. These skeptics reason that one criminal court could still have some latitude when sentencing younger offenders, but that kids are now committing adult crimes, so it is time to treat them as adults.
“. The average policeman and police chief thought of policewomen as a fad and considered their entry into the police field an unjustified excursion into social work. They thought of punitive functions and not preventative ones as the duty of police. No real concerted opposition to policewomen arose in the United States (unlike Great Britain), but rather the attitude prevailed that women had to prove themselves good police officers which they most likely could not do.” (Horne, 1975)
Bradley, A.C.. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. New York: Penguin Books, 1991.
There are many heroes in this world, whether it’s a fireman or a doctor. A hero is defined based on their courage, nobility and strength. In contrast, there are tragic heroes. According to philosopher, Aristotle, the definition of a tragic hero is one that is of greatness and dignity but, despite their greatness, makes an error, otherwise known as the hero’s “tragic flaw” or “hamartia” which leads to his downfall. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, the main protagonist and round character, Macbeth starts as a man of greatness and dignity. His assumed loyalty to the country and king earns him respect from a variety of men and the title “Thane of Cawdor.” But, unfortunately because of his tragic flaw he is corrupted by his overwhelming ambition and destroys himself and the natural order of man. Macbeth transitions from the savior of his country, “Bellona’s bridegroom”, a “brave” and unbeatable man to a man of endless brutality. Macbeth is the epitome of a tragic hero.
When one hears the word tragedy, one can assume that the human emotions are responsible for the collapse of an individual. To the Greek philosopher Aristotle, however, a tragedy is “an imitation of an action of high importance…in language enhanced by distinct and varying beauties…[or] by means of pity and fear effecting its purgation of these emotions” (Kennedy & Gioia, 945). He defined a tragic hero as having three common characteristics: hamartia, or the tragic flaw in the character which coupled with hubris (pride which results in overconfidence) causes his downfall and demise; katharsis, the purgation of the audience’s emotions, which causes the audience to feel “not depressed, but somehow elated”; and anagnorisis, or the recognition of some fact not previously realized by the true identity of the main character (Kennedy & Gioia, 946). Therefore, as defined by Aristotle’s concept of tragedy, William Shakespeare’s Othello could be classified as a tragic hero. Shakespeare’s play includes jealousy and intrigue, which intertwined with pride and suspense create the finest of Aristotelian tragedies. Othello complies with the requirements for a tragic hero as Aristotle began with the premise that the hero must be of “high estate,” as if he were the member of a royal family; however, he yet falls from a hierarchy of power to one of abashment. He has married the daughter of a Venetian nobleman. He starts out well, but his end is one of drama. Moreover, Shakespeare’s plot develops as Othello’s katharsis is revealed through the climax and conclusion of the play, while the anagnorisis with the recognition that Iago was a traitor and Desdemona his innocent victim.
For example, Macbeth was an honorable Thane of Glamis. He was a valiant fighter who had protected his country of Scotland well, but he wanted to be king. His "vaulting ambition" caused him to kill King Duncan, which ended up in his fall. Aristotle's tragic hero has a tragic flaw, or harmatia, that is the cause of the downfall. Macbeth's vaulting ambition, though it is what brings him to his height of power, is also what leads him to his downfall.
Shakespeare, William. “Macbeth.” The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. New York: Longman, 1997
Tragic heroes tend to have very pre-determined paths; usually making the most virtuous of characters destined to suffer. The hamartia or ‘tragic flaw’ is the typical reason the hero falls. Shakespeare was noted to be one of the best writers of tragedies, one of his most prominent to be Othello. In Othello, we find a number of tragic flaws two including pride and ambition. In William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, pride and ambition are used to identify the outcomes for the main characters in the play when seeing the resolution of the play, perceiving those who survive and those who don’t, and considering each character’s role in the turn of events.
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” (The Dark Knight, 2008). This quote describes the archetypical tale of the tragic hero. As Aristotle had illustrated in Poetica, the tragic hero is defined as possessing hubris and harmartia, arrogance or a tragic mistake respectively. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, we follow the titular character as we witness his rise to the throne to then see his immediate downfall. Macbeth stands among Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, showing the effect of power on an individual. His ultimate demise in the story’s resolution gives insight into what catalyzed the supposed events. Without a doubt, Macbeth had transformed from the hero to eventually the villain.
I believe in the death penalty, and for anyone who still needs convincing that the death