Honor is a central theme throughout Henry IV Part I.  Whether someone is seen as having honor is important to the world of the play.  King Henry is the person whose judgment of honor is most important to the characters in the play.  Both Prince Hal and Hotspur are watched closely by King Henry, as he makes judgments about how much honor each has.  From the beginning, the King sees Hotspur as having honor, but Hal has to earn his honor over the course of the show.  In fact, the honor that Hotspur has is transferred metaphorically to Hal throughout the show.  

 

       Early on, in Act 1, Scene 1, the audience sees that in the eyes of King Henry, Hotspur has honor.  In his conversation with Westmoreland, the King says, “Ten thousand bold Scots, two-and-twenty knights, / Balk'd in their own blood, did Sir Walter see / On Holmedon’s plains.  Of prisoners Hotspur took / Mordake, Earl of Fife and eldest son / To beaten Douglas, and the Earl of Atholl, / Of Murray, Angus, and Menteith. / And is not this an honorable spoil?” (1:1:68).  The King’s perspective regarding honor is first described here.  To Henry, honor looks like military prowess - large numbers of enemy soldiers left slain on the battlefield, and others taken prisoner.  This is exactly what Hotspur does, which makes him honorable to the King.  

 

      In the same exchange with Westmoreland, King Henry talks about the lack of honor his son Prince Hal has.  He says he sees “riot and dishonor stain the brow of my young Harry” (1:1:84).  King Henry also says he wishes that Hal and Hotspur had been switched and that Hotspur were the prince.  After King Henry states all the honorable things that Hotspur has done and expresses the honor he seems to have, Westmoreland says, “In faith, it is a conquest for a prince to boast of” (1:1:76),  to which the King agrees.  This shows that it is not only King Henry who sees Hotspur as having considerably more honor than Prince Hal, even some of the King's advisors see it too.   In that respect, the King must be worried, because if the person next in line has no honor he might be much more susceptible to rebellion.  Also, Prince Hal has not done the great deeds that Hotspur has on the battlefield.  Instead, the Prince has spent his time in the tavern.  

 

     Later on, in Act 3, Scene 2, King Henry summons Prince Hal.  Here the king expresses his disappointment in Hal, explaining the lack of honor the ousted King Richard had before saying, “And in that very line, Harry, standest thou, / For thou hast lost thy princely privilege with vile participation” (3:2:87).  King Henry has at this point given up.  This conversation with Hal is Henry’s last attempt to pull his son out of the tavern and into the court where he can earn his honor and eventually the crown.  Hal senses this and finally begins the journey to honor.  He assures his father he will change in an act of maturity that has yet to be seen from his character, before stating “I will redeem all this on Percy’s head, / And, in the closing of some glorious day, / Be bold to tell you that I am your son” (3:2:137).  Again, this is a shift for Prince Hal.  He seems to finally understand that he is not perceived as having honor or as a prince and that as he has drunk his time away in the tavern, Hotspur has been out on the battlefield earning his honor.  Here, Prince Hal acknowledges that he has not done his job as prince, but is committed to doing so now, and earning his honor from Hotspur, the one who has taken it.

 

      This interaction with King Henry and Prince Hal is the turning point of the play as far as honor is concerned.  It is here that Hal, who has done nothing to earn honor, suddenly changes and begins to please his father, and at the same time Hotspur gathers with the rebels to attempt to overthrow the King.  This is also where Hotspur loses the honor that the king previously acknowledged he possessed.  In his conversation with Prince Hal in Act 3, Scene 2, King Henry describes Hotspur’s loss of honor, explaining, “What never-dying honor hath[Hotspur] got…” (3:2:109)  through acts of war were really a ruse to further his agenda and make plans to overthrow the monarchy.  

 

      Prince Hal’s transition to earning honor is instantaneous.  In the following scene, Act 3, Scene 3, Prince Hal starts to honor his promise to his father.  Finding Falstaff at an inn, the prince offers his friend “a charge of foot.” (3:3:197)  Now, even though Prince Hal is doing as he pledged to his father, one might question his choice of commander.  Falstaff is someone who spends most of his time in the tavern, and if the prince is trying to distance himself from the tavern and rise to meet higher society, giving the position of right-hand man to Falstaff might not have as much honor as if he picked someone else.  Nevertheless, Prince Hal seems confident in his decision, ready to mobilize the army for the battle to come.  

 

       As they continue to prepare for rebellion, Hotspur and the other rebels learn that the king’s army is on its way to confront the rebels.  In delivering this news, Vernon reports, “I saw young Harry with his beaver on, His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly armed…” (4:1:110).  This must come as a surprise to the rebels.  Last they knew Prince Hal did not go with his father into battle but stayed home in the tavern.  Furthermore, Vernon continues, he saw Prince Hal “Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury / And vaulted with such ease into his seat / As if an angel dropped down from the clouds, / To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus / And witch the world with noble horsemanship” (4:1:112).  This description of Prince Hal implies much more honor than any description before in the play.  Comparing him to “feathered Mercury” (4:1:112), a messenger of the gods, and “Pegasus” (4:1:115), a mythological creature, are not things you would compare someone dishonorable to.  The image of “an angel dropped down from the clouds” (4:1:114) feels very honorable, not something you would say of someone who spends all of their time in the tavern.  There seems to be a shift here in how honorable Prince Hal is perceived.  And it seems to be even stronger after Hotspur's line “No more, more more...This praise doth nourish agues” (4:1:117). This is the first time we see Hotspur really afraid of anything or anyone, and it only lessens the audience’s perception of Hotspur’s honor which is being taken by Prince Hal.  

 

       This all leads to the battle between Prince Hal and Hotspur in Act 5, Scene 4.  Before the fight the two exchange words, where Hotspur acknowledges the honor Prince Hal has earned while still boasting of his own honor: “... the hour is come / To end the one of us, and would to God / Thy name in arms were now as great as mine” (5:4:70).  Here Prince Hal responds, “and all the budding honors on thy crest, / I’ll crop to make a garland for my head” (5:4:72).  It is clear that Prince Hal understands how much this battle matters for him to earn his honor.  He must defeat Hotspur, the man who until now has earned the honor fit for a Prince, and show that he is worthy of the crown.  This is where he can change everyone’s mind who thought Hotspur was more fit to be prince, and where he can earn the same honor that Hotspur did on the battlefield at the beginning of the play.  And he does.  Prince Hal defeats Hotspur by killing him, finally earning the honor his father so desperately wanted him to have.