Psychological Studies of Hal and Hotspur
A STUDY BY NAOMI C.
Hotspur wants to become king or die trying. Hal hasn’t even begun to live. Both Hotspur and Hal obsess over control of their whereabouts, though this trait manifests in different ways for each man. Hotspur is addicted to violence, and Hal to image.
To Hotspur, there is a glory in sacrifice and innate heroism in combat. His sense of justice calls for an immediate violent response. He wants to become king, thereby deposing Henry IV. He relishes in violence, remarking in Act 1 Scene 3 “Oh, let the hours be short/Till fields and blows and groans applaud our sport.” Even if Hotspur idolizes rashness and violence, his justifications for his actions are still rooted in a mature sense of vigilante justice. However, Hotspur would go to war with or without that motivation. He relishes violence, but still has a deep rooted anxiety that he can’t control the outcomes of battle-perhaps that is why he loves violence so much. As a bold, well-off man, he can manipulate even the king, when he keeps the prisoners for himself. He can do and control everything he desires, except the unpredictability that is combat.
Hal intends to “pay the debt [he] never promised,” to balk all expectations and become popular, “showing more goodly and attract more eyes.” (Act I Scene 2) Hal’s motivations are more self-oriented, in contrast with Hotspur. He engages in “loose behavior” only to pave the way for his future reformation.
Hal is more afraid of death than Hotspur. Due to Hotspur’s justifications, he is willing to risk his neck. He is already a decorated war hero, a husband, with his cultivated adult persona and honor to his name. Hotspur’s dreams of self sacrifice render him fearless. If he dies, it would not be in vain. If Hal dies, it would be without his dreams coming to fruition. He would only ever be a prince that didn’t inherit the king title. Hal is invested in his own self-preservation, so his legacy doesn’t pass out of his control. He has everything to lose, and less to gain.
A STUDY BY DYLAN S.
Consciously, Hal and Hotspur have slightly different motives in life. Hal wants to have fun and horse around with his friends, with the plan to ditch them eventually in order to become an honorable king later in his life. While Hal would like to one day be an honorable king, in the beginning of the play he’s only concerned with having fun. Hotspurs wants to get revenge on Henry IV for taking the throne, which he had no right to. Hotspur wants this because his ultimate goal is always to be honorable. He believes that part of being honorable is punishing those who are not honorable. In his eyes, Henry IV is not honorable because he stole the throne. While Hal and Hotspur have different immediate goals, their ultimate desire is the same.
Hal and Hotspur fear quite different things. Hal’s primary fear is disappointing his father. While it may be true that, in the beginning of the play, Hal is a constant disappointment to his father, Hal doesn’t see it this way. He convinces himself that he’s not disappointing his father by being a hooligan, because his plan is to ditch that life when it is time for him to step up and become a proper king. When Henry IV tells Hal what a disappointment he is, Hal is deeply hurt and realizes he has to get his act together immediately, and so he does. Hotspur’s primary fear is losing his most valuable asset, his honor. Hotspur was likely raised in a world where honor, meaning being a good, strong warrior, was highly praised. He therefore cares a lot about how other people view him, and will do anything to maintain his honor and glory in the eyes of others. While Hotspur is always thinking about his honor and how people view him, Hal’s fear of this has been pushed down by his id and its constant desire for pleasure. However, when Hal speaks with his father in act 3 scene 2, the desire to be a good, strong, and honorable person, as well as the fear of how people view him, resurfaces.
Consciously, Hal’s strategy to one day become an honorable king and make his father proud is to drink and steal with his buddies so that, when he shifts his behavior, he will appear noble and glorious to both his father, and the public. I believe that, unconsciously, his dishonorable behavior with his friends is simply a manifestation of his id, which his ego has justified by saying that it will make seem even more honorable when he stops these behaviors. On the other side, Hotspur’s strategy to maintain his honorable status is to be a great warrior, and punish anyone whose actions appear to him dishonorable. While Hal constantly lets his id control him, thus getting in the way of him achieving his goals, Hotspur attempts to satisfy his id’s desires through battle and allowing himself to get angry when he doesn’t get his way. However, the id always wants more than you can give it. This is why, as evidenced in act 2 scene 3 by Lady Percy, Hotspur has been having many nightmares of battle. Hal and Hotspur have different strategies for satisfying their ids, while attempting to achieve their goals, and they are both simultaneously successful and unsuccessful.