Something is Rotten in England
Something is always rotting in politics. Whether it was the middle ages or even now, there are always situations in politics that are too rotten or too taboo to talk about. The Elizabethan era, in particular, had plenty of betrayal, murder, and war. Shakespeare liked to place politics into his histories. Shakespeare’s play Henry IV Part 1 shows characters and events in a political view.
During the first half of the play, Prince Hal is a joke throughout the kingdom. Hal is a party boy, and he hangs out with drunken thieves and prostitutes, and he steals just for laughs. But, the prince has a plan; all of these shenanigans are more or less an act. He plans to reform himself when he needs to be a leader, “I’ll …show more content…
He is brave and honorable, but he is hot-tempered. Throughout the play, Hotspur is compared to Hal, and, at one point, King Henry wishes that Hotspur was his son instead of Hal. The rivalry between Hotspur and Hal also represents the darker situation from Queen Elizabeth’s past: Queen Elizabeth’s rivalry with her catholic cousin Queen Mary. Many Catholics thought of Queen Elizabeth as illegitimate. Catholics thought the marriage between King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s parents, as null and void because of King Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon and a falling out with the pope. The Catholics believed Queen Mary of Scots, not to be confused with Elizabeth’s half-sister “Bloody Mary,” was the rightful heir of England, but that was mainly because she herself was Catholic. Mary and Elizabeth butted heads several times. Because of her connections with several assassination attempts on Elizabeth’s life, Mary was placed in jail. She was eventually executed. Just as Queen Elizabeth had to have Mary executed to survive, the Prince of Wales, Hal, had to kill Hotspur to survive. Hal says it best when he …show more content…
Hotspur and the rebels make plans to divide the land into three parts instead of putting a king in charge. The fighting scene between Hotspur and Hal has an unexpected outcome. Hotspur is slain by Hal, even though Hal is injured and Hotspur is a brave war hero. This fight is not unlike the fight between Queen Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada. At the time, Spain was the most powerful country in the world and England was just a small country with hardly any wealth. Spain tried to attack England but was defeated because of the terrible weather and England’s superior war tactics
Something is always rotting in politics. Whether it was the middle ages or even now, there are always situations in politics that are too rotten or too taboo to talk about. The Elizabethan era, in particular, had plenty of betrayal, murder, and war. Shakespeare liked to place politics into his histories. Shakespeare’s play Henry IV Part 1 shows characters and events in a political view.
During the first half of the play, Prince Hal is a joke throughout the kingdom. Hal is a party boy, and he hangs out with drunken thieves and prostitutes, and he steals just for laughs. But, the prince has a plan; all of these shenanigans are more or less an act. He plans to reform himself when he needs to be a leader, “I’ll …show more content…
He is brave and honorable, but he is hot-tempered. Throughout the play, Hotspur is compared to Hal, and, at one point, King Henry wishes that Hotspur was his son instead of Hal. The rivalry between Hotspur and Hal also represents the darker situation from Queen Elizabeth’s past: Queen Elizabeth’s rivalry with her catholic cousin Queen Mary. Many Catholics thought of Queen Elizabeth as illegitimate. Catholics thought the marriage between King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s parents, as null and void because of King Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon and a falling out with the pope. The Catholics believed Queen Mary of Scots, not to be confused with Elizabeth’s half-sister “Bloody Mary,” was the rightful heir of England, but that was mainly because she herself was Catholic. Mary and Elizabeth butted heads several times. Because of her connections with several assassination attempts on Elizabeth’s life, Mary was placed in jail. She was eventually executed. Just as Queen Elizabeth had to have Mary executed to survive, the Prince of Wales, Hal, had to kill Hotspur to survive. Hal says it best when he …show more content…
Hotspur and the rebels make plans to divide the land into three parts instead of putting a king in charge. The fighting scene between Hotspur and Hal has an unexpected outcome. Hotspur is slain by Hal, even though Hal is injured and Hotspur is a brave war hero. This fight is not unlike the fight between Queen Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada. At the time, Spain was the most powerful country in the world and England was just a small country with hardly any wealth. Spain tried to attack England but was defeated because of the terrible weather and England’s superior war tactics