"Well, 'tis no matter; honor pricks me on. Yea, but how if honor prick me off when I come on? How then? Can honor set -to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honor hath no skill in surgery, then? No. What is honor? A word. What is in the word "honor"? What is that "honor" Air. A trim reckoning! Who hath it? He that died o'Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. This insensible then? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it. Therefore I'll none of it. Honor is a mere scutcheon. and so end my catechism."
This is a quote by Falstaff in the Shakespeare play, "Henry IV, Part I". One of the main themes of the play is the nature of honor. There are several different views on honor the Shakespeare explores and in the end the play leads the audience to conclude that it is merely based on individual personality and conscience. So it is defined more by a person's own values and goals instead of objective guidelines.
Each of the main characters in the play demonstrates a different perspective of honor:
Hotspur - a quick-tempered son of Lord Percy. Honor means victory on the battlefield and defense of one's reputation.
King Henry IV - honor is the well-being of the nation and the legitimacy of its ruler.
Prince Harry - honor has to do with noble behavior (by the end of the play).
Falstaff - the idea of honor is wasted effort and does no one any good.
Lisa stayed for the entire three hour play but John and the girls couldn't follow it and decided to sneak out after 45 minutes.
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