Hastings Honor
...o tell her that Gloster will hear from her, and once they are alone he tries to take advantage of her. When she tells him that, “My soul shall never know pollution more!” (75), he responds with “Ungrateful woman! is it thus you pay/My services?” (75) This is not what he told Gloster in public when asked about the amount of time Hastings spent with Jane Shore. Hastings replied by saying, “No farther, my good Lord, than friendly pity/And tender-hearted charity allow.” This shows how different he is when he is away from the public eye. Hastings is next mentioned after Alicia has tricked Jane Shore into giving Gloster the paper that says, “Lord Hastings is inclin’d to call you master,/And kneel to Richard, as to England’s king;/But Shore’s bewitching wife misleads his heart,/And draws his service to King Edward’s sons.” (80), After Gloster reads this, he speaks to Hastings, and after talking with him decides to believe the letter. When Gloster calls in a guard and arrests Hastings for high treason, he is still confused about what had just happened but he shows signs of public honor by saying that he will “die as a man should” (91). Alicia finds out that Hastings is going to be executed and comes running to tell him what happened. Here is where he starts to redeem himself with private honor. When Alicia tells him that she was just trying to get rid of Jane Shore, but that her plan backfired, Hastings is mad at first, but goes on to tell her, “As here my soul acquits thee of my death,/As here I part without one angry thought” (94). He achieves private honor by telling Alicia, “Let not the rancour of thy hate pursue/The innocence of thy unhappy friend.” (95) Even as he is being taken to his death, he is worried about Jane Shore, which shows how much he has changed since the beginning of the play. Although he was charged with treason, I think Hastings died with both private and public honor. Hastings’ character helped Nicholas Rowe make many points about private and public honor. Just because someone has honor in the public realm does not mean that they are honorable in private. Gloster was never honorable and Jane Shore was always honorable so it was hard to see that point with these characters, but it fit Hastings perfectly. When I started reading the play, I thought Hastings was very nice for helping Jane Shore out, but Rowe helped me to see that just because he looked good in public did not mean he was always good. He tried to attack Jane as “payment” for helping her and then when her servant/husband came to her aid, he attacked him saying, “And dost thou know me? Slave!” (75) Dumont replied, “I know thee well, know thee with each advantage/Which wealth, or power, or noble birth can give ...