Character Analysis for Northumberland

With help provided by wikipedia. Yay wikipedia!

1. Who am I?
- I am Henry Percy of Northumberland. I am an older brother to Worscester, father to Hotspur, and a son. I am a widower. I am in my late forties. I am the first Earl of Northumberland and the Fourth Baron Percy. I am a devoted follower of the courts, having followed kings before Henry IV. I am one of the people that brought King Henry to power, and I will become of the rebels against the king. I am a worrier. I am war hardened and more than slightly dangerous. I am a Catholic, and I am obscenely loyal to my brother. I am, in my age, more than a little cautious. I prefer dogs. I am my son’s biggest fan, and his biggest protector.

2. What time is it?
- It is roughly around 1400. It is the early morning. It is my 47th year of life. It is in the fall.

3. Where am I?
- I am in the King’s court. I am in England. I am with my son, who is in trouble.

4. What surrounds me?
- I am surrounded by the King’s court and his followers. I am surrounded by the English countryside, and I am surrounded by the anger of the king directed towards my son. I am also surrounded by the plots from my brother, which I am not entirely sure of.

5. What are the given circumstances?
- After displacing the previous king and giving King Henry IV the power, it has come to light that myself and my family are not exactly getting the perks of being so close to the king. My son, Hotspur, is in trouble for a mild misunderstanding thanks to that pretentious hooligan the king calls a son. My brother is already plotting (again). I am, as always, worried that this will not end well for my son.

6. What is my relationship?
- Hotspur: He is my first son, and I do love him dearly. I do worry though, as he is reaching the age where I must let him go, yet he still remains hot-blooded and arrogant enough to do things I consider completely idiotic. I would give my life for my son, and I wish him to do well in battle as long as he promises (cross his heart) to come home from it with his shield and not on it, as they say. The plans he seems too enamored in (thank you, brother) make me worry more, because I know the strength of the king we placed up there and I am not entirely sure that a second rebellion would work, but I am willing to go along with it if it will help my son.
- Worcester: He is my younger brother, though it doesn’t seem it. I tend to follow him on his actions because he is intelligent and knows what he is doing. I have followed him through so much, yet at the same time I am and always have been the cautious voice behind his schemes. I do respect him though, yet I am worried he will throw my son to the wind if it suits him.
- King Henry IV: I do respect the king, truly, rebellion or no rebellion, but it is not out of friendship. The friendship bit vanished when he became angry with my son – my son, the one he wants to have, of all people! – for that gracious misunderstanding. It was NOT my son’s fault that Prince Henry is a popinjay with no grasp of war! Yet, the king blames us. The only reason I do not break all ties with him is that I do have a slight fear of him. If, for some reason, if we fail to misplace the king in the rebellion, and I have vacated my respect for him (and thusly what little respect he has for me), then my life, and my son’s life, will be at stake. If we fail and there is still that mutual bond of respect, I may be able to keep my son from hanging.

7. What do I want?
- I want, above all other things, to protect my son. If that means joining a rebellion, I am capable of doing that.

8. What is in the way?
- My son is young and hot blooded, and seems to anger important people without trying too hard. Oh, and my brother doesn’t really help, considering he’s basically starting a war fronted by my son. Oh, and there’s the fact that Hotspur loves to fight, and fighting is dangerous. If I had my way, he’d settle with his wife, have kids and a dog or two. But, alas, that’s is, how they say, not happening

9. How am I going to get it?
- Well, for the moment, my only option is to dive into the war. I could also try and talk my brother out of it, or mention it to the king, but I think the king is sort of not worth pursuing. If I go to war, there is still a change Hotspur will die (though it is easier to protect him), or we’d lose and the king would kill us all. If I don’t go to war then there’s also a chance he’ll die, or lose, but I have a chance to save him from the king’s wrath.
- (I did it like this because I want him to have a sort of Hamlet like choice, because, having this choice, he then works himself into being sick from fretting over which is the better option. /planning)

10. How will I know when we have got it?
- When my son comes home for good, and alive.

11. Why are we doing this?
- (Out of character) I act because it is fun. Because when I’m on stage my blood pumps and rushes and my heart races and my fingers tingle and I can’t breathe and it’s the same sensation as jumping from a cliff because once you’re out there you can’t stop and it’s brilliant. And to hear the people laugh or cry or gasp makes my heart skip and my spine tingle and I shiver and there is nothing in the world that can compare to it. And, also, seeing a show in itself is amazing, so being able to give people that chance to fall into another world is something I relish.