In Shakespeare’s Henry V, Shakespeare gave Henry the role of a war hero while in history Henry was a great king. Shakespeare gives amazing qualities to his characters; he gave Henry, an ordinary king, the quality of a responsible leader. He also made the king a deeply religious hero. With all the qualities given to Henry by Shakespeare, he still has a ruthless person needed by every king and hero.
King Henry has numerous reasons to declare war on France. The main reason was to unite the country. “busy giddy minds with foreign quarrels.” This an example of king Henry trying to unite the country. Henry being the king it’s his responsibility to keep his countries at peace and as one. King Henry comes from an ancestral bloodline of glorified rulers.
We see an example of this “Look back to your mighty ancestors”. This shown by Canterbury he tells the king to think about his uncle Edward the black prince. He’s pretty much telling him to reflect on his ancestors to give strength to be a good ruler. Henry eventually grows the strength to take charge of the throne. Henry having a royal bloodline knows what is expected of him, he knows he must be a man with many hats.
Before going to war, Henry went off to find more information on Salic Law (a law that excludes women in the French monarchy.) This law was very common during this era. Henry being new to his kingship knew his responsibilities consisted of him going to war with France. However, he stated he wasn’t going to war without a reason. The king says to Canterbury, “for never two such kingdoms did contend without much fall of blood, whose guiltless drops”. Henry ready to declare war still decides to do it the ‘right way.’
He tells Canterbury to be careful because he doesn’t want an illegal war. Henry takes this so seriously as he doesn’t want his soldiers to lose their lives unnecessarily and doesn’t want their lives on his conscience. Even though he didn’t want to be held responsible for people’s lives, he established an army in England to guard against any possible invasions from Scotland, “we must not only arm t’invade the French …… against the Scots who will make road upon us with all advantages”. He’s still protecting his people, and his country.
Shakespeare gave Henry the persona of a responsible, strong, and wise leader. We see him making tough decisions and throughout the reading we see King Henry becoming that great leader. An example of that would be when he executes his three friends Cambridge, Scroop, Gray and Bardolf. Henry executed Bardolf to show his men what would happen to the French army. Cambridge, Scroop, and Gray, were executed because King Henry found out that they were planning to kill him. Here King Henry is showing he won’t fail his country as a ruler, he’s proving everyone that he can handle to responsibility.
Lastly, show that Henry is religious, Shakespeare uses constant references to God in his speeches throughout the play. Also, Henry says to the French ambassador, who was sent to England with an insulting gift of tennis balls, that “we are no tyrant but Christian king”. This shows he is religious in his own eyes
Henry’s intentions seemed good-hearted; he addressed his issues as a king. This made him look like a war hero. He didn’t want to start a war without proper reasoning. He also went to his elders and Canterbury for advice. As king, he didn’t want to do things without a purpose. Meaning invading France included proper reasoning, not just let’s saddle up and start a war. He needed reasoning; he wanted background and history on why France would be invaded. Aside from proper reasoning, he needed to show his country he was strong enough to rule. So, as an act of a strong ship, he executed three of his best friends, who were planning to kill King Henry.
Henry also showed he was a religious man; Shakespeare indirectly uses God references throughout the play to show Henry’s religious beliefs. Throughout the play, Shakespeare portrayed Henry as a hero. There are many reasons why he’s a hero and it’s shown throughout the play. Henry was just a king, noble, strong, and powerful. In Shakespeare’s play, King Henry V was all and many more. He was given many roles, but the main was to be a hero for his country. In which he succeeded.
In Shakespeare’s Henry V, Shakespeare gave Henry the role of a war hero while in history Henry was a great king. Shakespeare gives amazing qualities to his characters; he gave Henry, an ordinary king, the quality of a responsible leader. He also made the king a deeply religious hero. With all the qualities given to Henry by Shakespeare, he still has a ruthless person needed by every king and hero.
King Henry has numerous reasons to declare war on France. The main reason was to unite the country. “busy giddy minds with foreign quarrels.” This an example of king Henry trying to unite the country. Henry being the king it’s his responsibility to keep his countries at peace and as one. King Henry comes from an ancestral bloodline of glorified rulers.
We see an example of this “Look back to your mighty ancestors”. This shown by Canterbury he tells the king to think about his uncle Edward the black prince. He’s pretty much telling him to reflect on his ancestors to give strength to be a good ruler. Henry eventually grows the strength to take charge of the throne. Henry having a royal bloodline knows what is expected of him, he knows he must be a man with many hats.
Before going to war, Henry went off to find more information on Salic Law (a law that excludes women in the French monarchy.) This law was very common during this era. Henry being new to his kingship knew his responsibilities consisted of him going to war with France. However, he stated he wasn’t going to war without a reason. The king says to Canterbury, “for never two such kingdoms did contend without much fall of blood, whose guiltless drops”. Henry ready to declare war still decides to do it the ‘right way.’
He tells Canterbury to be careful because he doesn’t want an illegal war. Henry takes this so seriously as he doesn’t want his soldiers to lose their lives unnecessarily and doesn’t want their lives on his conscience. Even though he didn’t want to be held responsible for people’s lives, he established an army in England to guard against any possible invasions from Scotland, “we must not only arm t’invade the French …… against the Scots who will make road upon us with all advantages”. He’s still protecting his people and his country.
Shakespeare gave Henry the persona of a responsible, strong, and wise leader. We see him making tough decisions and throughout the reading we see King Henry becoming that great leader. An example of that would be when he executes his three friends Cambridge, Scroop, Gray and Bardolf. Henry executed Bardolf to show his men what would happen to the French army. Cambridge, Scroop, and Gray were executed because King Henry found out that they were planning to kill him. Here King Henry is showing he won’t fail his country as a ruler, he’s proving to everyone that he can handle responsibility.
Lastly, show that Henry is religious, Shakespeare uses constant references to God in his speeches throughout the play. Also, Henry says to the French ambassador, who was sent to England with an insulting gift of tennis balls, that “we are no tyrant but Christian king”. This shows he is religious in his own eyes
Henry’s intentions seemed good-hearted; he addressed his issues as a king. This made him look like a war hero. He didn’t want to start a war without proper reasoning. He also went to his elders and Canterbury for advice. As king, he didn’t want to do things without a purpose. Meaning invading France included proper reasoning, not just let’s saddle up and start a war. He needed reasoning; he wanted background and history on why France would be invaded. Aside from proper reasoning, he needed to show his country he was strong enough to rule. So, as an act of a strong ship, he executed three of his best friends, who were planning to kill King Henry.
Henry also showed he was a religious man; Shakespeare indirectly uses God’s references throughout the play to show Henry’s religious beliefs. Throughout the play, Shakespeare portrayed Henry as a hero. There are many reasons why he’s a hero and it’s shown throughout the play. Henry was just a king, noble, strong, and powerful. In Shakespeare’s play, King Henry V was all and many more. He was given many roles, but the main was to be a hero for his country. In which he succeeded.
