Henry V: The English Monarchy

As a king, Henry becomes known for being a man of resilience, strategy, and combat. These traits, according to Machiavelli, are necessary to become the “ideal king.” As stated by Machiavelli, “…a prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules.” (Machiavelli) This can be seen when the Dauphin presents Henry with a gift of tennis balls and an insulting speech practically telling him to stay out of grown men’s affairs. This gives Henry the leverage he needs to start a war with France without looking like the instigator. He can now put the blame of war on the Dauphin and the many lives of whom will be killed. Henry uses this to move toward his strength and show his full potential.

Henry, in preparation of the battle at Harfleur, portrays a friendly persona to rally his troops. Henry goes to France to fight and declines an offer of useless dukedoms and their princess. He declines the offer, because he wants the throne and is dedicated to get it. At Harfleur, Henry encourages his troops by saying, “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, / Or close the wall up with our English dead!” (3.3.1-3). Henry calls his troops his friends and encourages them to continue the battle and try their hardest to fight for England and win. Henry concludes his speech saying, “Follow your spirit, and upon this charge/ Cry “God for Harry, England, and Saint George!”’ (3.1.36-37). Henry allows his troops to call him Harry and keeps his troops spirits’ alive to go on and fight in Harfleur. Encouraging the king’s troops helps the soldiers know why they should be fighting in the war and makes them feel patriotic for England. Henry rallying his troops, manipulates them to try their hardest and win the battle, which gets Henry a step closer to have the French throne. Henry rallying his troops in a friendly way, makes his troops feel more patriotic and gets them to want to fight at Harfleur for England.

Shakespeare’s characterisation of King Henry is exemplary of moral ambiguity, whereby King Henry had usurped former King Richard II, then decried the human cost of civil war in England and finally called for a crusade into Jerusalem. Shakespeare characterises King Henry as being expressive his perspective on the need for peace and unity in Britain, “So shaken as we are, so wan with care... No more the thirsty entrance of this soil/ Shall daub her lips with her own children’s blood” (1.1.1-6). The emotive language and war imagery enables for an honourable representation of King Henry’s motivations for usurping his predecessor, Richard II. However, King Henry IV’s desire to consolidate his control over Britain is apparent in his monologue with Hotspur: “You tread upon my patience. But be sure/ I will henceforth be myself,/ Mighty and to be feared” (1.3.4-6). However, the compelling, competing perspective of Hotspur casts doubt on the King’s political motivations, as he swears that King Henry IV “broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wrong” (4.4.101) in a dialogue with Sir Walter Blunt. Similarly, in his private dialogue with Hal, King Henry demonstrates his fear of losing political control to the Percy family who ‘shake the peace and safety of our throne’. His fear is reasoned by the fact that social stability

| Wolsey drew up a treaty of universal peace, which united Europe against the Ottoman Empire, committed the

Shakespeare’s ‘King Henry IV Part I’ centres on a core theme of the conflict between order and disorder. Such conflict is brought to light by the use of many vehicles, including Hal’s inner conflict, the country’s political and social conflict, the conflict between the court world and the tavern world, and the conflicting moral values of characters from each of these worlds. This juxtaposition of certain values exists on many levels, and so is both a strikingly present and an underlying theme throughout the play. Through characterization Shakespeare explores moral conflict, and passage three is a prime example of Falstaff’s enduring moral disorder. By this stage in the play Hal has

Even though outnumbered, King Henry gets through to his troops with his encouraging words. They understand that at that moment they are and always will be equal. They are risking their lives while “the men in England safe in their beds.” If King Henry does not care for status, neither should his troops. King Henry even says he is not above them, “whoever sheds his blood with me today shall be my brother.” Even though they are not blood related, the King will consider these men his brothers, due to their bravery to risk their lives. I think that is one of the most important lines from the

King Henry the V is show by Shakespeare to be a sort of military leader and model king in stark contrast to the French side who are shown to be less then favorable. However King Henry started out as a low down prince, upon becoming King his nobility rose to great heights. It is possible that we can see some bias on Shakespeare's behalf as he greatly favors King Henry's country. Henry’s duties as a king are shown to be flawless, although we have moments when we may perhaps question his character as his friendships bring up complications when he becomes a king. The King shows absolutely no favoritism towards Bardolph, who is caught stealing from a church. And seeing as Henry has given orders for no looting he proceeds to let the execution happen. When Falstaff becomes deathly ill, it is common opinion

There is no doubt that ‘’King Henry V’’ is a great play that has many life lessons one can use outside the classroom. I applaud it for its way of portraying leadership skills in a deep, thought provoking, fun way. ‘’King Henry V’’ shows how great leaders inspire their people to a great extent. King Henry V so happens to be a protagonist in the play and he is one of the characters used to portray great leadership skills and commitment.

All of Shakespeare’s considerable effort in the association of Henry with feminine aspects eventually leads back to Elizabeth. During the time period Henry IV Part 1 was written during, Elizabeth’s legitimacy and authority was once again challenged. She was old and given to confrontations with her advisors, and her line of succession was still in question as she had not yet declared an heir. She experienced an attempted coup by the Earl of Essex and many waited for her death and the restoration of a proper king to the throne (Smith 207-211). In writing Henry IV Part 1, Shakespeare worked through not only the past anxieties of Elizabeth’s reign, but also the current ones. As Andrews puts it, “[i]ts depiction of an aging, infirm monarch, who worries a incessantly over the succession and who is pressured by a young and hot-tempered but popular and militaristic noble, provides an inescapable parallel to Elizabeth’s situation at the close of the century” (381).

Throughout history there have been many glorious battles. There have been triumphant underdogs. People have won, lost, died, survived, and their victories and loses have become the inspiration for authors worldwide. Shakespeare, one of these great writers, captured the glory of battle in Henry V. The intricate way he structured the essay contributes greatly to the overall understanding of the play. Henry V is about a young man who inherits the throne when his father dies. He struggles to overcome his adolescent mistakes, and ends up in a war with France. Shakespeare writes not only about King Henry V, but also a lot of the men in his army. These men's prospective

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Creator calls a butterfly ..." Bach

At the centre of the play is Henry's determination to preserve order and peace in the kingdom. Discuss.

From major motion pictures to grade school textbooks, King Henry VIII is a man remembered. He ruled for almost four decades and brought about the Protestant Reformation yet is more famously known for his not-so-personal life, more specifically his six wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr. This paper aims to illuminate how Henry VIII’s politics and decision-making was influenced in part by his sexual appetite and the scandalous behavior he partook in, mainly in the case of Anne Boleyn and the splitting of England from the Roman Catholic Church.

To begin with; Henry VIII was the King of England from April 21, 1509 until his death. King Henry VIII was born born on June 28th of 1491 in Palace of Placentia, Greenwich, in the United Kingdom. Henry VIII then later died on January 28th, 1547 in Palace of Whitehall, London, in the United Kingdom. His parents were Elizabeth of York and Henry VII. Henry became king when he was just eighteen years old. He was known for his love of hunting and dancing. (“Henry VIII”. BBC News.)

As a monarch, the life of Henry VIII is one of which many do not attempt to describe because of the rich amount of history that goes along with him. No king has left such a profound impact on the past accounts of his country, or has been the focus of controversial topics that have made lasting contributions to his country. His means were immoral, but because of the greatness that he achieved, we look beyond his imperfection.