In Henry V, How Does Shakespeare Create Different Impressions of Henry?

William Shakespeare wrote plays that covered the breadth of human experience, which seem to have transcended the restraints of age because they contain universal themes. His body of his work is comprised of genres of plays, which varied from tragedies to comedies.

Unlike Hal, King Henry’s role consist of three qualities that radiate kingship, the traits being composed, assertive and commanding. Despite these traits being essential to kingship, they ultimately lead to the court turning against King Henry and planning a rebellion against him. When discussing news of war and casualties in his throne room, Henry remains composed and finds the positive points in the situation rather the

In his speech, Henry uses a strong ethical appeal by being very respectful in order to show that he understands and respects his opponents argument but he also has some things to say that oppose him. In the very beginning of his speech he honors the man before him by saying “No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as the abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the house.” to gain the respect of his audience and captivate them into the rest of his speech. He also throughout the entirety of his speech said the word “sir” to respectively address the opponent.

In Henry V, Henry uses the power of his rhetoric to achieve his goals and to effectively communicate with nobility, commoners, churchmen, and enemies. Henry claims to have once assumed the role of a commoner as he threatens the Dauphin, “For that have I laid by my majesty/And plodded like a man for working days…tell the pleasant Prince this mock of his/Hath turned his balls to gun-stones" (1.2.277-278, 282-283). Prior to the Battle of Harfleur, Henry injects confidence into English nobles and farmers and asks them to “dishonor not [their] mothers” and to prove “that [they] are worth [their] breeding” (3.1.22-28). He encourages hostility in his troops and urges them to act as tigers: “But when the blast of

It might be inferred that Henry was less than impressive as he was clearly insecure. Source two shows Henry seeking to compare favourability with his rival king Francis I of France. He persistently asks the Venetian ambassador

In Act 1, Scene 1 of King Henry V, the audience is given the impression that Henry is a decisive, magisterial ruler, who considers the consequences of his actions and decisions. Our first impression of the character comes from a dialogue between Bishops Ely and Canterbury, who are discussing his unexpected rise to maturity. It is described that he was initially an irresponsible young man: "His companies unlettered, rude and shallow, / His hours filled up with riots, banquets , sports". The use of parallelism, repetition and tricolon convey this idea. But he is then described as having changed, rather suddenly, into a studious, noble man, with acumen and decisiveness: "Consideration like an angel came, / And whipped th'offending Adam out of him, / leaving his body as a paradise / T'envelop and contain celestial spirits.

Henry’s speech was so successful because he crafted it specifically with his audience in mind. He knew that they were religious men well educated on the Bible and therefore that he appeals to their emotions by alluding to one of the most famous incidents in Christianity. Henry’s knowledge of his audience allowed him to create a speech that he knew would have a great impact. Overall his use of biblical allusions appeal to their religious sides, he appeals to their egotistical side by addressing their pride, and appeals to their educated mind with an appeal of specific logic that all combined creates a speech so well developed and impactful that it is still studied today.

In the beginning King Henry does not view his son in the same light in which most parents view their children. Instead the King’s outlook of the Prince is relatively harsh and unloving, but this fluctuates throughout the course of the play. The King’s initial feelings towards Prince Henry are first uncovered while he thinks of Hotspur (Henry/ Harry Percy). The King admires Hotspur because he is brave, honorable, and doing exceptionally well on the battlefront as an up and coming warrior. Therefore, the King wishes he could say the same for his own flesh and blood, Prince Henry, who “hast rudely lost [a place in the council] which by [his] younger brother is [now] supplied” (Shakespeare III.II.32-33). Due to the poor company the Prince has been

The blocking of the scene begins with the two on opposite sides of a long table, as if to symbolize their two respective countries. However, as the scene moves forward, Katherine counters his promises of love by saying, “the tongue of men is full of deceits.” There is a shot of Henry looking annoyed before he closes the distance between them and invades her personal space. Throughout his multiple speeches to her, Katherine, for the most part, refuses to make eye contact, often staring away from Henry. Although it is a small decision acting wise, her body language, which is trying to maximize the space between them, cues the reader to be cautious of more signs of Katherine’s reluctance, despite the uplifting, romantic violin music playing in the background. There is a more blatant display of non-consensuality when Henry goes to kiss Katherine’s hand, to which she immediately panics and backs away from him. Katherine, with the help of her gentlewoman, explains that kissing before marriage would violate French customs, but Henry simply brushes off her concerns, proceeding to launch into a speech about how they have the power to create new rules. The fact that Henry chooses to ignore Katherine’s feelings and instead assert his newfound power as King of France

Henry V is a wise and loyal king, changing from a wild youth to a mature king. He is described to be an intelligent, thoughtful and an efficient statesman. He thinks carefully whether to invade France or not which represents his responsible character. King Henry gives a very strong speech which gave courage and confidence to his army that they could win the battle. This character describes him to be a king of great ability to fight and having good administrative skills. Throughout the play Henry’s nature is religious, merciful and compassionate.

Shakespeare expanded what could be accomplished through characterization, plot and genre. At the time plays were with characters and plots that were symbolic rather than realistic. Shakespeare made changes that resonated on emotional levels with audiences. “In a play like Hamlet… Shakespeare ‘integrated characterization with plot’ in a matter that plot becomes dependent upon the development of characters.”( ). In Romeo and Juliet, the new genre romantic tragedy was created. Shakespeare mixed tragedy and comedy to create the genre. The romance genre had not been a topic under tragedy prior to Shakespeare doing this. Shakespeare’s main categories had included: tragedies, comedies and histories. Shakespeare had written 37 plays, 2 narrative poems, and 154 sonnets. All of these works were created in a time span of approximately 30 years. He was the first at the time to merge together: verse, poetry and drama. He used a blank verse his whole career and perfecting the way we see it today. With the combination of those three, the beginning of the modernization of English literature was marked. Shakespeare gave us new ways to express hope, despair and sorrow with his styles of writing. The English language was also enriched by Shakespeare as he made it more expressive and colorful. “… He is credited with introducing nearly 3,000 words to the English language.”( ). It has been said he used 15,000 words in his plays, a portion of these he created by merging existing words together and anglicizing vocabulary from foreign languages. His works are the second most often quoted after the Bible. With that title to his name, he is the most quoted playwright of all-time with fellow writer trailing behind him. Shakespeare’s works are also continually performed in non-English speaking nations. The writings are usually literally translated in order the true originality to Shakespeare’s

For centuries, William Shakespeare has been a beacon of storytelling genius. He has the ability to tell timeless stories that can be classified within the genres comedy, tragedy and history. Proving as relevant today as they were 500 years ago, these stories conform to certain elements that define what genre the story falls under. Comedies such as The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet and Histories such as King John and Henry V have all played a relevant role in defining the genres Shakespeare writes

a true man of the Church and is likely to support the Church. But even

Henry’s well-rounded characteristics were exceptional and fitting for a king of England. Not only was he highly intellectual, mastering French, Spanish and Latin, but he also fancied musical endeavors and was a supreme athlete, particularly in hunting and jousting. One of his most predominant features was his handsomeness. In fact, he was quoted to be “the handsomest potentate I ever set eyes on; … and a round face so very beautiful that it would become a pretty woman…” However, Henry possessed certain unique attributes that distinguished him from any other

Some people tend to think that William Shakespeare was some famous writer that was only capable of spitting out sad love stories. This is widely disproved through the reading of multiple Shakespearean works. During his life, Shakespeare used a plethora of writing formulas and plot outlines to produce many works of literature of many genres, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a popular comedy, and The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, one of his most famous tragedies, as opposed to just creating sappy stories of deadly romance.