Why Is Henry V A Good King

Two of the important characters in Shakespeare’s Henry V are King Henry V, and the Dauphin. Henry V is the ruling monarch of England who, in the previous plays of the tetralogy, was presented as a riotous youth and troublemaker. This former life ultimately becomes a preparation for his sovereignty, and his earlier experiences of immaturity and unprincipled living allow him to understand his common subjects and to measure his own sense of worth by their lack of honorable qualities. With the ascension to the throne, the rowdiness of the king vanishes entirely and he promises his subjects that his life of wild living ended with his father’s death, and he is now a completely reformed person altogether. The main purpose of Henry V is to convey the idea that King Henry represents in all aspects the model of the ideal Christian ruler. Various scenes depict his religious nature, his mercy, pity, and compassion, his absolute sense of justice, his administrative skill, his fighting ability, his instinctive nobility, his ability to connect with the common class of soldiers and people, his self-discipline, evenness of temper, complete courtesy, and finally his role as a romantic lover in the suit of Princess Katharine’s hand in marriage.

In Henry V written by Shakespeare, Henry V is exhibited as an idle Christian king. But throughout the play his actions and his past show him to be a typical man. Although, some of his characteristics as a king show him to be as he was perceived. King Henry started out as a Christian king but as the play goes on he is further seen as an average man in his speeches and his actions, but is still seen by the audience as a man of God.

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.

As Henry continues his tirade, he downplays his role as king by asserting that “God runs before our business “(1.2.303); indicating that God’s role in changing the future outweighs his role .King Henry, unlike many other kings during his era, generously shares his victories with God, instead of claiming his feats are the byproduct of profound battle tactics, and still manages to receive his people’s respect. King Henry finally shows his allegiance and reverence for God after he receives notice that England defeated France in battle and declares that, “God fought for us”(4.8.115) proving that he genuinely believes that the outcome of battle lies upon God .While the King of England impetuously expels his generosity for God’s grace , he also makes just battle decisions while on the offensive . After the French town of Harfleur surrenders to England, Henry stresses that “nothing will be compelled from the villages, /nothing taken but paid for, none of the French upbraided or /abused in disdainful language” (3.7.102-104). This act of conservation does not correspond to the rules of engagements during this era .Kings often encouraged their soldiers to loot and pillage as a method of payment for their service in the military .This act truly marks the King as a generous warrior because he prevents his soldiers from plundering defenseless towns, sparing

As we read in the play, King Henry has many speeches that were made to determine his English soldiers. For example, Henry refers to his soldiers as more closely impacted names like brother and friend. Henry speaks very sophisticated and pumps up his men to be just as eager to fight as he was. Most of Henry’s speeches were uplifting and had a very happy and fierce tone to them, so not only he would display seriousness and also uplifting attitudes. Henry’s speeches work magic on his soldiers and is a type of manipulation to work with the King to get what he wants. Even though manipulation is usually a harsh term, it is needed when it comes to fighting in a war! King Henry used his words very intelligently to push on the soldiers to fight for their mighty King Henry.

During Shakespeare’s day, kings were often, along with the clergy, perceived and reverenced as God’s delegates on earth, and Henry V was no exception. Nevertheless, in one of William Shakespeare’s acclaimed plays about this monarch’s life, Henry V, Shakespeare depicts Henry as far from ideal, even though Henry V may have also displayed certain admirable qualities at times. This is evinced by Henry V’s motives, aggression, and lies.

To turn Henry V into a play glorifying war or a play condemning war would be to presume Shakespeare's intentions too much. He does both of these and more in his recount of the historical battle of Agincourt. Although Shakespeare devotes the play to the events leading to war, he simultaneously gives us insight into the political and private life of a king. It is this unity of two distinct areas that has turned the play into a critical no man's land, "acrimoniously contested and periodically disfigured by opposing barrages of intellectual artillery" (Taylor 1). One may believe that Henry is the epitome of kingly glory, a disgrace of royalty, or think that Shakespeare himself disliked Henry

Due to his past actions, Henry learns from his mistakes. For example when Henry comes face to face with the rebels he overcomes his survival instinct. While in the beginning he was scared and

That shows king henrys pride King Henry states in line (230-234)upon the king let us our lives ,our souls our debts our careful wives our children and our sins lay on the king. Proving that he takes pride in accounting for all his people. King Henry also states that the king does not sleep as easily as easily as subjects which means he carries much more weight than the everyday man, king belkieves private people can be at ease. That shows a lot of diligence he puts his people before himself. King henry dose not show greed he shows great charity also by putting his people first. King henry unlike any other king showed love and chasity for his soldiers even referring to them as his brothers he even fights next to them like a true king. The King also goes through a stage of humility dealing with his fathers sins Henrys father wasn’t so much of a perfect king he killed to get the throne. King Henry had the man he killed dug up so that his body could be prayed for and reburied. Henry did not want that death on his soul. Henry also did not want the reposibility held by his men for his fathers defeat of

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.

Again his target audiences enjoyed the blood and gore, but more than that, the battles strengthened the character development. Henry V is strengthened as a leader through the battles they win and the speeches he gives. The most famous speech is the St. Crispin day speech. Instead of false proclamations of their undoubted victory, Henry V is honest with his men. He says that some of them may die, some may be injured, but that they will be given much glory for fighting the French forces. He says in that speech, "If we are marked to die, we are enough to do our country loss; and if to live, the fewer men, the greater share of honor. God's will, I pray thee, wish not one man more. By Jove, I am not covetous for gold, but if it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul alive." This speech and others reveal Henry V's relationship with his men, and his own desires for honor. He uses the battles and the speeches to gain himself respect as a leader. That is why at the end of the play when he would easily take all of France, he settles to marry the daughter of the king, Catherine. He didn't really want the land; he wanted to establish himself as a leader. He becomes a good leader through treating his men like

Henry V was not what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be all war and no fun. From the beginning I feel like King Henry was underestimated in his ability to lead his people by some of the French. But he quickly showed us that was not true. We see that he knows that his status as King isn’t a joke and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Many of the characters speak about how he was when he younger and not the King. But when it became time for him to step up and be King he took on that duty in a serious manner. King Henry even knew when to show mercy and cruelty. With the drunk man he knew that he would learn from his action by being locked up for a while and so he showed him mercy. But the exact opposite happened with the traitors. He couldn’t show mercy with them because he as King felt that it would put him and his people in danger.

Hal initially shows only ‘riot and dishonour’ due to his ‘rude society’ and ‘barren pleasures’, which is not appreciated his father who realises the importance of appearances in society would rather Hal was ‘ne’er seen but wonder’d at’. Henry’s disappointment in Hal’s behaviour and lack of honour shows his wish for a son who can uphold the ‘hope and expectation’ of his ‘princely heart’ and reflect well on him, thus adding plausibility to his unlawful kingship. Hal’s ‘reformation’ contrasts his past behaviour and upholds Henry’s wishes for ‘a son who is the theme of honour’s tongue’. Hal’s new behaviour allows him and his father to defeat the Percys and win the battle, helping to restore some peace, and more importantly, reflecting well on his

mentioning because it can give some insights into the character of Henry that the current

Henry V, also acknowledged as Prince Hal converses to all of the men that are fighting for England in a way that makes them all feel as if they are similar to one another. Overall, throughout the speech Henry also justifies so that all of these men feel that they are equally significant and of the same value. Moreover, Henry demonstrates his ability to make the men feel this way through his body language along with his choice of words throughout his speech. Included in the essay will be three examples to express Henry’s ability to do these things.