henry v essay
...is mock mock out of their dear husbands, Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down …” After receiving the gift Henry immediately vows to take over France, which shows that he has a taste of vengeance against people who mock and most of all doubt him to be a strong, good king. Henry indulges in an early instance of casting responsibility for his actions away from himself and onto his enemies. By claiming to come to France in the name of God and by telling the Dauphin that he, the Dauphin, is responsible for the consequences, Henry presents himself as an unappeasable, unstoppable force that his enemies must submit to rather than struggle against. Henry may seem arrogant, but he makes himself appear humble by appealing to God rather than to his own power. This speech turns into an early blueprint for almost all of Henry's future self-characterisations. Henry claims that his enemies' wickedness is to blame for the violence brought by his own army, then depicts himself as an instrument of God whose desire to further God's will leaves him no choice as to how to behave. Scenes, giving insight to Henry’s character and supporting Henry being a merciful and a just king are in Act 3. Particularly in Scene 7 where Henry approves the hanging of his close friend Bardolf, for stealing from the church. This reveals a lot about what kind of person Henry is, and almost paints him as a merciless ruler, not even showing mercy to his own friend. Bardolf’s death symbolises that Henry has indeed changed into a man worthy of ruling a nation from an immature young teenager. Henry chooses to set an example out of Bardolf in clarifying that he can certainly be stern on what punish those who do wrong, despite friendship. What really portrays Henry V as an amazing leader and a liked king are his speeches before two main battles (Harfluer and Agincourt), in which he and his men fight the French. Henry uses two different and separate strategies for psychological motivation, each of which uses its own language. First, Henry attempts to tap into a primal instinct toward violence within his men, hoping to rouse them into a killing frenzy. At the same time, however, Henry employs a second strategy whereby he inspires his men with a nationalistic patriotism, urging them to do honour to their country and prove that they are worthy of being called English. And that he would not want to die next to a man who is a coward. This sense of a shared national creed is somewhat more sophisticated than the urging to primal violence. This shows the sophisticated and elaborate side to Henrys leadership personality, in showing that Henry is very effective through speech. The last trait that I am supporting from my judgement on Henry is his softer side, acting as a lover, in his wooing of Katherine and Henry disguising himself and going around camp seeing what his men think of him. Addressing Henry as a lover his...