Henry’s Use of Language in Act IV, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Henry V This extract comes at the lowest part of Shakespeare’s play ‘Henry V’ with the dramatist reflecting on the main character’s positions, as a King and as a human being. At this point in the plot the English army are ‘but a weak and sickly guard’ (according to Henry himself in act 3 scene 7), desolate in enemy territory with great certainty that their campaign against the French has come to an end. This causes Henry to become introspective, analysing himself as a leader and conveying to the audience his complex positions during this troubling time through a range of linguistic features used in the soliloquy. Throughout the soliloquy Shakespeare uses repetition to emphasise the demands of Henry’s kingly responsibilities. Through his conflicting impulses he repeats words to make sense of his troubling emotions. The repetition of the familiar possessive pronoun ‘our’ can be found at the start of this extract were Henry paraphrases what is said by the soldiers, Bates and Williams, earlier in the scene, ‘Let us our lives, our souls, our debts our careful wives, our children and our sins, lay on the king!’(line 203-204). The repetition of ‘our’ and the imperative mood of the command verb ‘let’ suggests that responsibility is always put back onto the king. Shakespeare does this to imply that the King must bear responsibility for the moral state of all soldiers fighting for their country who die in battle. This further more implies to the audience that with great power, comes great responsibility and in turn comes the burdens of kingship. With the burden of Kingship, H... ... middle of paper ... ...characteristics are held hostage by his daily responsibilities as a dutiful monarch. Such as in light of recent events at Harfleur, Henry’s remorse for the loss of life does not stand in the way of his royal rites of the French throne. Overall the dramatic purpose of act IV, scene 1, lines 203-257, reflects the debates of kingship, with Shakespeare’s ‘model of the ideal king’ being portrayed through Henry’s personal side which is seen for the first time by the audience. This in turn allows the audience to see Shakespeare’s full characterisation of Henry showing his positions as a, Christian leader (), a statesman (), a judge (), a warrior (), and now as a human. Through the use of language features found in the major soliloquy the audience now can reflect on the ‘3D’ position of Henry, as a king and as a human being.
Henry IV and eventually the throne of England. It is also the attributes that allow him to
shall firstly do a summery of the play and give a basic image of what
We learn that when Henry comes home from the war, he is suffering from PTSD. "It was at least three years before Henry came home. By then I guess the whole war was solved in the governments mind, but for him it would keep on going" (444). PTSD changes a person, and it doesn 't always stem from war. Henry came back a completely different person. He was quiet, and he was mean. He could never sit still, unless he was posted in front of the color TV. But even then, he was uneasy, "But it was the kind of stillness that you see in a rabbit when it freezes and before it will bolt"
...les with amusement, Becket develops a higher spirituality than Henry ever possessed in his new position. However, though he knows he must remove Becket in order to have control, Henry cannot forgive himself for murdering his old companion. He has himself whipped by monks after Becket's murder "Are you satisfied now, Becket? Does this settle our account? Has the honor of God been washed clean?" (Anouilh 126). Becket admits at his death how heavy it is to carry the honor of God, but despite the consequences of doing so it was an honor he held in higher esteem than friendship.
and not that he did this by his own choice. With this metaphor of a
hero. He is also the king's cousin. He may have been simply fed up if
Henry suffers from retrograde amnesia due to internal bleeding in the part of the brain that controls memory. This causes him to forget completely everything he ever learned. His entire life is forgotten and he has to basically relearn who he was, only to find he didn’t like who he was and that he didn’t want to be that person. He starts to pay more attention to his daughter and his wife and starts to spend more time with them.
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 and attempted to express his moral distaste subtly to his audience. No matter in which camp one rests, Henry V holds relevance for the modern stage. Despite containing contradictions, Henry is also a symbol as he is one person. This unity of person brings about the victory in the battle of Agincourt.
In chapter nine, Henry shows his brave character once again. In Paula, Henry was installed in a roadside trench. Some of the men were hungry so Henry volunteered to go and fetch some cold macaroni from the other side of the trench. The major advised him against it and said, “You better wait until the shelling is over.” Henry replied, “They want to eat.” (53) As Henry and the others came back to the dugout, shelling began and bombs burst around them. Then the blast furnace door swung open and Henry was badly injured. This incident showed his selfless courage and bravery. He did not have to do it, yet he went and got the food anyway. Henry risked his life for the others, and that is another true sign of bravery.
As time progressed Henry also thought of the injustice in working and paying the wages he had earned to a master who had no entitlement to them whatsoever. In slavery he had been unable to question anything of his masters doing. He was unable to have rage, sadness, or even sickness, for he would be b...
Through high moral character Henry established credibility with the audience through creating a setting that aroused feelings in the people at the convention in order to convince them they had to fight for more than just peace. The goal Henry had when he spoke about war was to be honest with the crowd and point out that they needed to do something now or they would loose not just what he loved, but what they also loved. Henry said “If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending...and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight!”. In this quote the tactic of ethics is apparent in that Henry wanted to achieve a personal level of connection with the audience and establish his credibility. By relating losing the war it also meant the lose of their feelings of comfort and contentm...
kinsmen of Edward, Queen Elizabeth, the two young princes and Queen. Anne. These people were killed because he needed to get the throne for his greed. Only a villain would commit these crimes for his greed.
showing irreverence to authority." Upon hearing this, Henry states that he does "not believe in corporal
Act 4 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. In this essay I will be explaining how this scene affects the personalities of the characters within the scene. I will be using the book to help me find out about changes in their attitudes towards each other and in themselves. The scene I will be focusing on is Act 4 Scene 1.
Shakespeare to be a queen rather than a woman or lover. In Act 4 Scene