Essay on William Shakespeare’s Henry V

William Shakespeare’s Henry V

William Shakespeare is one of the most famous and influential writersof all time. His plays not only portray the past, but also aspects oflove and hate, humour and tragedy.

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Henry V, written by Shakespeare, using Raphael Holinshed’s historicalchronicles, appealed to many of the citizens of that time, as itpresented an insight into their country’s past, as well as ‘feel-good’nationalism. It would have been performed on stage at a time whenHenry VIII had secluded the country of all contact with the Church ofRome. Providing the audience with its country’s past glories andtriumphs, the play counter-acts this feeling of seclusion and loss ofidentity with glorified achievement and renewal of patriotism.

Henry V continues Shakespeare’s series of historic plays; it followsHenry IV and is the predecessor to Henry VI. In Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2,the audience is introduced to Henry V. Henry is young and considered’wild’ as his days were spent in the ‘Boars Head’ among the likes ofhis dear friend, and father-figure, Sir John Falstaff, and the othermembers of the ‘Eastcheap Mob’ (Henry’s ‘greener days’ are laterreferred to and mocked at by the French Dauphin). Once crowned King,these days, as well as the people who shared them with Henry, arequickly forgotten, and Falstaff soon dies of a ‘broken heart’, due tothe disownment his ‘son-figure’ has pursued. We soon see the change,and it is evidential that it is for the better, later on in the playwhen we witness Henry go to war with France. Not only is Henry filledwith confidence and fuelled by ambition; he has also gained theability to grasp th…

…lefields isn’t the same as courage in thebedroom.

To conclude, one is manipulated to believe that Henry V was a greatman and King, whose principals are strongly religious and are just andfair. However, one must acknowledge that Henry V, as it has beenpresented, is a creation, an adaptation of what Raphael Holinshedresearched and of what William Shakespeare interpreted Henry to belike, or to what an ideal king should consist of. Further more, Henry,as Shakespeare viewed him, was a true star of England, who did givegreat, inspirational speeches to persuade his army, who did wooKatherine, and who did choose his responsibilities over friendship.However, the true Henry lies in Shakespeare. Shakespeare is thecreator, the puppeteer; Shakespeare is the man who wrote the speeches,it was he who wooed Katherine.

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