The Importance of War in Shakespeare's Henry V - Essay Example

The Importance of War in Shakespeare’s Henry V War is an important vehicle for King Henry V, as it is essential, in his mind, to establishing himself as a ruler who needs to be taken seriously. In this quest for legitimacy, Henry makes decisions about war that are not necessarily good in and of themselves, but important in establishing his claim to the throne and his legitimacy as King of England. In his quest for legitimacy, Henry attempts to assert his claim to the French crown (although there is a difference in interpretation in France and England as to who can claim succession to the French crown), which will require an invasion into France and a battle for the crown, against Charles, the King of France, and his young son, the Dauphin, next in line for the Crown. The tensions between the Dauphin and Henry serve to magnify both Henry’s personal desire for legitimacy and respect, and his desire to show the English people he is willing to fight for them and to do what is right for the country thus adding to his legitimacy as a ruler of England (in order to make up for his past regressions as a youth). In the Prologue, the reader is given instructions to imagine a great stage, with many more armies and munitions, horses, etc. than can fit on a stage. We are asked to open our imaginations to the trappings of war. In a way, the audience is set up for a glorified depiciton of war, not the actual bloodiness, terror, horror, and death implicit in war-- a romantic version of war. It is this romantic version that the reader or play-goer gets a taste of Henry’s romantic perception of his role as king and his role as the leader of England. Although Shakespeare attempts to show the brutality of war with some bloody examples and mass killings in the play, the audience is left to use their imaginations and expand the written word to include the horrors of war. That gruesomeness is left to the reader or theater-goer, more than the author. For Henry V, war is a necessary thing for him to do. This invasion and conquest of France is not taken lightly by Henry and he want to ensure that he has the moral authority to proceed. He calls on his advisors, Canterbury and Eli, to explain to him in detail the moral justification of this coming war, and wants to be assured from his trusted advisors that his effort has moral standing, which will further establish his legitimacy. A successful campaign in France would greatly solidify Henry’s claim to the English crown, show the British people he is a serious man now, willing to fight for the people of greater England (includes, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland). For England, this war is important to show France and the rest of the world that Henry is willing to do whatever it takes to advocate for his people and for his country. For England itself, this invasion of France is hardly necessary, as it was dealing with its own issues of the peasantry and the Church’s power over the land. In fact, the Catholic Bishops advocated for this invasion in order to take Henry’s mind off of an impending law requiring the Church to give up substantial money and land to the Crown. Indeed, perhaps the manipulative Henry would even be killed in this invasion of France, giving the Church a reprieve from this coming law. But once it is known that Henry V is preparing to fight, the rest of the country follows suit and gears up for the war. There is much anticipation, excitement and fire in the country. “Now all the youth of England are on fire,/ … / They sell the pasture now to buy the horse” (II. Prologue. 1-5). This galvanizes the people of England behind their leader, Henry V, further establishing his place as leader of his people. In their views of war, the Church sees it as a financial power grab, Henry sees it as a way to solidify his legitimacy, and the actual people who are fighting it (Pistol, Bardolph,etc.) see it as a way to get out of their putrid lives they are leading and fight for something bigger than themselves. Henry errs on the side of making difficult decisions and sticking to them. He has old friends killed for treason, disowns his old mentor, Falstaff (which eventually kills the old man), and does not hesitate to kill those he was once friends with, in order to show that his past life is subjugated to his present one. It is almost as if Henry is attempting to extinguish his past and forge a new persona of King. With sound advice from his advisors on the legitimacy of his quest, Henry calls in the French representatives to give them his ultimatum, and to explain his rightful claim to the French throne. In response, the Dauphin dismisses and disrespects Henry, and lets him know in no uncertain terms that he thinks Henry is still the young, irresponsible na’er-do-well that he was in his youth. Henry V and the Dauphin of France share an intense dislike of one another. The genesis of this intense dislike likely stems from their similarities, rather than differences. The Dauphin is a rather head-strong and confident young man, who is in line to succeed his father Charles, as King of France. This over-confidence stems from a knowledge of how Henry behaved as a youth-- indolent, reckless, irresponsible, idle-- precisely the qualities that do not make a good ruler of people. The Dauphin assumes (rather over-confidently) that these qualities still make up most of Henry’s character, and eventually result in a major miscalculation on the Dauphin’s part. Henry, on the other hand, is intent on showing himself, the people of England, and the Dauphin (and the rest of Europe) that King Henry V is to be taken seriously as a ruler and as a leader of men and his people. In a way, the Dauphin is similar to Henry in his youth--over-confident, brash-- but now HEnry seems to be the one who takes the coming battle more seriously, as opposed to the Dauphin and his miscalculations. Henry even turns the tennis balls given to him into cannon balls or “gunstones” in his mind. In Act I, secne ii, Henry replies to the Dauphin’s “gift” with an air of anger and determination: And tell the pleasant Prince this mock of his Hath turned his balls to gunstones, and his soul Shall stand sore charged for the wasteful vengeance That shall fly from them In his mind, Henty is intent on proving all doubters wrong about his character, and ability to lead as King, and will take this frustration out on France and the haughty Dauphin. Thus, with both external and internal prompts, Henry V embarks on utilizing invasion and war to establish himself as a leader, and true ruler of his people, his nation. Henry willingly allows himself to be convinced of the righteousness of the war by his Clergy leaders and advisors, and feeds off the disrespect of the Dauphin in order to firmly establish the necessity of war to once and for all eliminate those who would second-guess his legitimacy. Friends and foes will die alike, as long as they stand in the way of establishing the legitimacy of Henry and the protection of the English Crown as supreme ruler of the land. Being King requires difficult choices, and Henry is more than willing to allow former friends, mentors, and innocents to die if it means he--and England especially-- are to remain strong and united as a people. Works Cited “Henry V.” November 2012. OpenSourseShakespeare, George Mason University. 17 November 2012 . Read More