Cultural Context of Henry V, Macbeth, As You Like It, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet - Coursework Example

Cultural context of Henry V, Macbeth, As You Like It, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet Shakespeare uses different country backgrounds in his plays and the characters in each represent different cultures and nationalities. In Henry V it is England, in Macbeth it is Scotland, England is again the background in As You Like It, in Romeo and Juliet it is Italy and in Hamlet it is Denmark. Specific cultural traits are noticeable in these plays as listed below. Language. Every play of Shakespeare is a reflection of his fascination with language – its use, power and limitations. His characters use forceful language to achieve their goals and in the process, reveal themselves through it. For example, Juliet uses it to lament the fact that family honour does not consider the feelings of family members (“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet” {2.2.43-44}), Macbeth uses it to voice his tortured conscience (“How is it with me, when every noise appalls me? What hands are here! Ha, pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” {2.2.56-9}), Rosalind uses it to teach a version of love that can survive in reality and bring happiness as well (“Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love” {4.1.91-2}), Henry uses metaphorical language as he rallies his soldiers at the Battle of Harfluer (“Then imitate the action of the tiger, stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, disguise fair nature with hard-favoured rage” {3.1.5-8}). Captain Fluellan’s language is has a funny pseudo-Welsh accent that involves replacing ‘b’ with ‘p’ (in his speech to Gower, he compares Henry to Alexander the Great, whom he initially calls ‘Alexander the Pig’, meaning, ‘Alexander the Big’{ 4.7.10}). In Macbeth, the witches speak in riddles (they call Banquo ‘lesser than Macbeth, and greater’, and ‘not so happy, yet much happier’ {1.3.63-65}). In Hamlet, language used is often slippery; words are used to communicate ideas but they also are used to distort the truth: the most obvious example is Claudius, who manipulates words to enhance his own power; his speech is compared to poison being poured in the ear – the method he used to murder Hamlet’s father. In Henry V, Act 3, Scene 4 is almost entirely in French, evidence of Shakespeare’s ability to add another level to his increasingly complex scenes; he adds an assortment of French phrases in Act 3, Scene 5 with French noblemen exclaiming “O Dieu vivant!” (“O living God!”), “Mort de ma vie!” (“Death of my life!”), and “Dieu de batailles!” (“O God of Battles!”). Shakespeare’s lower class characters have a particular strain of their own language. For example, the captain describes Macbeth’s slaying of Macdonald as “he unseamed him from the have to th’ chops” (1.2.22) meaning that he cut him from navel to chin. In Henry V Pistol curses Fluellan “Die and be damned! And fico for they friendship!” ‘Fico’ means ‘fig’ in Spanish, an obscene gesture involving thrusting the thumb between two other fingers. Elsewhere in the same play, Fluellan opines to Gower “I think it is e’en Macedon where Alexander is porn” (4.7.18) meaning that he thinks Alexander the Great was born in Macedonia. The Divine Right of Kings: Kingship and rule. In Henry V, there is something strikingly democratic in the depiction of rich and poor, English and Irish, Scottish and Welsh, as they jointly unite in the war effort under Henry. Henry V has been described as “the mirror of all Christian kings” (2.6.Chorus). The epitome of a good leader, he has a charismatic ability to connect with his subjects and motivate them. At the siege of Harfluer, he rallies his men by calling on their national shared culture, urging them to do honour to their country: “Be copy now to men of grosser blood, and teach them how to war. And you, good yeomen, whose limbs were made in England, show us here the mettle of your posture” (3.1.6-10). Henry urges them in another scene: “Follow your spirit upon this charge, cry ‘God for Harry, England and Saint George!’” (3.1.31-34). In Act 1, Scene 2, Henry, wanting to be able to justify a potentially bloody invasion, asks Canterbury to explain the reasoning (under English law, Henry is the rightful heir to the French throne since Henry’s great-great-grandmother was a daughter of the King of France) by which he has a rightful claim to the throne of France. In Act 3, Scene 6, when Montjoy arrives with a deeply menacing message from King Charles of France, Henry sends a reply that even though his soldiers are tired, he will march on because he believes he is in the right and will be victorious. Henry here claims that he has the Divine Right to win the battle. This point is reinforced by Shakespeare who seems to attribute the outcome of the Battle of Agincourt to an Act of God. After his victory, Henry marries Princess Catherine of France, ensuring that his heirs will inherit France as well as England. In Hamlet, the dead King Hamlet is depicted as a good, honest ruler under whom Denmark thrived. In stark contrast, Denmark becomes like a physical body made ill by the moral corruption of Claudius and Gertrude. In Macbeth, Scottish King Duncan is portrayed as a good, just ruler who is loved and revered by all his subjects. Macbeth, before his final capitulation to vicious ambition, admires him tremendously and compares his virtues to an angel (“…his virtues, will plead like angels trumpet-tongued” {1.7.18-20}). Macbeth, who succeeds Duncan as King of Scotland by murdering him, is given to increasing tantrums of terrible self guilt which disintegrates his personality so rapidly, that he seems almost relieved to fight his final battle against Macduff’s army in which he is killed. War and society: Battle of the Thrones. The play Henry V uses a number of recurring metaphors for the violence of war, such as images of eating and devouring, fire and combustion, and even the image of a tennis match. The play seems to celebrate and glorify war. Act 2, Prologue, 1-5 depicts a country of heroes, eagerly waiting to participate in war (“Now all the youth of England are on fire”. The touching story of the death of the Duke of York (Act 4, Scenes 6 and 7) presents a greatly romanticised view of death in battle. However in Act 3, Scene 2, the conversation between Nim, Bardolph and Pistol reveals that while Bardolph is eager for war, Nim and Pistol are less happy with the prospect of being killed and prefer they were safe back in London. Henry however is careful to say that people should not be fighting all the time; that peace is better than war (“In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man, as modest stillness and humility” {3.1.3-4}). The play Henry V basically deals with the battle of 2 thrones – English and French. Henry believes he has the ancestral right to claim the French throne, and this conviction leads to the Battle of Agincourt in which the French are defeated. Macbeth can be considered a battle for the throne of Scotland. King Duncan is murdered by Macbeth, who, spurred by his overly ambitious wife, deeply craves power and advancement to the throne, and kills Duncan as a means to achieve this. Hamlet too can be considered a battle for the throne of Denmark in which the villainous Claudius murders his own brother (King Hamlet) and takes over the throne; not content with that, he marries his sister-in-law Gertrude as well. Dress and Disguise. In As You Like It, Rosalind disguises herself as a boy – the beautiful Ganymede – for most of the play in order to woo the man she loves and instruct him on how to be a better lover. Her choice is significant because the figure of Ganymede represents homosexual love; in the end, she dispenses with the charade in keeping with the Elizabethan notion of a male-dominated society where women act their assigned roles. Henry in Act 4, Scene 1, borrows the cloak of Sir Thomas Erpingham, and disguising himself as an ordinary solider, he talks to whoever wanders by to get their reactions to their king and the coming battle. (Pistol praises Henry, Fluellan admonishes him to talk more softly while they are in the enemy’s close vicinity, and 3 soldiers (John Bates, Alexander Court and Michael Williams) doubt the motives and courage of the king. Humour and Comedy. As You Like It displays the sense of humour in English people. Jacques is the play’s jester, though he lacks the keenness of insight of Shakespeare’s more accomplished jesters in his other plays, for example, when he relates how he met a fool in the forest who enthralled him with strange ideas about time and life (“As I do live by food, I met a fool” {2.7.14}). In the same play, almost all of Touchstone’s lines contain some bawdy double meaning, for example, he puns ‘hour’ with ‘whore’ to transform the picture of man’s decay into the depiction of a man dying from venereal disease. In another scene, Touchstone recounts an argument, the context of which is a deftly comic moment that skewers all behaviour that is “by the book”, be it rules to engage an enemy or a lover (5.4.81). There is also endless comic appeal in Rosalind’s lampooning of the conventions of both male and female behaviour. In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio is a scene stealer who constantly puns, jokes and teases – sometimes in fun, sometimes with bitterness; he uses wild words to puncture the romantic sentiments and self-love that exist within the play. In Henry V, Act 3, Scene 4 (in French) is a comic one in that it is a language lesson thrown completely out of context due to the deficiency of the teacher, Alice. Another source of humour is Catherine’s tendency to find obscure connections in some English words such as ‘foot’ being similar to the word ‘foutre’ in French which means ‘to fuck’; Alice pronounces ‘gown’ as ‘cown’ which Catherine associates with the French word ‘con’ meaning ‘cunt’: such apparently obscene word associations leads Catherine to conclude that English is a vulgar and immodest language (“Gros, et impudique” {3.4.48}). In Act 4, Scene 4, Pistol’s capture of a French prisoner is comical; Pistol, who cannot speak French, tries to communicate with the prisoner who cannot speak English. Pistol mistakes ‘O Seigneur Dieu’ (‘O Lord God!’) for a name, the word ‘bras’ (‘arm’) for ‘brass’ and the word ‘moi’ (‘me’) for “moy”, a type of alloy. Rhetorical skill. In Henry V, the English are depicted as having excellent rhetorical skill. Henry has the ability to present himself honestly while still manipulating his audience. With eloquent words, he inspires and rouses his followers, intimidates his enemies and persuades nearly anyone who hears him. An example is his rousing praise to the soldiers: “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers” (4.3.60). Another example is this quote from his St. Crispin’s Day speech, the rallying oratory he delivers to his army before the Battle of Agincourt: “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 honour. God’s will, I pray thee wish not one man more” (4.3.20-23). Henry’s skill with rhetoric is further displayed in his message to King Charles to “deliver up the crown, and to take mercy on the poor souls for whom this hungry war opens its vast jaws” (2.4.103-5), a message that simultaneously empowers and disempowers Charles. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is inspired by love to speak some of the most beautiful and intense love poetry ever written, such as in Act 2.2.2-4: “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!” The powerful nature of love inspires great rhetorical skill – sometimes it is described in the terms of religion (‘But my true love is grown to such excess, I cannot sum up some of some of my half my wealth’ {3.1.33-4}), and at others it is described as a sort of magic (‘Alike bewitched by the charm of looks’{2.Prologue.6}). As You Like It also displays the rhetorical skill of the English. Orlando demonstrates this when he argues with Jacques, saying that the latter should seek out a fool who wanders around in the forest of Ardenne. “He is drowned in the brook. Look but in, and you shall see him” (3.2.262-3) meaning that Jacques will see a fool in his own reflection. Hamlet displays the rhetorical skill of the Danes. Hamlet, a university student whose studies are interrupted by his father’s death, is extremely articulate, finding particular fascination in difficult questions and questions that cannot be answered with any certainty. He is thoughtful to the point of obsession, constantly contemplating about the afterlife, the wisdom of suicide (‘To be or not to be-that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and, by opposing, end them’ {3.1.64}), and other such matters. Religion. Danes are religious. Hamlet, though consumed with the thirst for revenge, is constantly bothered by his conscience which does not allow him to readily kill Claudius. Claudius himself possesses himself of queen and crown, but his conscience constantly troubles him. At a number of points in the play Hamlet contemplates suicide (‘O that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew’ {3.2.129-130}), but he fears that suicide will condemn him to hell as preached in the Christian religion (“O that the Everlasting had not fix’d his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter’ {3.2.131-2}). Definitely going against Christian principles, Hamlet shows that there is a strain of incest in Danish culture. The play has several instances of incest and incestuous desire. Gertrude and Claudius, former brother-in-law and sister-in-law marry immediately after the death of King Hamlet; Hamlet laments this haste: ‘Within a month, ere the salt of most unrighteous tears had left the flushing in her galled eyes, she married: O most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets!’ (3.2.152-6). Laertes speaks to his sister Ophelia in sexually suggestive terms and at her funeral, desperately leaps into her grave to grab her in his arms. Hamlet’s relationship with his mother Gertrude has subtle sexual undertones, seen in his constant preoccupation with her, especially her sex life with Claudius. Such was the Macbeth’s courage, that he never once contemplated suicide (“Why should I play the Roman fool, and die on mine own sword?” {5.9.1-2}) thus showing his adherence to Christian principles at least on this one point. The play Romeo and Juliet points to the religious background of the characters. Although the lovers are passionately in love, their religious upbringing does not let them indulge in premarital sex, even when the expanding power of their love makes them start thinking in blasphemous terms (for example, when Juliet calls Romeo “the god of my idolatry” {2.1.156}, looking upon her lover as a God). Friar Lawrence is the sole figure of religion in the play, a kind hearted cleric who helps Romeo and Juliet throughout the play, performing their marriage as well. Again definitely going against Christianity, As You Like It (like many other Shakespeare’s poems and plays) is steeped in homoeroticism, exploring different kinds of love between members of the same sex. The intimacy between Celia and Rosalind seems more intense than normal friends or cousins. Rosalind cross-dresses as Ganymede, a beautiful boy: the name ‘Ganymede’ traditionally belonged to a beautiful boy who was the cupbearer and beloved of Jove, and is a standard symbol of homosexual love. Phoebe is more attracted to the feminine Ganymede than to the real male, Silvius. Orlando enjoys the idea of acting out his romance with the beautiful boy Ganymede. The play, by its very name, suggests that homosexual and heterosexual love can exist on a continuum across which one can move as one likes. Superstition. The play Macbeth hinges on his wife and his superstitious belief that the prophecies of the 3 witches will come true; they implicitly believe in the witches’ power to predict the future. The portrayal of the witches, (whose evil core is ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ {1.1.10}), with their beards, bizarre potions, rhymed speech and ability to summon apparitions make them caricatures of the supernatural, something that one cannot believe is encountered in actual life. Another instance is when Macduff is able to kill Macbeth only because the latter was not “born of a woman” (4.1.80), meaning that he was removed from his mother’s womb via cesarean section. The third instance is when the ghost of Banquo appears at Macbeth’s coronation banquet. The play Hamlet shows that Danes are superstitious. This cultural trait is the main springboard of the play. The ghost of the deceased King Hamlet speaks to Hamlet, saying he was murdered by his own brother Claudius (‘Murder most foul, as in the best it is, but this most foul, strange and unnatural’ {1.5.33}), and asks his son to avenge his death. Role of women. The play Henry V does not consider women important contributors to society; women are suppressed in it. There are almost no women in the play. Catherine, the young and pretty princess of France, is the only female character to be given many lines, but most of them are in French. Her role is significant as it typifies the role played by women in an extremely masculine value system of those times. Females are also suppressed in As You Like It. In Shakespeare’s England women were not considered important, let alone equal to men; they were even forbidden to perform onstage. Duke Frederick, who suppresses Celia is one of many Shakespearian fathers who strive hard to control their daughters’ lives. In the Epilogue, Rosalind, who dominates the play, rebels against this gender disparity: “If I were a woman, I would kiss as many of you as had beards that pleased me” (Epilogue 14-16). Rosalind is a particular favourite among feminist critics who admire her ability to subvert the limitations that society imposes on her as a woman. In a surprising shift, Macbeth portrays females as aggressive. The aggression of female characters is striking as it goes against prevailing norms of how women should behave. The prophecies of the 3 witches (referred to as the ‘weird sisters’ by many characters) ignite Macbeth’s ambitions, urging him to violent behaviour. Lady Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters, is stronger, more ruthless and more ambitious than her husband; she provides the brains and will behind Macbeth’s murder of Duncan. Bravery is linked to masculinity: Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband by questioning his manhood, not contradicting him when he says that a woman like her should give birth only to boys. Romeo and Juliet depicts the Italian patriarchal power structure inherent in Renaissance families, where the father (Capulet in the play) controls the actions of all other family members, particularly women. Lady Montague loves her son Romeo so much that she dies of a broken heart when he is banished from Verona. Juliet offers glimpses of her steely determination, strength and sober-mindedness; though madly in love with Romeo, she is able to see and criticise his tendency to romanticise things. Hamlet, who becomes obsessed with misogyny (hatred of women) after his mother’s decision to marry Claudius soon after his father’s death, begins to associate female sexuality with moral corruption (“Frailty, thy name is woman” {1.2.46}). Queen Gertrude is depicted as a woman defined by her desire for status and affection; At her best in social situations, she tends to use men to fulfill her self-preservation instinct; she never seems able to think critically about her position, preferring instead to divert to safer choices (such as rushing to Claudius after her confrontation with Hamlet). Ophelia, love interest of Hamlet, who is on the receiving end of Hamlet’s verbal onslaughts, goes mad and kills herself when Hamlet rejects her and eventually kills her father. References used: * Douthat, Ross and Ward, Selena. SparkNote on Henry V. 14 September 2006. * Florman, Ben and Hopson, David. SparkNote on As You Like It. 14 September 2006 * Gibson, Rex. Teaching Shakespeare: A Handbook for Teachers. Cambridge University Press. 1998. * Phillips, Brian. SparkNote on Hamlet. 14 September 2006. * Phillips, Brian. SparkNote on Romeo and Juliet. 14 September 2006. * Phillips, Brian and Douthat, Ross. SparkNote on Macbeth. 14 September 2006. Read More

In Henry V Pistol curses Fluellan “Die and be damned! And fico for they friendship!” ‘Fico’ means ‘fig’ in Spanish, an obscene gesture involving thrusting the thumb between two other fingers. Elsewhere in the same play, Fluellan opines to Gower “I think it is e’en Macedon where Alexander is porn” (4.7.18) meaning that he thinks Alexander the Great was born in Macedonia. The Divine Right of Kings: Kingship and rule. In Henry V, there is something strikingly democratic in the depiction of rich and poor, English and Irish, Scottish and Welsh, as they jointly unite in the war effort under Henry.

Henry V has been described as “the mirror of all Christian kings” (2.6.Chorus). The epitome of a good leader, he has a charismatic ability to connect with his subjects and motivate them. At the siege of Harfluer, he rallies his men by calling on their national shared culture, urging them to do honour to their country: “Be copy now to men of grosser blood, and teach them how to war. And you, good yeomen, whose limbs were made in England, show us here the mettle of your posture” (3.1.6-10).

Henry urges them in another scene: “Follow your spirit upon this charge, cry ‘God for Harry, England and Saint George!’” (3.1.31-34). In Act 1, Scene 2, Henry, wanting to be able to justify a potentially bloody invasion, asks Canterbury to explain the reasoning (under English law, Henry is the rightful heir to the French throne since Henry’s great-great-grandmother was a daughter of the King of France) by which he has a rightful claim to the throne of France. In Act 3, Scene 6, when Montjoy arrives with a deeply menacing message from King Charles of France, Henry sends a reply that even though his soldiers are tired, he will march on because he believes he is in the right and will be victorious.

Henry here claims that he has the Divine Right to win the battle. This point is reinforced by Shakespeare who seems to attribute the outcome of the Battle of Agincourt to an Act of God. After his victory, Henry marries Princess Catherine of France, ensuring that his heirs will inherit France as well as England. In Hamlet, the dead King Hamlet is depicted as a good, honest ruler under whom Denmark thrived. In stark contrast, Denmark becomes like a physical body made ill by the moral corruption of Claudius and Gertrude.

In Macbeth, Scottish King Duncan is portrayed as a good, just ruler who is loved and revered by all his subjects. Macbeth, before his final capitulation to vicious ambition, admires him tremendously and compares his virtues to an angel (“…his virtues, will plead like angels trumpet-tongued” {1.7.18-20}). Macbeth, who succeeds Duncan as King of Scotland by murdering him, is given to increasing tantrums of terrible self guilt which disintegrates his personality so rapidly, that he seems almost relieved to fight his final battle against Macduff’s army in which he is killed.

War and society: Battle of the Thrones. The play Henry V uses a number of recurring metaphors for the violence of war, such as images of eating and devouring, fire and combustion, and even the image of a tennis match. The play seems to celebrate and glorify war. Act 2, Prologue, 1-5 depicts a country of heroes, eagerly waiting to participate in war (“Now all the youth of England are on fire”. The touching story of the death of the Duke of York (Act 4, Scenes 6 and 7) presents a greatly romanticised view of death in battle.

However in Act 3, Scene 2, the conversation between Nim, Bardolph and Pistol reveals that while Bardolph is eager for war, Nim and Pistol are less happy with the prospect of being killed and prefer they were safe back in London. Henry however is careful to say that people should not be fighting all the time; that peace is better than war (“In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man, as modest stillness and humility” {3.1.3-4}). The play Henry V basically deals with the battle of 2 thrones – English and French.

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