Nation and Nationalism in Henry V - Essay Example

Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Nation and Nationalism in Henry V Introduction William Shakespeare’s Henry V is the final history play in his second tetralogy, preceded by the plays Richard II, Henry IV part 1 and Henry IV part 2. The main character of the play, King Henry V, is the successor of Henry IV to the throne of England. Divided into five acts, the play covers the historical period from 1415 to 1420 and concludes with Henry V’s demise in 1422 (Hunt 134). The plot centers on the young Henry V’s military conquest of France and his ambition to unite the French and English crowns. Responding to a provocative jest from the French Dauphin, Henry prepares his troops and sets off for an invasion of France. The English besiege and take the French town of Harfleur before defeating the French at the battle of Agincourt. He returns to London victorious and unites England and France through his marriage to the French Princess Katherine. Henry V has been described as a “compelling case study” in the explaining the emergence of a modern sense national identity (Hunt 133). Critics have noted that Henry V is Shakespeare’s account of the origin of imperialistic national identity in England. This implies that the issues of nation and nationalism are central to an understanding and theatrical portrayal of the play Henry V. The text of the play reverberates with the themes of heroism, courage, and sacrifice for the nation and patriotism which must be captured and represented on stage for the play to be accurate (Hattaway 21). This is particularly prominent as Henry rallies his troops before battle with the inspiring St Crispin’s Day speech. This essay will consider the importance of the issues of nation and nationalism in Shakespeare’s Henry V and how they may be represented on stage. The essay will first demonstrate how Shakespeare outlines the origins of national identity and patriotism in the text of the play based on Benedict Anderson’s concept of nationalism. Having demonstrated the importance of nationalism in the play, the essay will then highlight performance issues in an actual stage performances and film adaptations of Henry V. Importance of Nation and Nationalism in Henry V Benedict Anderson defines a nation as an “imagined community- imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign” (Anderson 11). According to Anderson’s definition, a national identity thus becomes a product of collective imagination regardless of the inequalities or exploitation faced or suffered by the peoples of a nation. It is conceived as a deep horizontal fraternity or comradeship. A nation inspires strong emotions such as “self sacrificing love” from its people and leaders alike. Nationalism is thus a consciousness or awareness of national identity, usually manifested in the strong feelings of duty, pride and belonging to a particular nation. A close analysis of the text of Henry V reveals the centrality of the theme of nationalism and patriotism in the play. The play is set in late medieval England during a period of transition from deeply religious monarchies to those of the Tudor monarchs (Newey and Ann 14-16 & Luis 272). In the opening scene of the first act, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely are contemplating the disruptive influence of legislations which would take away some of the prerogatives enjoyed by the church. It must be thought on. If it pass against us, We lose the better half of our possession: For all the temporal lands which men devout By testament have given to the church Would they strip from us; being valued thus: Henry, as the new king, is symbol of the changing times. He is a warrior king, inspiring national patriotic feelings. He is eager to not only in his claim to the French throne and its invasion but also in protecting the sovereignty of his people against the threat posed by the Scots. We must not only arm to invade the French, But lay down our proportions to defend Against the Scot who will make road upon us With all advantages. And as Westmoreland reminds Henry (Luis 274); But there's a saying very old and true,' If that you will France win, Then with Scotland first begin:' For once the eagle England being in prey, To her unguarded nest the weasel Scot Comes sneaking and so sucks her princely eggs, Playing the mouse in absence of the cat, To tear and havoc more than she can eat. The prologue to the second act also shows the burgeoning sense of national identity that Henry has cultivated among his subjects and troops (Hunt 137). The chorus announces the wild enthusiasm and excitement over the upcoming war: Now all the youth of England are on fire, Apparently, the Englishmen have devoted their entire efforts towards the war; They sell the pasture now to buy the horse Henry is able to unify his subjects and troops through his actions. In the second act, he clearly prefers not to deal with the conspirators charged with treason- Cambridge, Scroop and Grey- in Machiavellian fashion. Henry prefers to obtain the loyalty of his subjects and troops not through being as feared like his father and predecessor but by being as loved, respected and seen as reasonable in equal measure (Hunt 137). Henry also imposes a strict code of conduct over his army which enables him to keep order among the troops. Bardolph, a remaining member of Falstaff’s Eastcheap gang is executed for his refusal to adhere to the army’s code of conduct by stealing from a church. According to the Boy, Bardolph is a petty criminal who has only joined the war enterprise for his own selfish interests. He mocks Henry V’s speech and disdain for the values he tries to instill in his troops before the siege of Harlefleur. Apparently, men like Bardolph and his friend Pistol were Henry’s preferred company in his days as a wayward prince. Pistol pleas with Fluellen, the Welsh captain, to intercede and save Bardolph’s life but the latter insists that Bardolph must be executed for his indiscipline and placing his selfish interests before the greater cause (Hunt 137). As Henry himself says of the code of conduct he has imposed on his army; We would have all such offenders so cut off: and we give express charge, that in our marches through the country, there be nothing compelled from the villages, nothing taken but paid for, none of the French upbraided or abused in disdainful language; for when lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the soonest winner. On the night before the battle of Agincourt, Henry walks among his troops to reassure them and give them morale for the battle ahead in the knowledge that they are outnumbered by the French. Henry also disguises himself in a cloak and mingles among his troops as in an endeavor to find out their opinions about him and whether they are dedicated to the cause (). In addition to his actions, Henry is also able to use his moving and epic speeches as a devise to rally and mobilize national unity and pride among his troops. Henry’s army is described as “a motley horde of English, Irish, Welsh and Scots” and national unity was used as a tactical instrument to sustain an expeditionary force necessary to achieve victory (Hattaway 9). Before the battle of Agincourt, Henry is able to motivate his troops to seek honor, kinship, and lasting memory through their shared participation in the battle in the famous and powerful speech of Saint Crispin’s day. Henry is able to inspire courage and an erotic longing of completeness among his men by appealing to their imagination to achieve a greatness that they would not be able to achieve as individuals (Hunt 138-140). Therefore, any performance of Henry V must capture and elicit the patriotism shown by Henry and his soldiers before and after their conquest of France. Performance Issues in Henry V Due to the limitations of Elizabethan theatre, Shakespeare intended to appeal to the audiences’ imagination to reconstruct the scenes of battle in Henry V through a chorus. In the prologue to the play, the chorus appeals to the audience to “Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts;” and imagine the epic battle scenes and “cram Within this wooden O the very casques That did affright the air at Agincourt”. Therefore, the chorus sets the imaginative stage through a prologue that precedes each act in the play (Royal 104-105). He acts as the commentator, setting the mood for the upcoming scenes in every act of the play. For instance, before the first act, the chorus serves Shakespeare’s intent of portraying Henry as a brave, epic, warlike and heroic figure unifying and marshalling the support of his people. Then should the warlike Harry, like himself, Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels, Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire. One of the prevailing debates in considering performances of Henry V has been from what angle should the play depict Henry’s character. Essentially, one can represent Henry from two fundamental perspectives; as a heroic figure apt in unifying his people, stirring national identity and inspiring the courage of his country leading them to their glorious destiny or as a cold, calculating and manipulative Machiavellian ruler who craftily justifies his quest for power using rhetoric by appealing to a sense of national identity (Hunt 138). Early stage productions of Henry V tended to project the former view of Henry with the choruses setting the stage for the depiction of a brave and heroic Henry. The first motion picture adaptation of Henry V by Laurence Olivier in 1944 also projected Henry from this angle (Donaldson 60). However, critics would point to the fact that Olivier’s 1944 film was a propaganda tool produced in the height of the Second World War to stir national sentiment and that it deliberately omitted parts of the original plot such as the treason plot in the second scene of the second act and Henry’s chilling threats against the people of Harlefleur in the third scene of the third act (Donaldson 62-64). In his 1989 film adaptation of Henry V, actor-director Kenneth Branagh sought to reproduce a darker, harsher and bloodier representation of Henry V. Branagh deliberately intended to make an anti war movie which he termed as a cynical interpretation of Shakespeare’s text (Donaldson 60). Branagh depicted Henry as a hero, but focused on his more on his vulnerability as a human being. Consequently, he paints a picture of Henry as a king who must resort to Machiavellian monstrosity for the greater good of his own country. The Henry portrayed in Branagh’s adaptation is left with little choice but to commit necessary evils such as the hanging of his former comrade Bardolph and the chilling threats he issues against Harlefleur. Branagh contextualizes Henry’s behaviour by throwing in flashbacks from other Shakespearean texts such as Henry IV and Richard II where Henry is the younger more erratic Prince Hal (Donaldson 64). However, both film adaptations of Henry V by Olivier and Branagh make significant alterations and omissions to Shakespeare’s original text. For instance, both the scenes where Henry orders the killing of the French prisoners are significantly omitted from both Branagh and Olivier’s version. Film critics have also termed their failure to effectively use the chorus as a mirror of the Christian King as a failure (Derek 105). The theatrical significance of the chorus is to act as a link between the audience and England’s historical past. As actor-directors, both Olivier and Branagh use the text of Henry V to fit their interpretations of the play. The distinctions between Olivier and Branagh’s screen adaptations of Henry V reflect the importance of the playwright or the directors’ vision in staging a production, performance or adaptation of the play. The performance angle is likely to be based on their interpretation and perception of Shakespeare’s text and the political context in which the production is being staged. For instance, Olivier’s production was meant to inspire nationalist sentiment among the British at the height of the Second World War as they faced a far more superior opponent much like Henry’s predicament in Henry V. Theatrical productions of Henry V have also deviated from following Shakespeare’s text to the letter or truncated some of the lines (Beauman 82-83). This includes replacing the chorus’ lines with a ballet or reassigning the lines to one of the characters in the play. According to critic Sally Beauman, key to a successful performance of Henry V (such as that of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, March 25 1975) in lies in the ability to convey the central themes of the play and exploring the wit, subtlety and irony intended by Shakespeare (Beauman 83). This notwithstanding, the omission or alteration of parts of the original text implies a deliberate attempt to either represent Henry as a patriotic hero or a Machiavellian prince. Conclusion The overarching themes in Shakespeare’s historical play Henry V are patriotism, courage, bravery and the sense of national identity that King Henry of England was able to inspire in his country. The issues of nation and nationalism are thus central to the understanding of Henry V. A close analysis of the text in the play highlights Benedict Anderson’s concept of the nation as an imagined community, limited and sovereign. Through various instances in the play, Henry is able to inspire patriotism and a sense of pride and belonging in his subjects and his army which eventually proves vital in his invasion of France. Through his actions and rhetoric (language faculty), Henry is able to unify his army behind the invasion of France and they defeat the French at the battle of Agincourt against all odds. There has been a variety of performance angles or various representations of the theme of nation and nationalism in Henry V. From one angle, Henry can be represented as an epic and heroic figure that is able to unify his country by instilling a sense of order, discipline and pride in his army. This is the perspective employed in Laurence Olivier’s 1944 motion picture adaptation of Henry V which coincidentally was produced at the height of the Second World War to inspire the British war effort. On the other hand, Henry can be portrayed as a cold, calculating Machiavellian ruler. Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 screen version of Henry V attempts to highlight this perspective by presenting Henry’s choices as necessary evils to achieve national unification. Different theatrical productions of Henry V have also had varying effects on their audiences. However, the most successful representation of Henry V is contingent on eliciting the themes intended by Shakespeare as opposed to a strict adherence to the text of the play. Therefore, a director or playwright should fit the text of their play into their own vision of the play. Works Cited Anderson, Benedict. Imagined communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. New York: Verso. 2006 Beauman, Sally. Henry reconsidered royal and Shakespearean. New York Magazine April 26, 1976, pp.81-84. Donaldson, Peter. Taking on Shakespeare: Kenneth Branagh’s “Henry V.” Shakespeare Quarterly Vol. 42, No. 1, Spring 1991, pp.60-71. Hatchuel, Sarah. “‘Into a thousand parts divide one man’: Dehumanised Metafiction and Fragmented Documentary in Peter Babakitis’ Henry V.” Screening Shakespeare in the Twenty-First Century. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and Ramona Wray. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2006. 146-162. Hattaway, Micheal. The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare’s history play. UK; Cambridge University Press. 2002, pp.20 -24. Hunt, Constance. The origins of National identity in Shakespeare’s Henry V. Perspectives on political science Vol 36, No. 3, Summer 2007, pp. 133-139. Luis, Jorge. History, Patriotism and Religion in William Shakespeare’s Henry V. Sederi 9 (1998). pp 270-284 Newey, Vincent & Thompson, Ann. Literature and nationalism. UK: Rowman & Littlefield. 1991, pp. 13-90. Rich, Allan. Hank Cinq and Hank sunk. New York Magazine May 10, 1976. p.76. Royal, Derek. Shakespeare’s Kingly mirror: Figuring the chorus in Oliver’s and Branagh’s Henry V. pp.104-109. Retrieved on June 9, 2011 from Shakespeare, William. The Life of Henry the Fifth. William Shakespeare: Complete Works. Ed. Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 207. 1026 1097. Print. Read More

In the opening scene of the first act, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely are contemplating the disruptive influence of legislations which would take away some of the prerogatives enjoyed by the church. It must be thought on. If it pass against us, We lose the better half of our possession: For all the temporal lands which men devout By testament have given to the church Would they strip from us; being valued thus: Henry, as the new king, is symbol of the changing times.

He is a warrior king, inspiring national patriotic feelings. He is eager to not only in his claim to the French throne and its invasion but also in protecting the sovereignty of his people against the threat posed by the Scots. We must not only arm to invade the French, But lay down our proportions to defend Against the Scot who will make road upon us With all advantages.

And as Westmoreland reminds Henry (Luis 274); But there's a saying very old and true,' If that you will France win, Then with Scotland first begin:' For once the eagle England being in prey, To her unguarded nest the weasel Scot Comes sneaking and so sucks her princely eggs, Playing the mouse in absence of the cat, To tear and havoc more than she can eat.

The prologue to the second act also shows the burgeoning sense of national identity that Henry has cultivated among his subjects and troops (Hunt 137). The chorus announces the wild enthusiasm and excitement over the upcoming war: Now all the youth of England are on fire, Apparently, the Englishmen have devoted their entire efforts towards the war; They sell the pasture now to buy the horse Henry is able to unify his subjects and troops through his actions. In the second act, he clearly prefers not to deal with the conspirators charged with treason- Cambridge, Scroop and Grey- in Machiavellian fashion.

Henry prefers to obtain the loyalty of his subjects and troops not through being as feared like his father and predecessor but by being as loved, respected and seen as reasonable in equal measure (Hunt 137). Henry also imposes a strict code of conduct over his army which enables him to keep order among the troops. Bardolph, a remaining member of Falstaff’s Eastcheap gang is executed for his refusal to adhere to the army’s code of conduct by stealing from a church. According to the Boy, Bardolph is a petty criminal who has only joined the war enterprise for his own selfish interests.

He mocks Henry V’s speech and disdain for the values he tries to instill in his troops before the siege of Harlefleur. Apparently, men like Bardolph and his friend Pistol were Henry’s preferred company in his days as a wayward prince. Pistol pleas with Fluellen, the Welsh captain, to intercede and save Bardolph’s life but the latter insists that Bardolph must be executed for his indiscipline and placing his selfish interests before the greater cause (Hunt 137).

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