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Effective Use Of Pathos In King Henry's Day Speech

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St. Crispin’s Day speech is effective because King Henry abuses his power to make the men feel regretful if they were not to fight, he uses the theme of honor to substantiate his argument as evidenced in the text by Shakespeare’s use of pathos. Honor means high respect. King Henry uses this theme to motivate his men to fight in the battle. Towards the beginning of his speech, King Henry says “He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d, And rouse him at the name of Crispian.” The point he is making is that if you choose to fight the battle, and survive, you will be greatly honored and respected for your fight during that battle. Also, even earlier in the speech, King Henry says “The fewer men, the greater share of honour.” By saying this he is showing the men that even though they seem to be outnumbered that is only another reason to fight because they will gain even more honor from the battle. This gives the men more will to fight. …show more content…

Pathos is an appeal to emotion, and is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response. One of the best examples is when King Henry says “He that shall live this day, and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, And say “To-morrow is Saint Crispian.” Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, And say “These wounds I had on Crispin's day.”. This is pathos because the men are thinking about the future when they are old. They will reminisce on the great battle that was St. Crispin’s Day. Another time when King Henry motivates his men through pathos and by using the thought of the future is when he says “...yet all shall be forgot, But he’ll remember, with advantages, What feats he did that day. Then shall our names, Familiar in his mouth as household words...” He is saying that even after your death people will remember your name and the day of St. Crispin when you courageously

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