The film Henry V supports a number of different themes. One of the main themes is royal power. This is the main theme because this is what the film was all about. The film consisted of ruthless battles, arguments, and death just for power. Who had the right to rule? Henry was determined to rule the French throne and in the end, he technically didn’t. Henry thought he was the rightful ruler of the French throne because of his grandmother's family tree. So the theme of royal power is just because it is the foundation of this film. It is why men died on the battlefield, good friends were hung, and why a royal daughter was wed. To clarify things the battle was the battle of Agincourt, Bardolph was the good friend who got hung, and Catherine is the royal daughter who was wed. …show more content…
The theme of war stars in a big part of this film because the war battles played a big part on who would be the ruler of France’s throne. War portrays a wide range of the depth of this film. It shows the brutality of medieval warfare, how glory and honor justify the means of war, and how the common soldiers just wanted to make it home safely. The theme of war shows how traumatic the consequences can be for families and their families to come just for power. Bates: “Ay, or more than we should seek after; for we know enough, if we know we are the king's subjects. If his cause is wrong, our obedience to the king wipes the crime of it out of us”. Williams: “But if the cause be not good, the
As a king, Henry becomes known for being a man of resilience, strategy, and combat. These traits, according to Machiavelli, are necessary to become the “ideal king.” As stated by Machiavelli, “…a prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules.” (Machiavelli) This can be seen when the Dauphin presents Henry with a gift of tennis balls and an insulting speech practically telling him to stay out of grown men’s affairs. This gives Henry the leverage he needs to start a war with France without looking like the instigator. He can now put the blame of war on the Dauphin and the many lives of whom will be killed. Henry uses this to move toward his strength and show his full potential.
In Henry V, Shakespeare clearly shows that powerful speech and eloquent rhetoric is more effective in times of war than threat of sharp swords and numerous soldiers. King Henry V - the young and bright king of England - establishes himself as a devout leader to his country and his people. Throughout the story he demonstrates his ability to articulate in order to manipulate his audience, whether it be commoners, enemies, or friends. After an argument with the Dauphin of France over land claims, Henry gathers an army to invade French territory. Following a surprising march through the country against all odds, the king and his soldiers find themselves in a five to one battle, destined to fall defeated. The character of King Henry is exemplified
Henry had no intention of giving the nobles back power so another strength he had was that he was an all-powerful figure. Prof. Ronald Hutton says "he managed the nobility by honouring and flattering them". Henry went through Parliament to get reforms when he wanted them. By doing this he increased power of democracy as well as for himself. The early years of Henry's reign saw great rivalry amongst the noblemen to secure Henry's favour and to try to regain power, which Henry VII had taken away.
People gain power through acts of honor, effective leaders take action and help others on the other hand some lie to attain power and use it to benefit themselves and their cores. King Henry the fourth written by Shakespeare revolutionized the way in which play are written and presented through iambic pentameter allowing the play to consistently have ten syllables per line allowing the play to run smoother. A few good men directed by Rob Reiner in 1992 presents a story of injustice as Marines are wrongly accused of murder through lies and politics. Through each character we see how politics affect some aspect of their lives, through various false accusations truths begin to emerge causing great disruption to the hierarchy.
The second theme is the unromantic reality of war. Richie and most other soldiers enter the war with illusions about what the war will be like. Like most other civilians, he learned what war is from movies he watched and stories that he heard and they portray battles as heroic and glorious, the army being organized and efficient, and the warfare depending on skills and
It can be said that taking a stand against oppression was not worth the risk. One who is oppressed may believe that his life, or the life of his family, is not worth jeopardizing for the results of an unknown outcome. It may be seen as undeserving to fight for a battle that will necessitate many sacrifices until minute changes will be apparent. Opponents to King’s ideas may even say that although the long term results may be valuable, the immediate repercussions are so detrimental that they are not worth the sacrifice.
King Henry the V, a story of comadre and valor, a story in which resonates the might of the Saxons, the valiant french and the rewards for being loyal!
King Henry V, is one of the only successful monarchs in Shakespeare’s plays. He displays great strength and intelligence. King Henry V is capable of uniting all of his people in his St. Crispin’s Day speech as they prepare to go to battle. The troops were greatly outnumbered and believed they had no chance at winning. But King Henry makes them feel like they are part of something important, and by doing this he motivates them to fight their hardest.
Have any of you ever heard a rumour about yourself that you know is not true? How could this rumour have started? It was likely that someone else had told others something false about you, or shown certain information to give a certain perspective of you. You could say they have misrepresented you and manipulated others. The same happens all the time with other people as well as politics.
Henry V is a wise and loyal king, changing from a wild youth to a mature king. He is described to be an intelligent, thoughtful and an efficient statesman. He thinks carefully whether to invade France or not which represents his responsible character. King Henry gives a very strong speech which gave courage and confidence to his army that they could win the battle. This character describes him to be a king of great ability to fight and having good administrative skills. Throughout the play Henry’s nature is religious, merciful and compassionate.
King Henry V also touched on a subject very pertinent to many people of that time: God. In many instances, he places God before all else. In Act 1, scene 2, England receives a message from France in the form of tennis balls. This is when he decides to make war with France final. He tells his lords:
From the start of the play we hear of Henry's wild past however, as the play develops it becomes clear that Henry the 5th is not the delinquent that he used to be. He later makes it very clear that he will not tolerate any sort of foolishness, on the way to France there's an assassination conspiracy uncovered and it turns out an old friend of his is involved. They plead for mercy when brought before the king, yet the king shows no mercy and makes it clear he's not to be trifled with. They're all executed for treason. Later two more of his friends from his troubled past that failed to grow up are caught looting, he has them hung. This displays that Henry has matured greatly since his adolescence, he won't tolerate his men being a bunch of crooks and doing as they please. He has shown that he became the very system he had been robbing only a handful of years ago. It display a very impressive amount of growth in Henry, many people never grow up and become responsible individuals out of a restless adolescence ,yet Henry does so in a handful of years. A very interesting idea presented in Henry the Fifth is that Shakespeare seems to suggest that a ruthless Machiavellian style leader may be the best. The king claims a throne through a technicality that would remove him if it applied to him in England. Additionally, he ruthlessly dispatches any traitors or men within his ranks that can't follow procedure. Additionally, Henry disguises himself amongst his soldiers later in the play to find out what they thought of the situation. This also proves that he's willing to deceive anyone to help him in his goal. The entire invasion of France is an end justifies the means situation. His people have been torn by war for years now, but he drags them into another war to fuel his
Henry V and Saint Joan are popular plays that are focused around the same time period. The main characters, King Henry and Joan of Arc, are both leaders in battle for the 100 years war between England and France in these productions. The play King Henry V focuses on the the English King and how he dealt with the war. It expresses ideas of King Henry that are empowering and strong-willed. He motivates his men using his high class position to enter the war and keep them full of hope and confidence throughout the battles.
When an individual is situated in a position of power, their actions are determined by their present company. In this way, an individual may act in conflicting ways in order to please their present audience and thus are removed from the power they are deemed to possess. The pivotal characters in William Shakespeare 's King Henry IV Part 1 successfully portray the conflicting nature of power throughout the play and ultimately comment on how aspects of politics are subject to the opinions of spectators. Politics is defined as the process of making decisions applying to all members of each group, involving a variety of groups resulting in the nature of politics changing depending on the participants. The conflict between Prince Hal and King
William Shakespeare wrote his histories focusing on an individual historical character and how they interact with their community as well as how it affect them or how they affected it. In Richard III, the titular character ambition is to become a true king, but being the youngest of three brothers (who have male sons as well) his chances are very slim so he ascends into the throne by deceit and murder. In Henry V, the titular character agrees to go to war to extend his influence onto France over a confusing reason by clergymen. Shakespeare, through both of the monarchs of these plays, explores Machiavellian politics and what it means to be live by these principles. Although both Richard the Third and Henry the Fifth are Machiavellians by having the ability to be a constant actor and doing whatever it takes to remain in power, but by having Henry succeed in the end shows how superior of a Machiavellian he was because he had a concrete goal in mind throughout Henry V.