Henry V free essay sample

# 8211 ; King Henry # 8217 ; s Darker Side Essay, Research Paper Benjamin W. Cheng Princeton University # 8216 ; 00 HENRY V # 8211 ; KING HENRY # 8217 ; S DARKER SIDE The original text of William Shakespeare # 8217 ; s Henry V seems to portray King Henry as a character excessively ideal to be realistic. Indeed, the chorus describes him as the # 8220 ; mirror of all Christian kings # 8221 ; whose actions epitomize justness and scruples ( Henry V, erectile dysfunction. John Russell Brown [ New York: Signet Classic, 1963 ] , 2.Cho.6 ) . Throughout the drama, Henry # 8217 ; s words and actions illustrate his many virtuousnesss, virtually promoting him in our eyes to the position of a saint. Despite the text # 8217 ; s suggestion that he is a symbol of virtuousness, nevertheless, evidently non everyone agrees with such an ideal image of the male monarch. For illustration, Kenneth Branagh, in his screen version of Henry V, illuminates the supporter in a wholly different visible radiation. As Branagh himself recalls, he wanted to research Henry # 8217 ; s darker side, and to convey his # 8220 ; qualities of self-contemplation, fright, uncertainty and anger. # 8221 ; Alternatively of reenforcing the male monarch # 8217 ; s image as a angelic figure, Branagh # 8217 ; s screenplay exposes him as a mere human vulnerable to feelings of insecurity, vindictiveness, and guilt. Using theatrical techniques such as flashbacks and baleful background music, Branagh depicts these darker and harsher qualities in our alleged # 8220 ; ideal # 8221 ; sovereign. About from the really beginning of the movie, we notice qualities in Henry really different from those we would anticipate after reading the drama. In the original text, we imagine him as a clement and merciful male monarch who is painstaking about forestalling inordinate # 8220 ; autumn of blood # 8221 ; ( 1.2.25 ) . Indeed, we see him in Act I Scene ii agonising over whether or non he may # 8220 ; with right and scruples # 8221 ; take over France ( 1.2.96 ) . Furthermore, Henry reveals a antipathy for unneeded bloodshed through his reluctance to pay an unfair war in which soldiers would # 8220 ; drop their blood in approbation # 8221 ; ( 1.2.19 ) . In Act II Scene two, Henry even impresses us with his munificence and clemency by let go ofing a adult male imprisoned for a minor discourtesy. He therefore gives us every ground to see him as an ideal sovereign. Despite the male monarch # 8217 ; s virtuous image in the text, nevertheless, Branagh # 8217 ; s screenplay portrays him as angry and vindictive, at times even bloodthirsty. In the first act of the movie, we see Henry be aftering his conquering of France to the concomitant of deep and baleful cello tones. In a sinister half-whisper, Henry reveals his purpose to # 8220 ; flex [ France ] to [ his ] awe, # 8221 ; or # 8220 ; interrupt it all to pieces # 8221 ; ( 1.2.224-225 ) . Gratuitous to state, such menacing words are most unusual for a # 8220 ; painstaking # 8221 ; king who dislikes bloodshed. Although these lines are in the original text, the accent placed on them by Henry # 8217 ; s tone of voice unveils a bloody-minded side to the king the text entirely does non propose. Later in that same scene, the male monarch farther reveals his rough nature by vowing to penalize France for dissing him. The manner Henry virtually spits out his description of the Gallic adult females who will be everlastingly # 8220 ; [ mocked ] out of their beloved hubbies [ and boies ] # 8221 ; suggests a vindictiveness we do non see in the text ( 1.2.285 ) . Similarly, in Act III Scene three, we learn of Henry # 8217 ; s choler and aggression merely because he screams ( instead than simply provinces ) his menaces of # 8220 ; heady slaying, spoil, and villainy # 8221 ; at an already submissive Governor of Harfleur ( 3.3.32 ) . Therefore, although the text may portray Henry as clement, merciful, and painstaking, Branagh # 8217 ; s moving decidedly undermines this ideal image of the male monarch. The screenplay exposes non merely Henry # 8217 ; s angry and vindictive temperament, but besides his insecurity and paranoia. Readers of the text may happen this surprising, for in the written drama, Henry appears to hold every ground to experience confident. Indeed, the text suggests that he is in fact confident that his invasion of France is merely, for he believes that God is back uping him in his cause. As Henry declares in Act II Scene two, God has # 8220 ; [ smoothed ] every hang-up # 8230 ; on our manner # 8221 ; ( 2.2.188 ) . Similarly, we assume the male monarch has great assurance in the trueness of his followings, for the drama freque ntly reminds us of the love his topics bear for him. Indeed, as the Earl of Westmoreland asserts, and many others echo, neer did any English male monarch have # 8220 ; nobles richer and more loyal topics # 8221 ; than Henry has ( 1.2.127 ) . Therefore, the text gives no indicant whatsoever that Henry is insecure. Despite this confident image, nevertheless, Branagh # 8217 ; s screenplay portrays Henry as a adult male consumed by paranoia. Contrary to our outlook, Branagh # 8217 ; s Henry doubts non merely the trueness of his followings, but even the justness of his ain actions. We foremost see this insecurity in Act II Scene two of the movie, after Henry exposes the three treasonists. Traping Scroop to the tabular array, Henry laments that after being betrayed like this, he will see even # 8220 ; the full-fraught adult male and best indued # 8221 ; with intuition ( 2.2.139 ) . As he says this, his eyes dart around the room, settling on Exeter, Bedford, and Westmoreland in bend. Branagh therefore suggests that the male monarch is so paranoid he trusts no 1, non even his ain relations. Furthermore, in Act IV Scene I of the movie, Henry reveals his uncertainties about whether or non his invasion of France is merely. Although he maintains that # 8220 ; his cause [ is ] merely and his wrangle honorable, # 8221 ; we notice his eyes nervously switching as he makes this claim ( 4.1.130 ) . These oculus motions, along with his slow diction and overdone vocal inflexions, suggest some uncertainty on Henry # 8217 ; s portion about what he himself proclaims. We see more of his uncertainty and paranoia subsequently in the scene, when he urgently prays for success in conflict, imploring God non to penalize him for his male parent # 8217 ; s offenses. Therefore, although the text portrays Henry as a confident swayer, Branagh # 8217 ; s movie refutes this image by exposing him as an insecure adult male, leery of his topics and fearful of how God will judge his actions. Branagh non merely conveys these feelings of insecurity, but besides attempts to nail their causes. As Henry # 8217 ; s prayer the dark before the conflict suggests, the beginning of his paranoia may really good be his guilt about his male parent # 8217 ; s trespass of the Crown. Another cause of Henry # 8217 ; s diffidences could be his feelings of shame and lower status over the many times his male parent had expressed letdown in him. Yet another possibility, one Branagh himself suggests, is that Henry # 8217 ; s frights reflect the guilt and isolation he suffers from holding rejected his tavern friends. In his screenplay, Branagh illuminates this last possibility through flashbacks. In one of them, shown during Falstaff # 8217 ; s decease, we see the old knight imploring Prince Hal neer to abandon him. His offended response to Hal # 8217 ; s # 8220 ; I cognize thee non, old adult male # 8221 ; suggests to us the guilt Henry suffers from holding # 8220 ; killed his [ friend s ] bosom # 8221 ; ( 2.1.91 ) . We see the male monarch # 8217 ; s trouble even more clearly in Act III Scene six of the movie, when Branagh inserts a flashback of Bardolph. In this flashback, Bardolph jestingly asks Hal non to hang stealers when he is king. The daze on his face when Henry orders his executing, along with the male monarch # 8217 ; s ain cryings upon seeing his friend dead, clearly exhibits the isolation Henry endures. Through these flashbacks, Branagh emphasizes how of import Falstaff and Bardolph one time were to Henry. He therefore efficaciously conveys a sense of guilt the text neer seems to propose. This hurting and isolation, along with the guilt his male parent # 8217 ; s offenses cause, may hold led Henry to his present feelings of insecurity. Kenneth Branagh # 8217 ; s portraiture of Henry as a mere human susceptible to feelings of vindictiveness, insecurity, and guilt can be interpreted in a figure of ways. His determination to depict Henry # 8217 ; s darker qualities alternatively of reenforcing his ideal-king image may merely reflect a desire to impart pragmatism and deepness to an otherwise unidimensional character. It is even possible, since the film was made at the terminal of the Cold War, that this harsh portraiture of Henry is a disapprobation of the imperialism widely condoned during Shakespeare # 8217 ; s clip. Regardless of why Branagh decided to rebut the prevalent perceptual experience of Henry, nevertheless, his movie decidedly illustrates how the same lines of text can be interpreted in wholly different ways.