Both authors of these extracts present differing attitudes towards the subject of war through each of their texts; Shakespeare in 'King Henry the Fifth', and Sassoon in 'The Hero'. This is supported by the manners

Bethany Weston

Basing your answer on Extract A, and either Extract B or Extract D, write a comparison of the ways the writers present the main characters.

How far do you agree with the views that the Shakespearean hero is presented in an idealised and glamorous way and that Sherriff’s Stanhope or Sassoon’s Jack is presented with brutal realism?

Possessing contrasting purposes behind their writing, both authors of these extracts present differing attitudes towards the subject of war through each of their texts; Shakespeare in ‘King Henry the Fifth’, and Sassoon in ‘The Hero’. This is supported by the manners, in which the central characters of their writing are conveyed.

Shakespeare was a 14th century poet/playwright, whose main intention and purpose behind his writing was to entertain his audiences. As such, he often avoided the depiction of brutal realities in his writing, and favoured a more idealised portrayal of events. This is clearly conveyed through the extract from his play, ‘King Henry the fifth’, as King Henry speaks of war with an unrealistic, romanticised view in order to motivate his soldiers on the eve of battle. Conversely, Siegfried Sassoon was a World War One Poet, who became embittered and extremely cynical about the war as his involvement in it continued. As a result of his cynicism towards the war, Sassoon composed poems with a purpose to bring home the harsh, unruly truth about what life was like for soldiers throughout the war. His cynicism was fuelled largely by his knowledge that people on the home front were being fed lies about the supposed gallantry earned by fighting in the war, without learning of the brutal reality of the conditions lived in by soldiers, or how they may die. This aspect of the romanticism of the deaths of soldiers is the facet focussed on in Sassoon’s ‘The Hero’, and his sardonic view towards this idealism is illustrated.

Through his play, Shakespeare presents Henry as an effective motivational speaker as he hyperbolises the ‘honour’ that will be attained by the soldiers for fighting in the forthcoming battle, using a number of literary techniques:

‘But if it be a sin to covet honour,

I am the most offending soul alive’

For instance, Henry speaks of how the soldiers ‘from this day to the ending of the world’ will be remembered honourably by others, because of the ‘feats’ done by them on the day of battle.

In opposition to this, through ‘The Hero’, Sassoon sardonically mocks the idea ...

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‘But if it be a sin to covet honour,

I am the most offending soul alive’

For instance, Henry speaks of how the soldiers ‘from this day to the ending of the world’ will be remembered honourably by others, because of the ‘feats’ done by them on the day of battle.

In opposition to this, through ‘The Hero’, Sassoon sardonically mocks the idea of honour being brought to those who ‘fell’ in the war, by drawing a direct contrast between ‘the gallant lies’ told to the family about the manner in which the main character ‘died’, and the brutal reality of his callous death. The main character, ‘Jack’, is therefore arguably presented in two ways through this poem; through the eyes of those who loved him and were ignorant to the reality of war, and from the perspective of those who lived with him and fought beside him throughout his time in the war.

A further technique employed by Shakespeare in Henry’s speech, is giving the soldiers pride in thinking they are on the same social level as the King;

‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother’.

A third technique utilised by Shakespeare is turning a negative point around, so that soldiers don’t fear it: Depicting his main character as having an immense faith in God, through Henry, Shakespeare idealises death, stating that ‘if we are mark’d to die, we are enow/ to do our country loss’, therefore communicating that if the soldiers die in battle, it is God’s will, and therefore they should not fear it. In Shakespeare’s time people were generally incredibly religious, and so using this method of speaking in order to motivate his men seems wise of Henry. The idealised image of dying for one’s country is easily presented by Shakespeare, having had no first hand experience of life at war himself. He therefore not only presents an optimistic view of war through Henry, but also Shakespeare’s own ignorant and therefore naïve view of War.

Whereas Shakespeare lacks first hand experience of war, and so is ignorant to the reality of it, Sassoon fought in the First World War, and consequently his words weigh heavily on the reader, as he speaks of the truth of Jack’s death. Through the thoughts of the ‘Brother Officer’, Sassoon conveys how the ‘dead soldier’ was perceived by those who he fought with. The reference to Jack as being a ‘useless swine’ impacts the reader, as it is thought of as a taboo subject to speak ill of the dead, and more so of those who died at war, defending our country. Sassoon speaks of ‘Jack’, through the officer, as man who irritated fellow soldiers with his efforts to ‘get sent home’. It’s also conveyed by Sassoon that the death of Jack came as a relief to those he fought and lived with, through the phrase, ‘at last, he died’. Sassoon subsequently, frankly states that Jack was ‘blown to bits’, and therefore provides a direct contrast to the words the family heard of his death:

Jack fell as he’d have wished’

therefore conveying his sardonic attitude towards the censorship and controlled ignorance of those at home.

With contrasting purposes behind their writing, it is expected that Sassoon and Shakespeare would present the idea of war with differing views. As his aim was to convey the brutal reality of war to those who previously had been fed lies about the honourable manners in which soldiers ‘fell’, Sassoon illustrates an extremely sardonic, cynical view of war and how it can be idealised. Thus, he presents ‘Jack’ as a man who is merely fulfilling his duty, fighting in the war yet lacking passion to do so, as he constantly tried ‘to get sent home’. Jack is illustrated as one of a thousand men who eventually dies a callous death, which none of those he fought with seem to regret. The only one who did ‘car’ it seems, was his mother, who knew nothing of the reality he faced. Shakespeare’s objective was to entertain his audiences however, and such led him to present an extremely contrasting view from that of Sassoon, romanticising the act of fighting for one’s country by hyperbolising the positive aspects, and evading the negative. Hence, Henry is presented as a patriotic man with the, seemingly naïve compared with Sassoon’s poem, idealised belief that fighting for one’s country is a ‘great honour’, and that ‘God’s will’ will serve them justly.