‘Be like a King, and show my sail of greatness.’
This is showing his virtue of being King, he has power and Shakespeare is making sure his audience know it. He follows on that line by saying:
‘When I do rouse in my throne of France.’
In this Shakespeare wants us to understand what Henry is capable of as being a King and showing that he realises it.
In this first speech Shakespeare also shows us Henrys ability of leadership, he repeats phrases such as ‘tell him’ and ‘tell the’ a number of times. Shakespeare is doing this to show us that as a leader Henry has the authority to be able to tell people what to do.
As this is the scene Shakespeare wants the audience to really get to know Henry he also shows his side of being a man, Henry says:
‘But this lies all within the will of God’
This tells us although Henry is a powerful King and is a good leader, at the end of the day he is just a man and he knows his power cannot change fate as he is only man but really it lies in Gods hands. Shakespeare may of put this in as the Elizabethan audience would have liked it and would of liked to join in with shouting at and cheering for the characters.
In the Traitors’ Speech, Shakespeare wants to show even more that Henry is only man. He has been betrayed by people he thought he could trust. He stays strong as people are trusting and looking up to him and he has the courage to punish these people who once was his friends, even though he is hurt inside. As a man he has the courage to do what is right. In this speech he shows all aspects of being king, leader and man but the one Shakespeare concentrates on is Henry as a man but as being a King and leader as well he has to make the decision of what is to be done with the traitors, this takes courage for Henry to make the write decision, as a man and a leader he does so. If he let them off he would be showing bad leadership and others would not respect him and Henry would lose control.
A speech which really shows the supremacy of Henrys leadership is the Siege of Harfleur speech. He opens the speech by calling them ‘dear friends’. This brings them closer together by saying that all of them there are friends and they not just soldiers. Also to build their confidence, in the speech he talks about them being English and having English blood. This makes his men feel flattered and proud, so immediately Henry has their support and their confidence boosted. As part of a being a leader you tell people what to do and how to do it so they are not making any mistakes, doing their best possible. Without shouting and moaning at them Henry builds them up ready to fight telling them what to do, ‘Then imitate the action of a tiger’ and ‘teach them how to war.’ All through the speech Henry is telling them what to do but Shakespeare does this in a way that Henry does not seem bossy just encouraging which gives a good impact on Henrys character.
Along with the Tennis Balls speech, the Agincourt speech is one that Shakespeare uses to his best advantage. He shows all aspects of Henry as a king, leader and a man. This is the speech before the big battle, Henrys men are tired and not at their best. Henry builds up their spirits. During his speech he does not think of himself higher then the rest of the men but brings himself to their level:
‘It yearns me not if men my garments; Such outward things dwell not in my desires.’
Here he strips away his royalty. Even though he is king he sees himself as like the other men.
Again as a good leader he brings up the confidence of his men and brings them to their best. He makes them feel heroic. He tells them that if they fight this day they will feel triumphant. He also says:
‘He which hath no stomach to this fight... We would not die in that mans company’
Here Henry would make anyone who didn’t want to fight feel that they were cowards if they weren’t, so this pushes them to do so and do their best.
As a man, in this speech Henry is being brave and courageous, like a proper man. He brings himself down to their level and encourages them to fight like proper men would.
In all the speeches Shakespeare is trying to make a dramatic impact on the audience regarding Henrys character. He uses words such as ‘royal’, ‘crown’, ‘lord’ and ‘throne’ to show Henrys supremacy of being King. To show Henrys power of a man, Shakespeare mostly shows his Henrys stamina and will power but also shows his real feelings, which gives a dramatic impact on the audience. Also to show Henrys ability of a leader, Shakespeare shows us the sovereignty of him as a leader. It shows us the way Henry gains his men’s confidence and trust by telling them what to do in a way that they trust, he does this by complementing them and making them feel like part of England, by saying England will be proud of you.
The full impact of the play is felt through Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter, the force of which is neatly felt through Henry’s main speeches and soliloquy. From the powerful metaphor of the game of tennis to the cleat intention felt ‘band of brothers’ at Agincourt, Shakespere depicts a king who is both a great leader and monarch whilst retaining a core of humanity, something which would have resonated with Elizabeth, her court and her people.
