Within Henry’s sentence there is a lot of rhythm and balance. One of the key words in his dialogue is ‘honour’ because in Elizabethan times honour was bound up with ideas of nobility and manliness. Henry has constant reference to the divine, to get permission for his actions, ‘God’s will.’ Additionally there is various uses of semantic fields, associated with religion, God, covet, honour and sin; all taken from the bible. Henry applies a very close relationship term, ‘cuz.’ Meaning his soldiers are in close contact with Henry. ‘Oh, do not wish one more!’ This is an exclamatory phrase. This injects emotion into his speech. The biggest fear to Henry is desertion of soldiers, he cleverly emphasises this point by offering free passage home for any man who wishes to leave, ‘Let him depart, his passport shall be made.’ This is a tactical approach in Henry’s speech, because any man who leaves will have great dishonour.
There becomes a strong turn around point in Henry’s speech because he introduces the word ‘death.’ This is a killer line. By saying honour is greater that death, Henry is mentioning that if no man dies with his king, he would not die for him, ‘ we would not die in that man’s company that fears his fellowship to die with us.’ Another change in direction occurs, this is when Henry will give a reward to any man who will fight besides him. Henry puts this into concrete terminology. This will create a vivid picture in the imaginations of the soldiers. This is an outstanding persuasive technique. Henry also encourages his soldiers to think of themselves as privileged to be present. They were about to make history.
Henry draws an image of giving his soldier’s fame and honour, since they will live longer than any man. He now comes back to the expression live, before he was referring to death. He even states that if a soldier dies he will still outlive this day, since his fame will last forever. Henry is basically offering his men immortality through fame. King Henry boosts morale in his men by giving them confidence of living pat the battle, ‘he that outlives this day and come safe home.’ Henry mentions that any ordinary men will be familiar with the war if they fight and succeed. He takes the time to tell his men that this is the feast of St ’ Crispian’s day and promises that those who survive will never forget it. On the anniversary they will be proud to show their wounds and tell the story of the battle. It will be passed down in history and they will be envied by those who were not present, ‘then strip his sleeve and show his scars.’
Henry uses exclusive vocabulary in his verbal communication like ‘few.’ This is because Henry can ingeniously make a virtue of small numbers to inspire confidence in his followers. Henry come back to the relationship language and uses a stronger word, ‘brother.’ He flatters them by calling then his brothers, ‘we few, we happy few, we band of brothers.’ They are blood related. He also means it literally. Any weakness is wiped out if you die with your king. Henry is ultimately offering his men elevation to royalty. Additionally the relationship between Henry and his nobles are friendly and caring. The last persuasive technique Henry exploits is the word ‘man hood,’ deliberately to suggest manliness could only be earned by achieving honour in battle.
In conclusion, there are various persuasive techniques brought into play by Henry. Henry uses inspiration in his speech. He can coin phrases that will designate in a mind. Many leaders use Henry’s attributes. Henry boosts a lot of morale in his speech and confidents. There is quite a lot of turn around and Henry never uses negative comments. Henry has close relationship with his men, by using a variety of strong terms. Henry’s lecture has reference to the superior being to give more assurance. Furthermore King Henry gives divine inspiration to many leaders now days.
