The extract starts with irony "We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant". Henry points the finger at the Dauphin in three occasions: "and his soul, shall stand sore charged for the wasteful vengeance, that shall fly with them"; "and some are yet ungotten and unborn, that shall have cause to curse the Dauphin's scorn"; "and tell the Dauphin, his jest will savour but of shallow wit, when thousands weep more than did laugh at it". As Henry had already determined to invade France before receiving the tennis, the Dauphin's undiplomatic joke can hardly be said to be the cause of war. The Dauphin’s gag gift of tennis balls which hinges on the ancient custom of sending a gift of treasure to a foreign ruler as a gesture of respect and friendship. On behalf of the Dauphin, the ambassador claims to present King Henry with a chest of treasure in exchange for Henry’s abandonment of his claim to parts of France. We have to mention here that Henry’s early claims in France were limited to a few smaller regions, instead of the whole country. But the Dauphin, who has heard stories about King Henry’s irresponsible teenage years, has sent tennis balls instead of anything valuable. The sarcastic spirit of this gift implies that the Dauphin considers the English king to be unworthy of an adult exchange.
The other theme, which is represented in the extract, is the king as an actor. Henry turns the Dauphin’s joke upside down, in his reply to the ambassador. First he gives his thanks, starting his speech in a deceptively mild manner. Moreover, he comment that “we are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us”. He then shows that he understands the Dauphin’s insult, commenting, “We understand the Dauphin well, - How he comes o’er us with our wilder days” that is, how the Dauphin is trying to embarrass Henry with references to his wild youth. Henry goes on to transform the game of tennis into a metaphor for a very real war, threatening, “When we have matched our rackets to these balls, - We will in France, by God’s grace, play a set - Shall strike his father’s crown into the hazard”. He declares, in other words, that the war will be like a game, the spoils of which will be the kingship of France. Another metaphor in "But I will rise there". He represents himself as the sun when it rises in the sky. Also "Hath turned his balls to gun stones" is a metaphor as he turns the tools of playing to tools of war and death. The theme of death and suffering is recurrent in the extract, as in "many thousands widows"; "mock out their dear husbands"; "when thousands weep more than did laugh at it".
Moreover, Henry charges the Dauphin with responsibility for the impending devastation of France. "tennis balls" are a symbolic insults and challenges the king. Henry implies that this devastation will serve as revenge for the Dauphin’s joke when he draws an imagery, that " This mock of his- Hath turned his balls to gun-stones, and his soul - Shall stand sore charged for the wasteful vengeance - That shall fly from them". That transfers the play to the theme of the omnipresence of death. Henry claims that the Dauphin’s mockery has provoked him to invade France, when, in fact, he has already decided on war before even admitting the French ambassadors. For the second time in this scene, Henry transfers responsibility for the deaths in the imminent war to someone else: first, he ascribes it to Canterbury, and now he ascribes it to the Dauphin. This strange avoidance of responsibility, combined with Henry’s willingness to accept Canterbury’s corrupt and self-interested maneuvering, are among the many subtle criticisms that Shakespeare injects into his portrayal of Henry as a heroic king. As the war proceeds, Henry assumes the dimensions of an epic hero, but Shakespeare occasionally implies that, beneath Henry’s heroic status, his ethical status is somewhat dubious.
The rhetoric of politics theme is represented in the extract. Henry succeeds in employing the rhetoric devices in this play, such as: emphasis, vocabulary, rhythm and imagery. The imagery is represented among Henry's claim "I will dazzle all the eyes of France"; "Hath turned his balls to gun stones"; "for many a thousand widows"; "mock mother from their sons". It is an image of his upcoming triumph. Moreover, it represents the self confidence. Throughout the extract there is a repetition of the word "mock". It is considered as a type of rhetoric to emphasis the king intendance to start the battle, and what destroy it will make in France, as a result of Dauphin's misjudgment. The use of "But" in "But tell the Dauphin…" is also given additional emphasis in the extract.
Henry is keen to justify his actions, specially the declaration and prosecution of war, by placing the responsibility on other shoulders. On the other side, he does his best to side step any glory, triumph or power are in the offing, by offering them all to God "We will in France, by God grace, play a set". Recurrent in this text he use the theme to avoid pride.
Piety was an important component in the mark up of an ideal monarch, and the character of Henry has it in abundance. In the play it takes two forms. The first is the king's frequent acknowledgement that all his plans are dependent on the approval of God. The second form of piety is the need to acknowledge God's favour of attributing them all to God. Both these can be explained in terms of a Christian tradition which emphasizes the helplessness of mortal humanity and the need to avoid the cardinal sin of pride (Shakespearian and Canon, P.50).
Although the English of Shakespeare is considered modern, it still varies from our contemporary idiom, presenting difficulties to readers and audience. Many words used by Shakespeare are not used today such as "o'er – 'tis – hath". The most important feature of Shakespeare's plays is the fact that they are largely composed of poetry, not prose. What distinguishes poetry most obviously from prose is that it is arranged in lines of a particular length, and these lines are given a rhythmic, or metrical pattern. This is what we notice in the extract that we are analyzing in this essay "We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us"; "His present, and you pains, we that you for." The particular form of poetry that Shakespeare used is known as 'blank verse', which is arranged in unrhymed iambic pentameters. This means that a perfectly regular iambic pentameter line will have five stressed syllables, or beats, with five unstressed syllables, making ten in all.
The themes which are represented in the extract, are recurrent in the whole play. In particular, the main theme: 'the search for justification'. Henry is justified by church: "My learned lord, we pray you to proceed, and justify and religiously unfold". He lays the responsibility squarely on the Archbishop: "For we will hear, note, and believe in heart; that what you speak is in your conscience washed; as pure as sin with baptism". The play moves to something much more explicit, among the theme of suffering and death: "some swearing, some crying for a surgeon; some upon their wives left poor behind them, some upon; the depth they owe, some upon their children rawly left". Henry defensive piety is presented throughout the play, specially, after the triumph of Agincourt: "O God, Thy arm was here!; And not to us, but thy arm alone; Ascribe we all; Take it, God; For it is none but Thine!".
In conclusion, we notice that Henry V is a play about kingship, political and moral burdens it brings. King Henry create an idealized self in the play. The play includes different variety of themes. Moreover, the metaphor and other rhetoric devices in Henry are particularly powerful.
The play "Henry V" is full of deals, proposed deals and negotiations of deals, most of which are to do with money or power, or both. This essay reveals the way themes important to the play as a whole are present in a particular extract. Moreover, it focus on Henry's use of rhetorical devices in this extract (including emphasis, vocabulary, rhythm, imagery).
Reference:
- Brooks, M. & others – Approaching Plays – (2004) The Open University.
- W.R.Owens and Lizabeth Goodman – Shakespeare and the Canon – (2004) The open university.
- www.william-shakespeare.info
