Explore How Shakespeare Presents the Character of Henry V to the Audience, with Particular Reference to His Language and His Effect on Other Characters.

Explore how Shakespeare presents the character of Henry V to the audience, with particular reference to his language and his effect on other characters.

Shakespeare’s character Henry is presented to the audience as an extraordinary character who possesses a great deal of intelligence and charisma that has only been briefly before in Henry IV. In Henry IV parts one and two the character was depicted as a wild, undisciplined young man who was known as “prince Hal”. However in Henry the fifth the character of Henry has became a mature man who is focused on a conquest of France.

One of the Henry’s most remarkable qualities is his resolve and forward mindedness. Once this new king sets his mind on accomplishing a goal he uses every single resource at his disposal to accomplish his goal. For example we can see this in act 2 scene 2 when he has to deal with the three traitors. He gives each of them a sheet on which they think will be praise for doing well for the king however Henry and Exeter know that what are actually written on the sheets are their death warrants for being traitors. The king then acts like he doesn’t know what’s on the sheets, He says, ‘what see you in those papers that you lose so many complexions? Look ye how they change! Their cheeks are paper. Why, what read you there that hath so cowarded and chased your blood out of appearance’. They then all kneel before the king and beg for his mercy. This shows us that the king sets his mind on punishing the traitors but it also shows us that Shakespeare wants the character to be a ruthless leader because he chooses to humiliate the traitors instead of them just being arrested. The character carefully presents himself to the audience and to the other characters as an unstoppable force to which others must carefully choose to react around him. The character uses this tactic to pressure his enemies into doing exactly what he wants them to. The character of Henry acts in ways that would be deplorable...