King Henry V: The Battle Of Agincourt

In Henry V, King Henry V’s rise to power during the fabled Battle of Agincourt is depicted. In the play, the audience witnesses Henry’s transformation from the childish and rebellious man he was in Henry IV to one of the finest kings of England. Henry V is fondly remembered as one of the greatest kings England ever had, and many of his contemporaries viewed his sudden and unexpected ascent out of immaturity as a sign that he was blessed by God. But in addition to the glowing and positive evaluations of King Henry, Henry V also explores the morally dubious aspects of his rule. Henry V revolves around the English invasion of France and the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and although there are many examples where Henry’s infallibility is questioned,

Henry manipulates both the French and the English throughout the speech by absolving himself of responsibility for whatever atrocities the English might commit. He absolves his soldiers of responsibility by saying that it is “the prince of fiends”, or Satan himself, who will be responsible for carrying out “all fell feats / Enlinked to waste and desolation” (3.4.16-18). Immediately afterwards, he rhetorically asks the French “What is’t to me, when you yourselves are cause” (3.4.19), showing that he views the French as directly responsible for bringing such a horrid fate upon themselves. This rejection of control over the actions of the English allows Henry to alleviate feelings of guilt amongst his men for carrying out such violent acts, since he releases them from responsibility over their actions. By shifting the control of the actions of the English from themselves to imperceptible forces such as those of Hell and the Devil, Henry builds an image of the English forces of Harfleur that appears terrifyingly mythical and legendary. Indeed, the descriptions Henry makes of himself and his men are reminiscent of different types of divine punishment: he implores the French to surrender “Whiles yet the cool and temperate wind of grace / O’erblows the filthy and contagious clouds / Of heady murder, spoil, and villany” (3.4.30-32), using imagery which is evocative of Biblical stories of pestilence, famine, and death; he tells the French that the mothers of their children will scream in grief and pain “as did the wives of Jewry / At Herod’s bloody-hunting slaughtermen” (3.4.40-41), an allusion to the Slaughter of the Innocents in the Bible. Henry carefully uses deceit, victim-blaming, and examples of threats that play off the anxieties of the townspeople (such as threats of rape towards the virgins of Harfleur that play off of the importance Medieval