The Hundred Years War was a conflict so immense that it inspired playwrights from for hundreds of years to come to tell the stories of the Men and Women of this time period. From William Shakespeare’s Henry V to Shaw’s Saint Joan we can see a comparison of the two lead protagonists and how they inspired people to follow them despite the differences in class ranks between King Henry and Joan of Arc, as well as which of the two was more effective. Henry V the king of England during part of the Hundred Years War and the main character of Shakespeare’s Henry V, is a man on a mission. He believes that he is the rightful King of France. To take control of France in the play he and his men must take a walled city. To do this he attempts to rally
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However even though the two come from very different worlds, just like Henry, Joan uses God in an attempt to inspire her King. This can be seen in Scene two of St Joan by George Bernard Shaw:
I tell thee that the land is thine to rule righteously and keep God's peace in, and not to pledge at the pawnshop as a drunken woman pledges her children's clothes. And I come from God to tell thee to kneel in the cathedral and solemnly give thy kingdom to Him for ever and ever, and become the greatest king in the world as His steward and His bailiff, His soldier and His servant. (28)
Just like Henry inspiring his troops, Joan too inspires her King. As with the English, France is very religious during this time and this is one of the reasons she is so successful during this time. Joan also uses ethical arguments with Charles just has Henry uses them his soldiers. One way she does this is by telling him he is not the lawful king of France until he has be crowned in the cathedral, “Thourt not lawful owner of thy own land of France till thou be consecrated,” (Shaw 2.28). By saying this she is trying to get Charles out into the real world so he can see he has something to fight for. In the end, while both Henry and Joan use similar strategies, it is Joan whose argument is strongest of the two. Henry is king he already has loyal troops fighting for him, and while the speech is good at riling them up, Joan manages to convince a king who wants nothing more than to hide and let his enemy win to give his army to a farm girl with little to no education in military
However even though the two come from very different worlds, just like Henry, Joan uses God in an attempt to inspire her King. This can be seen in Scene two of St Joan by George Bernard Shaw:
I tell thee that the land is thine to rule righteously and keep God's peace in, and not to pledge at the pawnshop as a drunken woman pledges her children's clothes. And I come from God to tell thee to kneel in the cathedral and solemnly give thy kingdom to Him for ever and ever, and become the greatest king in the world as His steward and His bailiff, His soldier and His servant. (28)
Just like Henry inspiring his troops, Joan too inspires her King. As with the English, France is very religious during this time and this is one of the reasons she is so successful during this time. Joan also uses ethical arguments with Charles just has Henry uses them his soldiers. One way she does this is by telling him he is not the lawful king of France until he has be crowned in the cathedral, “Thourt not lawful owner of thy own land of France till thou be consecrated,” (Shaw 2.28). By saying this she is trying to get Charles out into the real world so he can see he has something to fight for. In the end, while both Henry and Joan use similar strategies, it is Joan whose argument is strongest of the two. Henry is king he already has loyal troops fighting for him, and while the speech is good at riling them up, Joan manages to convince a king who wants nothing more than to hide and let his enemy win to give his army to a farm girl with little to no education in military