Lemon v. Kurtzman

Rabkin starts his second chapter by summarizing that Shakespeare’s art includes a world whose principles are never in doubt, but it is never as simple as one expects. Henry V is another one of Shakespeare’s controversial plays. There have been many different ways of looking at the controversy, but Rabkin argues that they are all wrong. Rabkin states that “Shakespeare created a work whose ultimate power is precisely the fact that it points in two opposite directions” and ultimately, Shakespeare…

Shakespearean Structure (An Analysis of Shakespeare’s choice of structure in Henry V) There are many components of literature that add to its effectiveness. While one may think that literature is merely good or bad based on the plot and use of words that is not necessarily the case. Much of literature is based on the structure of the plot itself. While this can seem like a minute function of a powerful story, it actually lends itself to make the story so powerful. Without proper structure, some…

This week’s first lecture began by us watching a short clip of Richard the II that was performed by sir john Gilbert. Richard the II was the first play in Shakespeare’s second tetralogy, Henry IV is the second play in the sequence. We talked briefly about the plot of Richard II and how Bolivar became king Henry IV. We then talked about the beginning of Henry IV in which the king is being plotted against due to his apparent forgetting of debts due, and his son whom behaves in a non-royal manner…

dramatic irony, the monologue comprises of historical irony, given that every audience of the play knows the monologue does not describe the reign of Henry V, its real events dramatized in Shakespeare’s Henry…

Tamburlaine’s idea of nobility is seen as a matter of achievements against the incapacity of the born king Mycetes. His imposing conception of power and kingship is seen against the capacity for intriguing and practical politics of Cosroe. From this point on, the play shows Tamburlaine the conqueror, successful beyond the caprices of fortune and cruel. Not even Zenocrate’s tears will convince him not to kill the virgins of her native city and siege the town. But the beauty of Zenocrate in her…

Henry V was always going to be a bit of a deal breaker here. While the other plays in this series have all been previously adapted for television, Henry V has the double whammy of Olivier and Branagh’s on-screen precedents setting two very different benchmarks for all subsequent adaptations to try and match. The director can either meet the challenge head-on or change the rules and present a completely different beast altogether. And so The Hollow Crown came to a close with “The Tragedy of Henry…

Falstaff has been an audience favorite ever since the release of Henry IV Part I. This hyperbolical character lightens up the solemn undertone of this English History play with his humorous ways. At the final part of the play, his comical nature helps him gain the sympathy of all but Prince Harry, whom he shares a seemingly genuine friendship with. Shakespeare reveals the lack of sincerity in Hal and Falstaff’s friendship through two major literary devices: metaphor and meter, along with other…

In I Henry IV, Act 3. Scene 2, Henry compares Prince Hal’s behavior to his understanding of Richard’s. As Prince Hal has been misbehaving and not showing qualities of a royal, King Henry IV believes that Prince Hal is acting as Richard did when he was king. Obviously, Henry and Richard had a very bad relationship, I would still say that Henry constructed a precise description of Richard and has many reasons to confront Prince Hal about his actions. Henry has no respect for the actions of Richard…

He wants his soldiers to prove that they are worthy of fighting for him. He is saying that he would not want to die in the company of a man who fears to die with them. St Crispian’s day is also painted to be very important, and Shakespeare writes that ‘he who outlives this day, and comes safe home, will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d.’ So basically saying, whoever lives through this day and comes home safe and sound, can stand on tip toes, stand high, because they should be proud of…

Shakespeare’s seminal classic Henry V is the culmination of the Henriad tetralogy, and is an allusion to the aphorism that “the pen is mightier than the sword,” for despite being renowned as a warrior king in the Bard’s tale, King Henry fought his battles with the mettle of his rhetoric rather than the metal of his blade. This can be seen in the way in which he utilises orotund oratory to intimidate the citizens of Harfleur into surrendering, but perhaps his most monumental use of magniloquence…