Sex, Masculine Pride, and War in Henry V Essay -- Henry IV Henry V Ess

Sex, Masculine Pride, and War in Henry V Henry V, though reputed to be a crude, early item from Shakespeares tidy sumon, provides some(prenominal) interesting and mature discussions on morality and psychology. Far from being, as it were, pre-written by being an historical work, it is a testament to the bards skill that he can work so many ideas into a frame that has to take reckon of popular facts. Interpretation of the roleplay tends to revolve around issues of kingship, duplicity in Harrys self-presentation, or the consequences of warfare, but there is a glaring line of discussion present which has generally been missed the relationship of war to sex and masculine pride. One critic writes, War is a version of male lust. Hal neer grows up but works out ways to aggrandize himself by owning more and more property. Geography as ego. And... hes a rapist too (Landis 201). There are at least three significant relationships of pride, lust, and war which are brought out in the play and will be pointed to in the following. One is war as a response to insult and comprehend or suggested (sexual) inadequacy. One is war as the occasion of massive rapine. The opposite is war itself as a sort of metaphorical rape. These themes will be brought to light most clearly by attention to the most traditionally ignored passages of Henry V. Critics have often dismissed the comic scenes of the play as crowd-pleasing devices or filler, only casually related to the main accomplish (Becker 74). The filler theory can be dismissed outright given the length the play already enjoys. The scenes involving Pistol, Nym, and Bardolph, or Fluellen and Gower actually fit the play perfectly. As far as the plays themes go, these... ... of many of this plays lines. Works Cited Becker, George J. Shakespeares Histories. New York Frederick Ungar issue Co., 1977. Brennan, Anthony. Henry V. New York Twayne Publishers, 1992. Landis, Hoan Hutton. Another Penelope. W omens Re-Visions of Shakespeare. Ed. Marianne Novy. Chicago Univeristy of Illinois Press, 1990. 196-211. Shakespeare, William. Henry V. Ed. F. Marshall and Stanley Wood. capital of the United Kingdom George Gill & Sons, (year unknown between 1892 and 1936). Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Ed. John capital of Delaware Wilson. London Cambridge University Press, 1985. Wilcox, Lance. Katherine of France as Victim and Bride. Shakespeare Studies 27 (1985) 61-76. 11 i.e. the lily, the symbol of France, featured on its coat of arms. 22 Flower of the bed, i.e. the maiden Katherine.