From the moment Professor Berggren explained to us how Harry or should I say Henry V altered his behavior from vagabond to true royal model seemingly overnight I thought there was something odd about his personality only to be proven right. He takes on a different role depending on who is speaking to or the situation he is in.
He pretends to be merciful in Act 2 scene 2 when he finds out about the treachery of his officers. But he is shown as heartless in Act 4 scene 7 when he commits a war crime by ordering the war prisoners to death. He is brutal in his war speech in act 3 scene 1 yet inspiring in act 4 scene 1. He is harsh on the people of England when he speaks of them in private in act 4 scene1 but empathetic of them when he speaks to his cousin in act 4 scene 3. Then we have the smooth talking arguably deceitful Henry V in act 5 scene 2 as he tries to woo Katherine.
We only see a sliver of the real Henry V and how he is truly feeling when he is alone and does not have to put on a mask. I can’t say I don’t like what I see under the mask because I know we all wear them in our modern society. Henry V being faced with greater responsibilities has many more faces than we do. Shakespeare captures his different faces well among his emotions.
Perhaps this is what most successful politicians do. Does one lose one’s self in the process of recalibrating it as seems expedient?
I hope you are ok with me commenting on your posts. I just wanted to make a comment and see what your opinion was. First, I do agree with this post. There are definitely circumstances where we put on masks and even create different personalities to suit a situation; however, do you feel that this is unnecessary? Should we always be who we are, even when it is not what’s best for others? If you’d like to respond, feel free to on my blog http://smithmatt232.blogspot.com/, or you can read a little what I have written on this certain topic about pushing the envelope during war http://smithmatt232.blogspot.com/2011/10/this-is-war.html. Look forward to hearing your opinion.
Well, I think the choice of Henry to sport a multi-fauceted personality is a good one because he can see what people in his country talk and think about him on a personal, primary viewing account. I mean, what else would he do? Maybe king-life is quite boring, sitting on the throne all day hehe, so he goes out a bit to see what’s happening around him, among his country-folk and kingdom.
Also, just because he plays different characters to blend into different environments doesn’t mean there’re part of his primary personality – it was just a temporary ‘mask’ as mentioned here – for him to see the different sides of people in relevance of how they feel about him, because if he would greet them formally all the time accompanied by tons of armored soldiers, as most kings do, then the reactions would be mostly the same..
Just some ideas.. hehe
Oh.. also forgot to say that it makes the play very interesting so Mr. Shake deff. spruced and spiced up his personality to make him a more versatile ‘king.’
Thanks, over n out. =)