We Are No Tyrant, But a Christian King
So sayeth King Henry the Fifth, lately Prince Hal.
Prince Hal was a wild youth, breaking laws and raising hell, and using his father's position as king to keep (mostly) out of trouble.
Remind you of anyone?
In order to continue their profiteering on the government nickel, his advisers encourage the anxious-to-prove-himself King to go to invade another country on some feeble pretext.
Remind you of anything?
The funny thing about Henry V is that if you look at it one way, it's a triumphalist account of military victory (the Olivier movie). If you look at it another way, it's the story of an immature and impulsive man playacting his way through a job that's somewhat beyond his capabilities (the Branaugh movie): the story of a man whose single greatest qualifications for the job are that: his dad had it before him and people like him because he seems like "one of the guys."
Either way you read it, though, the play is about the power of rhetoric. King Henry is adept at hitting all the hot buttons: God, country, manhood, brotherhood. Who wants to be against these things? But I don't think that anyone in the play, Henry and his advisors included, could really tell you what the justification for war is. For the weather or the battle of Agincourt.
Well, it's against the French - so maybe the reason speaks itself.
Cry God for England, Harry, and St. George.
We band of suckers.
Prince Hal was a wild youth, breaking laws and raising hell, and using his father's position as king to keep (mostly) out of trouble.
Remind you of anyone?
In order to continue their profiteering on the government nickel, his advisers encourage the anxious-to-prove-himself King to go to invade another country on some feeble pretext.
Remind you of anything?
The funny thing about Henry V is that if you look at it one way, it's a triumphalist account of military victory (the Olivier movie). If you look at it another way, it's the story of an immature and impulsive man playacting his way through a job that's somewhat beyond his capabilities (the Branaugh movie): the story of a man whose single greatest qualifications for the job are that: his dad had it before him and people like him because he seems like "one of the guys."
Either way you read it, though, the play is about the power of rhetoric. King Henry is adept at hitting all the hot buttons: God, country, manhood, brotherhood. Who wants to be against these things? But I don't think that anyone in the play, Henry and his advisors included, could really tell you what the justification for war is. For the weather or the battle of Agincourt.
Well, it's against the French - so maybe the reason speaks itself.
Cry God for England, Harry, and St. George.
We band of suckers.
posted by Feemus at
6:47 PM
2 Comments:
I've been waiting for someone (else) to apply that literary allusion for YEARS!
I can't believe that there has not been a rash of Hank 5 productions across Tree Hugger USA.
Of course there's that part of the story where Hank 5 gets as much done by clever rhetoric as he does with the sword. That and Ajincourt indicates that he was a decent military strategist. Ahem. Well... Nobody ever accused the bard of being Nostrodamus or anything.
SCOOTER: Promise me that when you are king that you will never hang a thief.
HANK: No, but you will. Don't mess with Texas!
By
Anonymous, at 9:33 AM
yeah - the whole "brilliant orator" is where the connection breaks down.
I thought the same thing - how come the left isn't all over this? Then, after I posted this, I googled: george bush prince hal.
I got about a million hits. I guess I'm not as clever as I thought. Again.
I once had a rash of Hank 5 productions. Boy, were they stumped down at the free clinic. That's because I don't live in Tree Hugger USA, I guess.
Now I'm thinking of starting up a '50s style rock band: Hank and the Rhetoricians.
By
Feemus, at 1:27 PM
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