King Henry's Speech
Through the new King Henry V’s speech to his brothers after their father’s death Shakespeare deals with the realities of succession, the difficult negotiation between governmental stability and a confused power struggle, and the death of a king while trying to keep his character true to their personality. This speech touches on everything from politeness and external observation, to the fear that naturally comes in a shift of power, to different kinds of mourning.
Hal, newly King Henry V, must take his place as king and reassure everyone of the continuing stability of the kingdom, demonstrate a proper degree of public mourning as both a subject and the son of the former king, and deal with his own grief. When he says “this new and gorgeous …show more content…
He reassures them of his intention to support them by bluntly telling them that he knows they fear what he may do, implying even that they might fear for their own lives, but that it “is the English, not the Turkish court, not Amurath an Amurath succeeds, but Harry Harry.” (Henry IV, Part 2, 5.2.47-49) He introduces and dispels the comparison between himself and a ruler who literally strangled his brothers, addressing the most extreme possibilities …show more content…
In the older version of the speech something’s that have changed is the grammar and spelling. Many of the words in the older text are spelled wrong either with different letters or extra letters added to the end. In total there are thirty one misspelled words with either different letters or extra addition of letters. Most of the different letters include an ‘f’ where an‘s’ should be in most words or the addition of an ‘e’ at the end of the word. There are also more parentheses around more words in the old text versus the new. In the newer version these words are part of the text rather than in parentheses where they could potentially be excluded depending on the preference of the actor or director. Although many of the words are misspelled the meaning between the older version and the regular text are extremely similar. The true meaning and the imagery and meaning of the words in the speech have not been affected by the different in the different versions of the
Hal, newly King Henry V, must take his place as king and reassure everyone of the continuing stability of the kingdom, demonstrate a proper degree of public mourning as both a subject and the son of the former king, and deal with his own grief. When he says “this new and gorgeous …show more content…
He reassures them of his intention to support them by bluntly telling them that he knows they fear what he may do, implying even that they might fear for their own lives, but that it “is the English, not the Turkish court, not Amurath an Amurath succeeds, but Harry Harry.” (Henry IV, Part 2, 5.2.47-49) He introduces and dispels the comparison between himself and a ruler who literally strangled his brothers, addressing the most extreme possibilities …show more content…
In the older version of the speech something’s that have changed is the grammar and spelling. Many of the words in the older text are spelled wrong either with different letters or extra letters added to the end. In total there are thirty one misspelled words with either different letters or extra addition of letters. Most of the different letters include an ‘f’ where an‘s’ should be in most words or the addition of an ‘e’ at the end of the word. There are also more parentheses around more words in the old text versus the new. In the newer version these words are part of the text rather than in parentheses where they could potentially be excluded depending on the preference of the actor or director. Although many of the words are misspelled the meaning between the older version and the regular text are extremely similar. The true meaning and the imagery and meaning of the words in the speech have not been affected by the different in the different versions of the