Henry v

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 11th grade February 2008

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Henry V is a story of a young man taking the place of King and proving himself as a man. King Henry must not only take the throne but leave behind his fellows. Northrup Frye gives a classification of heros because within "literary fictions the plot consists of somebody doing something; the somebody, if an individual, is the hero, and the one thing he does or fails to do is what he can do, or could have done, on the level of the postulates made about him by the author and the consequent expectations. Fictions, therefore, may be classified, not morally, but by the hero's power of action which may be greater than ours, less, or roughly the same." (Theory of Modes, Northrup Frye) Northrup Frye describes the levels of heros and Henry V fills the high mimetic hero almost perfectly. A high mimetic hero is superior to other men but not to his environment.

He is a leader. "He has authority, passions, and powers of expression far greater than ours, but what he does is subject both to social criticism and to the order of nature." (Theory of Modes, Northrup Frye) King Henry has all of these. Henry is viewed by society as an pitiful King due to his background, that being his life of crime and loving prostitutes and his father taking the throne from the true King by killing him, but he proves himself by being able to bring together a nation and win a war without true training as king. The most prominent time in King Henry's ruling where is exhibits his abilities and experiences is during Act 3 Scene 1, lines 1-36.

Henry is rousing his men on the battlefield to strike once more upon the French. His men are weary of battle, and yet...