Qualities of Henry V, King of England

Introduction

King Henry succeeded his father immediately after his death, which allows the son or daughters to assume the office. This was a hereditary type of leadership, which Henry V attained honorably from the late father. Henry V had a very strong personality full of vigor and power to influence people around him when he was performing his leadership duties. The king had an outstanding moral relationship, which demanded him to relate well with all people in the society equally (Shakespeare 567). The leadership qualities of Henry V are unique from other leaders’ ones since his leadership skills are integrated with intelligence, integrity, self-oriented and strong inspiration to those who work next to him. His rule ensures that the little available scarce resources are properly utilized and allocated well to maximize benefits, which result from those resources. Henry is very charismatic with the strong capability to interact with his subjects towards the achievement of his objectives (Mercer 231). He uses the resources in the office as an incentive to encourage his officers performing better, as he aimed to make his leadership successful. His inspiration skills helped him to perform better during the War of Agincourt even though there were many obstacles he met at that point. This made him attain heroic leadership when compared with other kings in the decade of his reign.

Henry V is demanded to demonstrate his leadership in a different way; that seemed to be very immoral if done by an ordinary man with the intention to be a recognized king. He had to betray his immediate friends and kill others to honor the law of his throne with the aim to reinforce and sustain his leadership (Mercer 69). The king played a key role in peace keeping when he killed some leaders on his land, who planned to kill him in order to overthrow his kingship, thereby interfering with the overall peace of the nation (Allmand 342-346). He could violate his peace-keeping role and wage war with others with the intention to achieve his goals which were to make the entire country stable and sustainable for all citizens. Therefore, the king had a strong responsibility to separate his likes, conscience, and desire to achieve this goal.

A True Christian

Shakespeare reveals the king as a strong Christian who believes in the word of God. He is portrayed as very merciful and endowed with a lot of wisdom from God. The king behaves like any ordinary man in the past, which makes him distinct from other kings of the land. Shakespeare used him as a symbol for all Christian leaders in the church and one who loves the church as a holy ground for the almighty God. His ideal Christianity helps him to gain respect and regard from the people who influence his subject to accept his actions since they honor him as a true religious king (Shakespeare 28) The Christianity values of love, wisdom, kindness, and faithfulness are demonstrated in soliloquy when they were ready for the War of Agincourt. The king is more concerned about the welfare of his country and his roles as a king but not about the things, which can enrich his personal interest. Therefore, his leadership is very outstanding as compared to the other kings in the land during that period.

Personal Speech

The king is fond of using humble speech when addressing to the public before and after he became King. He calls his solders “dear friends” to demonstrate to the public that he is equal to solders and motivate them to work extra hard in wars (Mercer 78). The humble language he operates on his solders expresses his inner self that he has for them. That made many people in the country appreciate him due to the friendly language that draws people next to him. His popularity also increases since he constantly includes the words, which touch good aspects of life originating from struggle for power and peace.

Individual Emotion and Feeling

Henry V was the king who commonly used the words like “I” and “we” which reveals his personal feelings towards others, but his emotions cannot be noticed since he has a strong mask covering them from the public. The mask was as a tool for defense to cover up his bad qualities from the solders but to expose only his achievements to his subjects. The king also had the power to talk and take in what the common citizen wanted. This was indicated when he passed off as a warrior in the fourth act, joining the conversation of the soldiers. Henry V was therefore a disguise king who could not be detected by the soldiers because he was the one who encouraged other soldiers in the camp to be more active in wars even if the weapons they had were less and inferior (Barker 67). The king’s determination and focus quality gave him the ability to influence the warriors to fight to the end although the number of French soldiers outnumbered the English ones. The morale of Henry V was motivated by his good and influential language, which could woo soldiers to fight tirelessly to the end of the war. The most important quality that the king had was his courageousness and amazing effort to motivate his men throughout the war session. He was the lord who made his own decision without involving any of his subjects whom he thought would mislead him in some of his roles as a king.

A Strong Politician

When his father was in exile, Henry V was allowed to be in charge of the office where his father kindly honored him. On the same period, during the Lancastrian Revolution, he was made to inherit his father’s throne; and within a time span of three years, he became in charge of the England soldiers. He therefore had an opportunity to engage in war with the force of Persya, which ended successfully for Henry V; and on the same period, the management of Wales was done in his authority where his potential of being a good king was shown (Knight 199). When his father’s state of health had aggravated, he fully entered into politics after he had actively participated in administrating Wales. In the same decade, he supported his uncles in administrating the Government having practical experience in the office governance. He then had a different opinion with his father in whom the international and national policies were to be handled when the king replaced the prince not to be part of the council but to take other roles in the government.

The political difference arose between his father and him because the Beauforts informed his father about the abduction of King Henry IV, and the prince was immediately defamed, which was strongly supported by their opponent in the government. Henry V had also a political conflict with the chief justice, as there was little authority to order for appointment of certain staffs in the government.

King Henry V was very charming and had strong power to woo many women around him in pretence to help him maintain and sustain his throne successfully. This ability to play the spart to women facilitated in making an alliance with French Princess Katherine and her immediate attendant to support her run his kingdom and win many battles with his soldiers (Barker 56). During the courtship, the king revealed himself as a very cold and calm king to the princess although he did not portray his true inner feelings to her. The kind of language, which composed of the word “I,” was just to please the talk with the princess and to hide his emotions, which could threaten Katherine when they were in courtship; and therefore, he could not discover his secret intention. The king had a wooing language which he used successfully to meet his planned destination; but his secretes could not be exposed to anybody, even to his immediate subject.

Shakespeare applies the qualities of King Henry to indicate the love he had for his country and was intended to inspire it to other fellow citizens when he portrays the great success of the king in Agincourt. The king’s success is also found when he created many scenes, which display patriotism in the lives of many ordinary men in England (Knight 98). The play of Shakespeare is served to develop essential information to the people of England with the aim of motivating them to work extra hard in order to achieve their goals effectively. Henry V is a good politician who fits in all seasons; his speech impresses everybody, and his inner feelings could not be revealed.

Conclusion

The king has a good relationship with all his subjects during his throne, which made it possible for easy administrating of his kingship. The Christian belief natured him to have very important virtues in his administration; and therefore, all his actions were valued and respected since there was a belief that they were inspired by God. His leadership treated everybody equal, and he valued the interest of his citizens since he could go to war to defend his people from foreigners. For the very many remarks, King Henry left a legacy, which everybody in the world would emulate for his dedication; wisdom and focus made him a victor in many endeavors.