From Your Study of the Context of the Set Speeches, Demonstrate How Shakespeare Represents the Key Values and Beliefs Expected of Henry V as a King?

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Shakespeare demonstrates and represents the key values and beliefs expected of Henry V as a king through his use of passionate and powerful speech, coupled with Henry’s influential and righteous values. Through these, we are also shown a personal view of Henry, rather than having him distanced from the chorus and the common people. As such, we are able to view the qualities of a king that he possesses during both times of peace and times of war. “The mercy that was quick” is an extremely emotional and heartfelt rendition of Henry V’s values and qualities as a king, and shows that while he may be harsh and exacting with his punishments, he still holds a human quality of mercy and forgiveness. Henry V delivers this speech following the discovery of three traitors among the English nobility prior to their war with the French, these being Cambridge, Scroop and Grey. The betrayal of Scroop was particularly surprising hurtful as he was a very close friend of Henry’s; one of his old drinking buddies. Rather than delivering a generic speech reprimanding these men for their traitorous behaviour, Henry allows reflects his heartfelt emotions to pour into his words, revealing to us that Henry is not just some ideological leader at the top of an insignificant hierarchy; he is a human, just like the rest of us. This quality is very important within a good king, as the population they rule over will develop empathy for, and eventually, come to love their king. His emotion is primarily exhibited through his use of harsh, scathing language, as he describes these men as “dogs upon their masters”, and even his close friend Scroop, as an “Ingrateful, savage and inhuman creature!” The imagery in Henry’s allusion to dogs is exceptionally powerful, as dogs are often known as the most loyal of animals. To have them betray their master is almost unthinkable. As such, we can sympathize

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