Henry V Identity

Identity in The Life of King Henry V

Rosie Seidel

            In William Shakespeare’s play, The Life of King Henry the Fifth, it is interesting to see how plastic the idea of identity can become. Identity is molded within the play to fit a few different aspects of not only the king’s life, but also the lives of the people that surround him as he goes to and wins the war. Identity can be seen functioning differently in the continued use of disguise, the role of kingship, the difference between the English and the French, and between nobles and the common people.

            First and foremost, how identity plays a role in the life of King Henry V (no pun intended) is very important to examine when looking at this particular play. From its onset in the prologue, the king (we’ll call him Harry, from here on out) is predicted to take on another role other than his own self. It says that he will, “Assume the port of Mars” (Pro.6). Carrying over from the previous play that the king appeared in, in the role of prince, it is interesting to note that Harry continues to use disguise to his benefit in his own title work. As he did in his father’s story, Harry takes up an ambiguous identity because he sees that he can benefit from it. But, instead of laying low as a prince disguised as a thief to bide his time before he must assume his duties, this time Harry is taking on the role of a common man in order to garner information so that he may gain knowledge to better his own office.

The way that he goes about this and speaks so candidly with the men under him in order to gain their opinions on the right and wisdom of the king on this campaign and their own places in the grand scheme of things, Harry employs a disguise lower than his station which, in effect, is a breach of trust to his men. They don’t know of whom to they speak and to be certain, if they knew, there would be much code switching that occurred when addressing their monarch as opposed to addressing a man of maybe not their own station, but at least position.

            Therefore the role of kingship in this play, in terms of information and opinion on the battlefield and amongst his men, becomes problematic. Because he is not privy to such intimate information within the office of king, disguise becomes a necessary tool for Harry to use in hopes to better understand his own agency.

In the play, it the opposition between the English and the French can also be seen. The French viewed the English as barbarous, and that probably wasn’t an opinion proved wrong when the English invaded and conquered them.

Interestingly enough there are also different sects even amongst the camp of the English, which include parties like the Welsh. There is somewhat of a differentiating element between ‘true’ Englishmen and their Welsh companions. When asked, men are identified by their names and who they know, or are in relation to, in order to determine their status, even amongst equals on the battlefield as all men stand.

The differing play or casting off of the role of identity during war is fractured at the end of the war when France as been conquered. Noblemen and the common people who on the battlefield stood as a “band of brothers”, shift back to their divided ranks when the battle has been one. That difference is seen strongly when men are either named or remain nameless as they numbered dead. While identity seemed to stand for unity in wartime, afterwards it becomes a concept that is fluid and individualistic, and neither is it something that is absolutely concrete. Especially to serve Harry’s means, identity transforms as he so wills it. And maybe that says something about his office of royalty, as well.