Special post on desire

Emily Lagarde

Vanrigh, Anny. Crunelle. "Henry V as a Royal Entry." SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 47.2 (2007): 355-77. Print


While undergoing a critical look at desire in Shakespeare the outcome from this semester's worth of reading and blogging has been a profoundly better understanding of the play's content. Taking a closer look at our last play, Henry V, I will examine Anny Crunelle-Vanrigh's writing, "Henry V as a Royal Entity," to tie together my last blog post on Henry playing that part of the much needed leader the English needed, while also serving as the scapegoat for all of England's problems.

"Henry V as a Royal Entity," goes into depth about the roles of England's kings and queens. Henry V fits into this category of being, "while impressing the power of the ruler of the crowds, the discourse of civic shows also emphasized the king's obligations to his subjects. The city engaged in a give-and-take relation with the sovereign, reaffirming its loyalty to his line of descent, while holding a mirror up to its magistrate" (358). This in depth look at the duties of the king/queen shows a much higher comprehension than the people seeing their ruler as a dictator or all powerful, all knowing being. Instead, this idea of a solid representation of England and its faults or strengths means there is one person behind it and therefore is the person for the people to stand behind or stab from behind.

Then there is the look at the role of the chorus, "the dramatic Chorus controls sight and and insight, inviting the audience to "behold" and "see," "[s]uppose," "think" and "work" [their] thoughts" (360). This shows how Shakespeare used the audience of his day in the Chorus to sway his audiences and make it more realistic and approachable.
Another function of "Henry V" was his use of blending old English identity with the modern Elizabethan era, "Harry's multivalent procession, both military triumph and royal entry, definitely appears to be modeled after Elizabeth's" (364).

Anny Crunelle-Vanrigh goes into depth about leadership and monarchy in England. She takes a close look at how Shakespeare mixed the roles of previous monarchs with present day in order to show the role and job of a monarch. His audience was well aware of England's history and Shakespeare's use of this as well as making it relevant was key in his history plays being so well received. Vanrigh uses textual evidence from Henry V and relates it to England's past. She has a well composed essay based on much fact and very little to interpretation.
 

I found this extremely interesting and a relevant article in order to relate this to my previous blog on desire of kingship. In reading a well written and factually strong that reiterates my understanding of general desire for a leader, I can get a firmer grasp on how this will relate to my final paper. I also am pleased that I am on the right track to deepening my approach and understanding to Shakespeare's history plays.

In a much larger scope, I think that the experience of blogging about one theme, one significant subject in Shakespeare's plays allow for greater appreciation of  the plays and what messages they are sending out or what implications they want to make about society. I never fully understood the importance of Shakespeare before this class but now-- getting past the gritty wording and such-- I am starting to understand the importance of the plays as the concrete source of society and expectations. By reading this essay, "Henry V as a Royal Entity," I realize that I am comprehending the subject matter of his play since I can understand what the author is saying and relate it back to my last blog post. I finally get Shakespeare!