Henry V Abuse Of Power

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The objective of power itself is morally ambiguous. Power should not be given to just anyone; only those who are responsible, mature, and capable of handling such power deserve it. Power has a way of bringing out the best or worst in people. When Henry V acquired power he matured into a knowledgeable king who was responsible enough to handle such power. A prevalent theme in the play Henry V is that a good king must be ruthless. Henry Proves his moral ambiguity when he makes decisions like starting a war with France and punishing his friend Bardolph, and those decisions coincide with the theme that a good king must be ruthless. Initially, Henry seemed like a good person, who was responsible, intelligent, and a worthy king. He has a less than …show more content…

Dauphin made the perfect statement in a different context when referring to pegasus his majestic horse “When I bestride him, I soar” (Act III scene VII line 10) , bestride has many sometimes contradicting meanings. In Dauphins context he was talking about riding along with pegasus, but bestride can also mean tower over, and dominate. In that sense, this justifies Henry's logic when making decisions, when Henry dominates he ascends as a king. Henry was a young king so little issues may bring his authority into question if he does into handle them correctly. This was shown in Act III when Henry has to punish his friend Bardolph for Stealing from a conquered french town. This seems like a minor offense considering he stole an object from a town the English recently destroyed, but the punishment for this offense is death by hanging. Bardolph was recently received substantial torture before the actual punishment, and Fluellen asked the king if he knew Bardolph before his execution and Henry said “We should have all such offenders so cut off,” (Act III Scene VI line 90) Ironically Henry contradicts his own logic and the theme of the play when making a statement about “For when lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the soonest winner.” (Act III Scene VI line

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