Henry V Leadership Analysis

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Baby ducklings are young, and unaware of the environment that they live in- if left unchecked they could wander around aimlessly and place themselves into real danger. The mother duck is the leader of that group of ducklings that keeps order and provides safety to her hatchlings. If earning the title of “leader”, one must display wisdom, kinship, strength, and diplomacy in order to lead their subordinates successfully in war. In the play Henry V, Shakespeare portrays Henry’s growth through his disciplinary actions toward his old friends, leadership in the battlefield, and by abandoning his past as a childish prince; Shakespeare is illustrating that the role as king comes with the role as the leader, leading Henry to show his dominance by sentencing whoever committed a crime to death. This portrays that moving up in the hierarchical chain requires leadership which requires obtaining obedience from the people through a cause and effect motive. Henry displays the traits of a successful and effective leader by displaying his diplomacy, strength, wisdom, and kinship in the Battle of Agincourt.
The expression “brains vs. brawn” represents Henry since he’s able to use both; the wisdom he displays in the play represents the quality of an effective leader by not only using sheer force, but strategy. Kristin Benzio’s article “Personating Leadership: Shakespeare's Henry V and Performative Negotiation” reflects the role Henry portrays as a king that learns during his reign. The “paradoxical interpretation of Shakespeare’s most successful king” is based on how he behaved before with just brawn and to now analyze battle tactics when the odds are against him and his army (Benzio 2). The purpose of Benzio starting off with a “paradoxical interpre...

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...istakes of his past as prince. He shifted from a drinking delinquent who caused trouble and soiled the family name to a respectable king who kept his legacy until his son claimed the throne as an infant because Henry died at a young age.
Shakespeare displayed character development in Henry by giving him the throne of King in the play. The transition of a troublesome prince to a respectable King was obtained by Henry’s acceptance toward the responsibilities that he was given. Kinship toward his men, strict rule in the war, ability to learn the mistakes from his past and to grow from it- gave Henry the ability to rule in his reign and to portray his growth and development. Henry’s qualities of an effective leader is displayed in the battlefield and is caused by an epiphany, which allowed him to realize his position in the hierarchical chain after his father died.

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