Henry stresses that the men have a choice: they are free men and do not fight because they are compelled to do so:
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us (IV.3).
Even during Shakespeare's time, the idea of fighting for freedom was clearly a compelling rhetorical strategy. On the surface, fighting for a piece of land might not seem to be a noble quest when done purely for the purposes of enriching the crown. This is why Henry's speech is so perfectly analogous to a speech made by a CEO or another business leader: often, quite cynically, shareholders and employees will assume that decisions are made for personal profit, not to advance the common good. Although the actual cause might be dubious, Henry gives it a moral foundation. Just like in Pericles' funeral oration, which praised the Athenian people for their democracy as well as their valor, Henry gives the English troops a moral reason to fight the more aristocratic French.
Henry is also capable of using a 'personal touch' in his rhetoric that shows he cares about his men. Of course, Henry does not know the personal name of every single soldier in the English army, but he does his best to honor the names of those whom he does know: "Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester." He speaks of himself as "Harry" in a familiar sense and in the same breath as lower-born men.
These types of rhetorical flourishes are why Henry V, in contrast to his predecessors, was known for his astute emotional intelligence as a leader. Instead of holding himself above the common people, he was...
During the speech, he claps the men's shoulders, and makes human, tactile contact with the soldiers. Even though he is a king, everyone is part of the family of soldiers, and through nobility they can lift themselves to high birth: "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;/for he to-day that sheds his blood with me / Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,/This day shall
White Paper Timeless Tools for Leadership Development In Chapter 9 of Noel Tichy’s The Leadership Engine, the author describes leaders as protagonists in a drama. Dramatic characters from film and literature therefore serve as apt role models for future leaders interested in managing change and driving their organization towards success. The film Henry V, relatively faithful to the Shakespeare’s play, reveals the qualities of an effective leader through the titular hero. Based
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND WHAT DOES IT AIM TO STUDY? Inspired by Kurt Lewin (1951), social psychology adopted the experimental method to study human behavior (Wood & Kroger, 1998). In this regard, Wood and Kroger (1998) report that, "Lewin's experiments in leadership style (autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire) became classics in the new experimental social psychology" (p. 267). Lewins' early work was carried on by Festinger and others who explored cognitive dissonance for
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now