Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and War
- The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and War
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Beyond Shallow and Silence
- 2 Just War Theory and Shakespeare
- 3 Shakespeare on Civil and Dynastic Wars
- 4 Foreign War
- 5 War and the Classical World
- 6 “The Question of These Wars”
- 7 Instrumentalizing Anger
- 8 War and Eros
- 9 Shakespeare’s Language and the Rhetoric of War
- 10 Staging Shakespeare’s Wars in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
- 11 Reading Shakespeare’s Wars on Film
- 12 Shakespeare and World War II
- 13 Henry V and the Pleasures of War
- 14 Macbeth and Trauma
- 15 Coriolanus and the Use of Power
- Index
- References
7 - Instrumentalizing Anger
Warfare and Disposition in the Henriad
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 August 2021
- The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and War
- The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and War
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Beyond Shallow and Silence
- 2 Just War Theory and Shakespeare
- 3 Shakespeare on Civil and Dynastic Wars
- 4 Foreign War
- 5 War and the Classical World
- 6 “The Question of These Wars”
- 7 Instrumentalizing Anger
- 8 War and Eros
- 9 Shakespeare’s Language and the Rhetoric of War
- 10 Staging Shakespeare’s Wars in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
- 11 Reading Shakespeare’s Wars on Film
- 12 Shakespeare and World War II
- 13 Henry V and the Pleasures of War
- 14 Macbeth and Trauma
- 15 Coriolanus and the Use of Power
- Index
- References
Summary
Shakespeare’s canon includes many military figures, but arguably none is more successful than Henry V. In the play, the key to success is shown to lie in the king’s ability to instrumentalize the vehement emotions necessary to wage war. Shakespeare presents anger in Aristotelian terms as a hierarchical emotion reserved for elite men tasked with military leadership. The king’s deft use of anger demonstrates his self-discipline from his decision to invade France until his overwhelming victory there. This self-discipline distinguishes him from the quarrelsome soldiers (like the choleric Fluellen) who serve under him. The efficacy of Henry’s anger becomes evident when juxtaposed with the contrast in 1 Henry IV between his father’s ineffectual coldness and the reckless tempestuousness of Hotspur. In Henry V, the cool performance of hot emotions makes Henry a modern man of wrath.
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- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and War , pp. 111 - 127Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021