How Henry Fits In

King Henry fits with Aristotle's view of courage in that he made a decision to place his fear of defeat in the back of his mind. Even though Henry knew he could fail, he was determined to succeed and made success in battle his foremost thought. He was determined that he would not be defeated and thus he forced himself to be confident. This is Aristotle's view of a courageous man, that one must ignore one's fear, realize what one is afraid of and then refuse to give in because as Aristotle put it "to not have fear of something is foolish" . It would be foolish for Henry to have been so confident that he believed he couldn't be defeated he had a much smaller force and his men were tired and sick. However, Aristotle also said that the difference between a coward and a courageous man was that the courageous man didn't let his fear overtake him. Henry didn't allow his fear of defeat over take him instead he plunged ahead. He built up the spirit of his men, encouraging them to fight for their families, their heritage and their homeland. Aristotle's views of courage were portrayed in Henry as he faced and fought his fear of defeat and as Aristotle predicted when he said that when one will refuse to give into fear they will be victorious, Henry was indeed victorious. Because Shakespeare's view of courage is so close to what Aristotle had to say about courage we can concluded then that they had similar views. But do their views line up with Scripture? Read the Biblical Evaluation blow.

In the play Henry the V by William Shakespeare we read of a King who during his youth was reckless and unmindful of his duty. However at the death of his father and his succession to the throne he seems to undergo an immediate transformation into a strong and noble king. Henry shows a number of Biblical traits the first of which is his wisdom in seeking the council of elder states men when facing battle. This shows humility, Proverbs 29:13 says, “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.” In going to his advisors he shows himself to have a “lowly spirit” willing to listen to the wisdom of his elders and gain their advice. Proverbs 24:4-6 says “ “ A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength, for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers.” So here we see that this directly speaks to the fact that Henry showed wisdom in seeking advice. Proverbs 22:4 show us that “Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.” In the notes the I read there was a lot of discussion about what the “skeptics’ had to say regarding the way Henry treated former friends, people he “paled around” with before his “transformation” and before became King. I believe Henry was right in cutting ties with those so-called friends because they added nothing to enrich the ruling of England nor did they uplift Henry or encourage him. If anything I believe that if Henry had continued his friendship they might have only influenced him for the bad. Proverbs 24:22 says “Fear the Lord and the king, my son and do not join with the rebellious.” In my mind Henry’s former friends were rebellious and he acted Biblically by breaking all ties with them. There was also a lot of skepticism around the way Henry handled judging his former friends. He uncovered a plot that three friends had made against him and put them all to death, this is a Biblical principal as we see in Proverbs 20:26 “ A wise king winnows out the wicked he drives the threshing wheel over them” There were other insistences where Henry acted out of justice and was criticized, and example was when Bardolhp stole a communion plate from the church and Henry didn’t offer pardon. The argument was that did this act show Henry acting out of duty or did it show his “basic coldness or insensitivity” My answer to the criticism regarding the high morals Henry set for his solders by not allowing “Disdainful language” against the French citizenry which the author said was either “nobility or hypocrisy” as well as the arguments that by not being lenient to his friends who committed crimes was cold or insensitive is that Henry acted Biblically. Proverbs 24:23-25 says “ there are also sayings of the wise, To show partiality in judging is not good, whoever says to the guilty, “you are innocent” people will curse him and nations denounce him But it will go well with those who convict the guilty and rich blessing will come upon them.” Henry acted righteously on Biblical principals, not out of hatred or hypocrisy. Henry also exhibited self-control in the face of insolence, also a Biblical character quality. Proverbs 29:11 say “ a fool gives full vent to his anger but a wise man keeps himself under control.” I believe that Henry was indeed a good example of a King ruling in a Christ-like manner. This is not to say that he might not have done things exactly the way God would have him, no one is perfect and no one can attain the level of perfect ness and righteousness of God. However I believe Henry is a great example of turning from sin and letting God control your life!

So here we see that Shakespeare's view of courage which was portrayed by King Henry did line up with what the Bible said about being a wise , courageous king.

Next let's take a look at a popular classic Novel and see what it has to say about courage. Click here for a summary of Jane Eyre

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