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Shakespeare's Henry V And The Alexandrian Allusion, Winona Howe

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The character of Henry V (in Shakespeare's play of the same name) has been a matter of debate among critics, some of whom accept the historical view of Henry as an extraordinarily able and heroic king, while others view him as an extremely unattractive personality, a spiritual hypocrite, and a conqueror of unmitigated cruelty. Cited as supporting evidence for this unflattering portrait is a passage in Act IV which consists of a conversation between two characters, Gower and Fluellen. In this conversation, Henry is compared to Alexander the Great or "the Pig" as Fluellen terms him.

Two critics, Ronald Berman …