...The adaptation of Much Ado was Branagh’s second attempt at turning a Shakespearian classic into a box office phenomenon. Brannagh first adapted a Shakespearian play in 1989 with Henry V. “Branagh's "Henry V" emerges from the darkness with the rip and sputter of a struck match. It's a magnificent beginning and a startling metaphor -- an inspired equivalent for Shakespeare's "muse of fire" -- and the first stroke of brilliance in this audacious, resonant, passionate film” … Well that’s what Hal Hinson of the Washington Post thought anyway. Some might say that Brannagh therefore had a lot to live up to with Much Ado, his second Shakespeare adaptation. Do I think the film lived up to the expectations? Well I guess that depends upon your motives for watching, for fun? Or like me in an attempt to understand the complicating language and humour found within Much Ado, if the latter sigh no more students, Branagh’s film makes the understanding of Much Ado far easier. If you wanted a nice night in with a film, however, under no circumstance would I recommend this film, plagued with wooden acting, confusing, casting and more over a boring, predictable and somewhat unbelievable plot. Brannaghh’s decision to cast Denzel Washington as Don Pedro, the heroic, noble fighter is somewhat bewildering, considering traditional audiences’ connotations of a black man; however as a contemporary audience we are able to look beyond the colour of Don Pedro’s skin. I however was unable to look...
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...understanding of human nature and the human condition, the timelessness of his works, and hi exquisite mastery of the English language. The Renaissance (during which he wrote) was a particularly transformative time in English history, initiating a sense of English nationalism and pride in English as a language of art. Some critics continue to challenge his authenticity and relevance making the future of Shakespeare within the curriculum of both secondary school and higher education at stake. Shakespearean Literature still speaks to modernity and is therefore important in the schools. Humanism, mastery of the English language, English nationalism, and pride in English Language as an art is brought forth in works such as, As You Like It, King Henry V, and The Tragical History of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. Students need to learn these works in order to have a broadened understanding of the English Language, culture, and history. William Shakespeare has provided the world with guidelines to the English Language, an understanding of human nature, and the ability to deal with a wide variety of emotional situations through his performative literature. Students will continue to benefit from his works of art for centuries to come. Therefore, a 446-year-old playwright is our children’s best resource and greatest teacher. During the Renaissance, the English Language was undergoing a transformation. Many new words were being added. Shakespeare coined many of these new words and phrases,...
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...Tweedy ENGL 215-001 18 November 2014 Henry V Henry the fifth was a man of amazing character and a role model for both the young and old. Even though he went through a stage of rebellion in his early years by partying, drinking, and fooling around with women, once the throne was given to him, he owned up to his responsibilities and ended up becoming an amazing king that men and women of all ages still look up to today. As he grew up being heir to the throne, there was undoubtedly much pressure on him, but as one reads the book Henry V, written by William Shakespeare, they will see that once Henry inherited the crown, he proved to be a merciful king, a man of humility, and someone who gave all glory to God in everything he did. Henry was a merciful king. Throughout his reign, there were many times that he could have enacted his right as king and punished many a Englishmen who did not agree or come under his leadership, but Henry chose to show mercy when he did not have to. When Henry went through the camp on the eve of battle disguised as a regular soldier to find out what the men were thinking and feeling about the war, he came across men who did not show him the loyalty that he wanted in his soldiers, and he met men who did not view him in a good light, yet he did not do anything. Henry understood that many of the men were scared, that they felt the war was already won by the French because of the number of soldiers that they had. Henry had compassion on the men as he felt...
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...Twelfth Night Cast: Frances Barber, Christopher Ravenscroft, James Saxon, Abigail McKern, James Simmons, Anton Lesser, Caroline Langrishe, Richard Briers, Tim Barker, Christopher Hollis. Director: Kenneth Branagh Synopsis: Frances Barber starts the film as a woman who lost her brother (Christopher Hollis) and in an attempt to find money and a place to live without the inconvenience of her true identity, she uncovers herself in a man suit and prepares to work and live as a man. In this first version of the film, Branagh uses his intelligence to create a clever and funny film full of twists and mystery identities. Review: I recently saw Twelfth Night film version by Kenneth Branagh and honestly I can say I was very pleased by the outcome. It is really hard to transform one of Shakespeare’s best literary work into an interesting film version that keeps the true essence of the story and keeps you wondering and laughing at almost every scene. Shakespeare’s books were meant to be acted alive, to keep the audience intrigue by its cleverness, interesting and sometimes twisted scenes in which characters were involved in non so usual circumstances, and the fact that Kenneth managed himself to achieve that in a film version amazes me. This movie is filled with amazing actors who truly represent the characters in the book. First, Frances Barber gives a really good performance acting as Viola, a woman who lost her brother but was convinced he was still alive and Cesario...
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...A Speech of Propositions How can one man convince an outnumbered army to fight, when in the eye of certain death? This is what Henry V is able to do in William Shakespeare’s play Henry V. Before fighting a battle where the English are out numbered five to one against the French, Henry V gives a speech that convinces his men to fight and results in the English wining the battle. He is able to win the battle by using false premises that are appealing to his men, but in reality are false. Just to clarify, a false premise is an argument with an incorrect syllogism that makes the conclusion false. False premises are used very often and are very believable unless you dive deeper into the wording and meaning of the sentence which, most men during Henry the V’s rule wouldn’t do....
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...The movie "Henry V" was primarily talking about the story that King of England-Henry V led England won a great victory at the battle of Agincourt against France. The young Henry V was good at military strategies and tactics; he had the ability to encourage morale and he was loved and respected by subordinate. Henry V was encouraged by ministers and bishop to take back France, at the same time, he received an insulting gift from French Prince; he decided to start the battle. With great courage, Henry V led nobles and civilian people won their significant victory, and finally forced the King of France signed the peace treaty between England and France. The King of France agreed to let his daughter, Catherine, marry to Henry V with the condition that their son will be the future King of France. England had its great victory over this war, and Henry V made it happen. Henry V’s fantastic skills approach, credibility, and other leadership traits were perfectly captured in the difficult overall process of the war. Henry V gave many speeches in the movie, these speeches showed his wonderful skills of leadership. There was a scene of Henry talking to the city governor of France, he was assertively threaten the French governor of attacking the French citizens if he wouldn’t let English troops get inside the city; but he mentioned that if the governor open the city gate peacefully, they wouldn’t hurt French citizens. Henry V’s speech was just right for the occasion; firstly, he didn’t...
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...to understand the notion that we were required to see a couple of plays and then following the plays we had to write a “reflection” paper on them. While most students are not ever too elated for papers (including me most of the time), I actually looked forward to this greatly. I knew I would have to pay attention to and observe the beauties of theatre. I knew my attention would be grasped and that my observations would be broad and limitless, yet precise. My keen attentiveness to detail duplicated as I speculated the aspects of theatre, including plot, lighting, music, character interaction, audience, and many more. This past February 9th I purchased a ticket to see The Making of a King: Henry IV for that night at 7:30. A week later I purchased a ticket to see The Making of a King: Henry V for the same time. At roughly 2:00 PM on the 9th I pulled up to the Paul Green Theatre on Country Club Road. I looked at the gaping columns tower over me, which instantly reminded me of the Romans and their meticulous methods and ideals. As I walked into the building I was in shock to see the size of the building and the intricacy of the designs. This was going to be the first production I have ever seen here, so I did not know what to expect. I thought to myself that with such a beautiful, well-crafted building to perform in, the productions performed inside had to carry similar aptitude. After I paid for my ticket and walked back to my car, I started to become rather excited for the upcoming...
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...Shuai Shao ENGL2000 Text and Contexts Professor Furry 10/10/15 From Anarchy to Law—The Prince’s Motivation in Henry IV Part Two Henry IV Part Two depicts the last preparatory phase before Prince Hal’s ascension to the throne. Through the entire play, Shakespeare illustrates Hal’s journey to self-discovery, a process of maturation that is a prerequisite to becoming a successful ruler. Shakespeare complicates this course of development by giving Prince Hal a complex character. The young prince’s physical journey from the court to the tavern and back to the court again corresponds to his psychological process of self-retrospection. Nevertheless, as the heir to the throne, Prince Hal’s underlying motivation for appearing to transform from a reckless and irresponsible young man to a just and honorable ruler is clear. He is politically inclined and actively looking for opportunities to gain support. Even though Prince Hal is aware of the heavy burdens and responsibilities of a king, he is confident enough that he can effectively manipulate people’s expectations to perform well. Some readers believe that at the beginning of Henry IV Part One, Prince Hal reveals his evil nature and the desire to betray his lowlife friends by delivering the speech, “By so much shall I falsify men’s hopes, and like bright metal on a sullen ground, my reformation, glittering o’er my fault, shall show more goodly, and attract more eyes, than that which hath no foil to set it off” (1.2.217-221). However...
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...``Shakespeare Was Not OF An Age But For All Time`` I agree with the statement ``Shakespeare was not for an age but for all time. `` The words of praise probably the most famous ever written about Shakespeare , were penned by Shakespeare`s good friend and follow writer `Ben Johnson`. For the poet and playwright generally considered the greatest ever is also one of the least known of all literary figures. And his works were indeed created for the popular entertainment of his day with little thought to their immortality. Shakespeare did not take any steps to preserve his writings past their immediate use. (Fortunately his friends did.) With all the academic study of Shakespeare and the trappings of fine culture that have been wrapped around productions of his dramas over the centuries, we often forget what a rollicking, bawdy and entertaining spectacle his plays presented to their original audience — and still can to a modern audience, in the right hands. The timelessness of Shakespeare's themes continue to keep his plays fresh. He dramatized basic issues: love, marriage, familial relationships, gender roles, race, age, class, humor, illness, deception, betrayal, evil, revenge, murder, and death. The essential question that Shakespeare explored in his plays is, "what does it mean to be a human being?" The genius of Shakespeare is that he manged to show us ourselves in every conceivable light. It really doesn't matter when the plays were written since they are about the...
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...suit, we are offered a question: “Who needs a super hero?” Could this be a rhetorical question, disregarding the need for a super hero of sorts, or is it a genuine offer? Just as one can view this visual in two ways, one negative and one positive. So too Henry can be viewed in both a negative and positive light. On the one hand Henry can be seen as the "nimble-footed madcap," of his youth. His days spent in unsavoury places, interested in only the primal urges of drink, war, and women. However, on the other hand, one can praise how he left “his wildness” behind to become a true “Christian king”. He rid himself of “his companies... unlettered, rude and shallow,” and is now indeed a king, “full of grace and fair regard.” King Henry can be viewed as a power-hungry man, who will do anything to get to the top, even kill his friends. Alternatively one can see from how he punishes his traitors – Scroop, Grey and Cambridge, as a positive. It demonstrates how far Henry has come from his days spent in unsavoury places; he understands that sometimes, in order for a king to rule wisely, he must do so ruthlessly. Henry was faced with the decision of honouring his friends of the past or his rule of the future. It is easy to regard Henry as a crude tactician, and expedient ruler. A man who has the characteristics of a true Machiavellian leader and does not care about the safety of his citizens, but rather about how he can take the throne from the Dauphine. Then one can say that he is a politician...
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...In Henry IV Part 1, Shakespeare truly embodies the conflicts of friendships, which he does so in the relationship of Hal and Falstaff. Henry IV Part 1 by Shakespeare is a story about the king of England at the time, Henry IV, but mainly focuses on his son Hal, and his relationships all of his friends, but Falstaff in particular. Hal and Falstaff have a complex friendship, because it is hard to decipher if there is true loyalty, emotion, and lovingness between the two, but Falstaff seems to be truly invested and on the other hand Hal looks like he is in this relationship just for his own comedic benefit. Hal shows Falstaff little love throughout the play even when he thinks Falstaff is dead. During Act 1 Scene 2, when Falstaff wakes up in the bar asking Hal the time of day, instead of...
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...Regarding Henry Regarding Henry is a very great movie with many scenes including both the ID and superego. Although Henry had the life everyone thinks they want, He realized he had nothing everyone else had after he got shot. He began to understand that Love and affection is so much greater than fame, success and money. After figuring his life out again, he was able to handle things with a more level head. He realized what a selfish person he was and began to react differently to things. If every person was given the chance to look at their life from a different perspective, would everyone be able to see their faults like Henry was able to? The ID is very relevant in the beginning of the movie. Henry was beyond selfish. He always wanted the best thing for himself and was never affected by the sorrow of others or if he brought pain to another person. Because he was a lawyer, he learned to be very good at twisting the truth or just not saying the entire story. He was able to get a hospital out of a lawsuit for being able to confidently twist the truth. Everyone believed him because of his ability to not care about the opposing side and his confidence in his lies. Everything happened really fast after Henry left the house to get a cigarette....
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...William Shakespeare’s Henry V is based on the exploration of leadership. Although the film was difficult to follow at times, certain diction and actions of the characters made the film easier to follow. The diction and actions of King Henry V definitely showcased his abilities as a leader. Henry V focuses on leadership development by concentrating on succession, conflict and redemption. In the film, Henry V shows growth through stature and ability all while developing skills and credibility in the eyes of his followers. Because of this growth, Henry V comes to epitomize transformational leadership through his use of key qualities like vision and values, energy and a teachable point of view. It is through his use of vision and values, energy and a teachable point of view that his followers witness not only his growth as a leader, but also his attention to England’s well-being, unifying his realm and achieving organizational goals. When young King Henry V assumed the throne of his father, Henry IV, he was adamant on gaining the respect of the English people and the court. In order to gain this respect, Henry V had to live down his wild adolescent past in which he befriended drunkards and thieves and showed disrespect to the throne. As shown in the film, Henry V was willing to do whatever was necessary to disassociate himself with his adolescent past. If this meant rejecting his former drunkard and thieve friends, then Henry would do it. Even Henry, himself, killing one...
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...Adam Walkner Jacqui Cain, MA English 1B 9 May 2016 Henry V In Henry V, one of Shakespeare’s many famous plays, he follows the recently crowned Prince Hal and his endeavor of going to war with France. Henry makes a sudden transition from a common bar drunkard to a notably prosperous king. Henry, in his youth, would spend much of his time, in the bars, with the common man. “Prince Hal is a perplexing character: during his short life, we witness a cynical teenager with a fondness for hard-drinking, low company, and delinquent amusements become a spectacularly successful king and conquerer,” asserts Tim Spiekerman in “The making of A Politician: Shakespeare's Prince Hal at Work and Play.” Once Henry’s father had died, he began cleaning up...
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...In the historical play Henry V, by William Shakespeare, we are introduced to the story of a young and mysterious King Henry V of England, and his quest to conquer France under the reign of Charles VI of France. According to the History article (“Battle of Agincourt”), it details Henry’s life leading up to and following the Battle of Agincourt in the year 1415. From the very beginning, the Chorus portrays Henry as a glorious King who is about to engage in an epic and glorifying battle with the French. However, the Chorus then reveals that the play will not be as heroic and godly as initially envisioned. This is because there is a shortage in the resources necessary to depict this great spectacle, and it is instead the audience’s responsibility...
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