Brackmann, Rebecca J

Terkla, Faculty Advisor, Dan

Digital Commons @ Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan UniversityDigital Commons @ IWUJohn Wesley Powell Student ResearchConference 1997, 8th Annual JWP ConferenceApr 12th, 11:00 AM - 11:15 AMHarry at Harfleur: Gender Roles and the Characterof the KingRebecca J. BrackmannIllinois Wesleyan UniversityDan Terkla, Faculty AdvisorIllinois Wesleyan UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprcThis Event is brought to you for free and open access by The Ames Library, the Andrew W. Mellon Center for Curricular and FacultyDevelopment, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the President. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Commons @ IWU bythe faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@iwu.edu.©Copyright is owned by the author of this document.Rebecca J. Brackmann and Dan Terkla, Faculty Advisor, "Harry at Harfleur: Gender Roles and the Character of the King"(April 12, 1997). John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference. Paper 10.http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprc/1997/oralpres/10Oral Presentation 1.3 HARRY AT HARFLEUR: GENDER ROLES AND THE CHARACTER OF THE KING Rebecca J. Brackmann and Dan Terkla*, Department of English, IWU The battle of Harfleur in Shakespeare's Henry V has long been considered an example of Henry V's misogynism and ruthlessness. In the paradigm of Henry V proposed by Norman Rabkin, Henry can be either an ideal Christian king or a brutal warlord at different moments in the play, and most critics put the king at the battle of Harfleur solidly into the second category. This paper explores in depth the gender roles in the battle, with the feminization of the city and the resulting rape metaphor, but also shows that Rabkin's model for the play as whole also applies to the battle of Harfleur. While Henry is definitely an aggressor in the battle, the scene also subverts its own reading of Henry by the time the battle ends , much as the play as a whole sets up different readings of King Henry at different times. 

Harry at Harfleur: Gender Roles and the Character of the King

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Harry at Harfleur: Gender Roles and the Character of the King

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