The Histories

Comparison
In William Shakespeare's two histories, Henry V and Richard III; there is one great opposite through out the two plays. Henry V is a great hero and respected by all of his men meanwhile Richard is a lying, two faced man who slowly kills off all the people in his life. The differences come about in the speeches that Henry makes and the secrets that Richard keeps. King Henry wants to do the best he can for all his people but Richard just kills them all.

Henry V is considered to be a great hero who leads all his men to defeat France and be able to take his land and the throne. The way he does this is through his strong and powerful speeches to his men. Henry is a very positive person who has confidence and when he speaks to his men he raises their spirits. He is very open with the fact that he wants to take the thrown of France which through blood he rightfully should have. When he needs his troops the most and they are feeling out numbered and ready to fail he knows just the right things to say. He makes everyone feel like they are needed and more importantly that they are fighting for a very good cause. He shows them that they are all on the same level and he is a regular person just like them.

Richard does not have the same faith and compassion in people as Henry does. Henry speaks to everyone and tells them the way he is feeling but Richard does not let anyone know how he's really feeling. He is also considered to be two faced because of the way he acts in front of people but then turns around and says and does something else. Richard had the same plan of taking a throne but does it in a different way then Henry. His way of taking control is by killing people in the way of him becoming king. Richard did not deserve the crown and in the end after killing many people including his wife, he did not succeed.

In Shakespeare's two histories the speeches that Henry V gives and the secrets that Richard the III keeps are two drastic opposites. King Henry speaks with power and shows the strength he has when he talks to his people, Richard keeps everything a secret and when people are not looking he kills everyone who is in his way.

Commentary
The histories are a type of play that either come out with a hero or someone who tries to destroy everything and that is just what these two plays had, Richard being the "Bad guy" and Henry being the hero. In both of the plays there is someone that is striving to reach for something bigger and better then what they have. Without these two types of people there would be no plot line and there would be no reason for the plays. Both Henry and Richard were striving to take thrones and needed the help from others to help them succeed.

Both histories have two powerful men, one who gets what they wanted and one that loses his life in the end. One person is the perfect definition of a hero who leads his troops to victory and one is the opposite who tries to take matter into his own hands and dies in the end. Shakespeare uses his histories to show the two types of people there can be and the effect they have on others.

Personal Reflection
The two plays have two different people who I found very interesting. Richard the III was such a cruel man who only thought of himself and I was able to make so many connections to people in my life who think along the same lines. Richard was also very two faced like many people in the real world. Henry was clearly the complete opposite and a huge hero. The opposite main characters that Shakespeare has in his two plays makes it easy to see the different ways that the men went about trying to become king. Henry was brave and strong but Richard was nasty and hurt people to get what he wanted. It very similar to people in the real world. Some people strive hard to get what they want and through many challenges they will succeed, others try to take the easy way out and in the end they do not get what they want.

I was able to relate the two histories to real life and I think that Shakespeare made it very clear that he had two completely different people trying to reach the same goal but with only one succeeding.