Sorry, it was very late when this happend. I am using MS Word 2002. I am
going to cry and copy and paste what I am seeing and hope it helps. As for
the updates, I am not exactly sure on those, and what ones that I have.
Here is what I see when I look at my screen. Oh and the other thing I fogot
to mention is that the computer seems to still be reading as though the text
were there. If that helps...
⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪viewing
them. Thus, it is important to put these plays in their historical context
and it becomes essential to consider who
was⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪
Elizabeth with her Anglican Church and tyrannical rule. Shakespeare’s
audience, well aware of their own hierarchical and class
⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪엉엉엉쇉ì§ì§ì§ì‡…췉뷉막놵릵ê¦ê§…ê¦ê§…궹궥鶡궡ë¦ë¦™ê¶©
ᘆ ᘆ걨按 ᘆ桨ਵ ᘆ浨者 á˜†á™¨è £ ᘆꉨ ᘆã¨ì„¥ á˜†ê¹¨êˆ á˜†é™¨é°« ᘆ ᘆ♨㰫 ᘆã¨ë¬¦ ᘆꕨ㼧 ᘆ㱨Ἧ ᘆ楨✯ ᘌî’㔀脈⨾ ᘌï¨ê€™ã”€è„ˆâ¨¾
ᘌ��䘺㔀脈⨾ ᔒ��䘺ᘀ��䘺㔀脈⨾ á˜†ï‘¨î’ á˜†ëµ¨à¤® ᘆ륨��㰀related situations, would have also been
questioning their own oppressive limitations and freedoms as they viewed each
well thought out scene. In addition, they would have been familiar with much
of the, all be it veiled, biblical imagery and various scriptures which
pointed to the free choice of individual liberties over the oppressiveness of
monarchical and state rule that the great bard used in his artistry, such as
the scripture which states “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will
hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and dispose
the other†(Luke 16:13). Therefore, when King Henry V states in Act 4:1
“Every subject’s duty is the/ King’s; but every subject’s soul is his ownâ€
(176-178), they would have been very aware of the fact that one’s duty to the
King or State often usurps the possession and duty of one’s own soul. More
often than not, the soul, which is representative of the self and the
individual being, becomes so engrossed in servitude that they lose site of
themselves. They are unable to decipher between who they are as a subject
and who they are as an individual. Accordingly, they are no longer able to
grasp a hold of what is right and what is wrong because their souls have
become so entwined with
thei⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪t,
the soul, which is representative of the self and the individual being,
becomes so engrossed in servitude that they lose siteat Shakespeare was well
acquainted with the teachings of Christianity when he states “Christianity
does not hold a monopoly on the idea one must lose the world in order to win
a better world, but its expressions of that idea were plentifully available
to Shakespeare: ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth’ (the
Sermon on the Mount)…‘He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and
exalted them of low degree’ (Luke 1:52)†(1204). It is this last scripture
that Bevington notes which Shakespeare seems, in his infinite wisdom, to
incorporate the most through out his plays, especially those of Henry V and
Antony and Cleopatra. Coming from experience in dealing with tyrannical
rulers, such as Queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare wanted to see those of low
degree have an end to their suffering while those who have abused their
nobility and divine right, perhaps gain a little poetic justice. As Dr.
Ronald Shafer has pointed out in his hand out on “Philosophic Postulates in
Shakespeare’s King Lear,†“Grace intervenes only after one has confronted the
vast wretchedness and sinfulness (hubris, etc.) of his own fallen state,†(4)
or “state†as the case may be, especially in considering one’s own
citizenship duties to the state. It becomes clear that the state rewards only
on the works of its servitude thereby leaving no room for mercy or grace,
only the favor of works well completed, but where does that leave the soul
who relies on the mercies of grace for its salvation and its liberties. In
the end, one needs to confront what it means to be a citizen of that state
and what it means to be free to follow matters of the soul.
Thus, it is my argument that Shakespeare in his cast of characters stands
up for the side of the divine right of the individual human
s⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪엉엉엉쇉ì§ì§ì§ì‡…췉뷉막놵릵ê¦ê§…ê¦ê§…궹궥鶡궡ë¦ë¦™ê¶©
ᘆ ᘆ걨按 ᘆ桨ਵ ᘆ浨者 á˜†á™¨è £ ᘆꉨ ᘆã¨ì„¥ á˜†ê¹¨êˆ á˜†é™¨é°« ᘆ ᘆ♨㰫 ᘆã¨ë¬¦ ᘆꕨ㼧 ᘆ㱨Ἧ ᘆ楨✯ ᘌî’㔀脈⨾ ᘌï¨ê€™ã”€è„ˆâ¨¾
ᘌ��䘺㔀脈⨾ ᔒ��䘺ᘀ��䘺㔀脈⨾ á˜†ï‘¨î’ á˜†ëµ¨à¤® ᘆ륨��㰀that through these plays Shakespeare allows
the bees to leave the hive of forced servitude and debilitating oppression of
state and monarchical control and enables their own free will in choosing to
stop and inhale the liberating smell of the roses of their God given souls.
This liberation of the soul usually happens through a purging or
self-sacrifice but as Shakespeare, himself, might say, “a rose by any other
name, nay, would not smell as sweet as the smell of grace.â€
Bound to the Colony: Henry V and the Hive Mentality
As a result, the bee hive mentality which is so evident in Shakespeare’s
historic play of Henry V may be seen as a way to maintain control over the
state or kingdom as it was a way to ensure loyalty amongst its citizens.
However, this leaves out the possibility of being able to stay true to one’s
soul or one’s self when one is duty bound to the kingdom, like the drone bee
to the hive. In fact, Henry V, the king bee, is seen so much in control of
the situation that even his speech is said to drip with honey when Canterbury
states of Henry in Act 1.1 “And the mute wonder lurketh in men’s ears/ To
steal his sweet and honeyed sentences;/ So that the art and practice part of
life/ Must be mistress to this rhetoric†(lines 50-53). In other words,
insinuating, that it is through this honey sweet rhetorician that the
subjects in drone like state are succumbed to his will in order to maintain
the flow of the hive. Similarly, in this instance, Henry is compared to a
God-like state as this same language is seen in the scripture Psalms 119:103
“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.â€
Therefore, Shakespeare is once again invoking the Christian element of grace
and establishing a sort of paradox through the
characte⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪��ñˆƒ ��탔��퓜퓘쳤쓈룀죄죜좴쳤첰첰첰ꢬ탌꓌ꓜœ
á”��ë¬á˜€ï¿½ï¿½ë¬ã˜€è„ˆá˜†ï¿½ï¿½ë¬ ᘆ晨ムᘆï¨ê€™ ᘆ á˜†à¹¨è¥ á”䱨쨊ᘀ䱨쨊㘀脈ᘆ䱨쨊 ᘆà¨ä¸“ ᘆç¨á½ª ᘆè¨ã£ ᘆã¨ì„¥ ᘆä¨î‘² ᘆ陨鰫 ᘆë¨ì„‡ ᘆᅨê˜
á˜†ê¹¨êˆ á˜†ë¨á€¯ ᘆ롨혃 ᘆ륨剒 ᘆꉨ ᘆ♨㰫 á˜†á™¨è £ã´€d allusion of the Christian king.
However, at the same time, it might be said that Henry himself is a victim
of this hive mentality in the oppression of the kingdom/state in that he is
not allowed to be a mere man, a mere member of the human race due to his
kingship. He basically has to loose his own soul, his own position of self,
in order to fulfill the duty placed on him by the state. Henry, basically,
gives up his moral compass in this duty especially upon his decision to
attack or rather invade France. For example, the Duke of Exeter in Act
1.1.122-24 comments “Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth/ Do all
expect that you should rouse yourself/ As did the former lions of your
blood.†Thus, implying that it is the duty of a king to invade foreign
countries and take what is rightfully his, a stately duty. It is what was
expected of a king whether or not it went against what his own moral compass
was telling him. He was duty bound at this point and no longer in control of
his will. Henry in 1.1.302, 309-310 commands “For we have now no thought in
us but France/ …/ Therefore let every man now task his thought,/ That this
fair action may on foot be brought.†He has been taken over by the sweet
honey of the state and is lost in its buzzing.
Yet, it is Bishop Canterbury, in his own persuasive eloquence in Act
1.2.184 – 213, who reinforces the colony mindset in both his subjects and in
King Henry V, himself. He exemplifies this notion when he states
Therefore doth heaven divide/ The state of man in divers functions,/
Setting endeavor in continual motion,/ To which is fixed, as an aim or
butt,/ Obedience; for so work the honeybees,/ Creatures that by a rule in
nature teach/ The act of order to a peopled kingdom./ They have a king, and
officers of sorts,/ Where some, like magistrates, correct at home;/ Others,
like merchants, venture trade abroad;/ Others, like soldiers, armed in their
stings,/ Make boot upon the summer’s velvet buds,/ Which pillage they with
merry march bring home/ To the tent royal of their emperor,/ Who, busied in
his majesty, surveys/ The singing masons building roofs of gold,/ The civil
citizens kneading up the honey,/ The poor mechanic porters crowding in/
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate,/ The sad-eyed justice with his surly
hum/ Delivering o’er to executors pale/ The lazy yawning drone. I this
infer,/ That many things, having full reference/ To one consent, may work
contariously./ As many arrows loosed several ways/ Come to one mark,/ …/ End
in one purpose, and be all well borne/ Without defeat. Therefore to France,
my liege!â€
Thus, relating back to the scripture in Luke that states no man may serve
two masters, Canterbury also notes that heaven divides “The state of man in
diverse functions,†illustrating the fact that man is placed in a binary
situation where he must chose between his duty to the state and his own moral
duty. However, Canterbury, a religious force of the state, would have the
King believe that those duties were one in the same by continuing to describe
the kingdom as a bee colony or hive, noting that all the workers work
together for the whole hive and the one’s who ignore their duties of
obedience to the king or emperor, or handed over to the “sad-eyed justiceâ€
and are executed, insinuating that he did not want to see this happen to his
majesty, King Henry V. Therefore, Henry, once again, is reminded of his duty
to the state, to England and is incited to action against France where if he
would have been lead by his own moral compass, his soul; he might not have
been so inclined to do so. Instead of Henry listening to and serving
Providence, he is lead to believe that the buzzing of the state and its loyal
citizens are the only moral compass that he needs. Accordingly, Bevington
not⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪᫟
ᬓ á· á®… ᯳ á±’ Ი á²› ï£¼ï“¼ï£¼ï³°ï³¸ï³´ï³°ï³¸î³°î³°î³°ï£°ïƒ¼î£¼î£¤ï“ ï“ ï“ ï“ ï“ ï“ ï¿½ï¿½îƒ˜îƒ”îƒ´ï³´ï³ íƒ´ì³¸ïƒ¸ì³¸î“”ë»‚ëººëšºÂº ᘆ䥨缈 ᘆ祬 ᘆç¨î…® ᔒ艨๼ᘀ艨๼㔀脈⨾
á˜†î±¨åµ á˜†î¨ê¥ˆ ᘆå¨ä”¢ ᘆ襨打 ᘆï¨ê€™ ᘆé¨ï¿½ï¿½ ᘆ२ ᘆè¨ã£ ᘆὨ ᘆ楡 ᘆ ᘆë¨ì„‡ ᘆ��ë¬äœ€d becomes his own sense
of self wherein he is now possessed by the monarchy and lost to its all
encompassing debt of servitude to the state. Thus, if Henry fails to live up
to this ideal of works set forth by the state; he is sent off to be executed
in some way, shape or form and is denied that manner of grace that would
nourish his soul. Once again the soul is unable to rise above the fettered
limitations and is chained to the honor bound duty of the state or monarchy.
This imagery of the honey bees and the mentality of the hive are revisited
in Act 2.2.20-31 in a conversation that the king has with those who are
conspiring against him, the Earl of Cambridge and Sir Thomas Grey. It begins
with a statement of loyalty by the king which reinforces the hive mentality
of all for the king or none at all and establishes a precedent of what will
happen to those who go against the hive. He states “I doubt not that, since
we are well persuaded/ We carry not a heart with us from hence/ That grows
not in a fair consent with ours,/ Nor leave not one behind that doth not
wish/ Success and conquest to attend on us†(lines 20-24). Thus, it would
appear that as long as the subject remains obedient to the hive, wanting to
establish the order of the hive, and maintain its power and glory then all
will be included; however, dare to go against the flow of the honey and the
subject may find itself exiled from its golden graces. Again, this mentality
of the hive maintains the concept of a works based system of reward whereby
if a subject is following in the footsteps of the king, praising his every
move, following the strict order of dutiful obedience then he/she is given
all the graces of the king but receives nothing of the grace of Providence in
which they have the free will of the soul to live or think for themselves.
In fact, in response to the king, the Earl of Cambridge, points out to
Henry “Never was such a monarch better feared and loved/ Than is your
Majesty. There’s not, I think, a subject/ That sits in heart-grief and
uneasiness/ Under the sweet shade of your government†(25-28). In other
words, the subject is duty bound to the king and would not dare question his
guidance or judgment, following in blind subservience and staying in tune
with the buzz of the hive in order to receive the evanescent golden sweet
reward of the king’s good graces. In which case, they barter away their only
certainty in their life and that is their own true sense of self-hood for the
allusion of statehood supplied by the kingdom. Accordingly, it would appear
that Cambridge, in this case, is using the king’s sense of hive mentality and
dutiful obedience to disguise their attempts to break free from the hive in a
conspiracy attempt to sell of their king along with hopes of flattery
receiving some of that golden essence of pardon. Consequently, then, his
unrelenting doting serves a two fold purpose in both as someone who has been
caught with his hand in the honeycomb and as someone stuck in the pervasive
confines of servitude to the monarchy. However, it is Sir Thomas Grey who
tips his hat at their endeavors when he relates back to the metaphor of the
bee by noting “True. Those that were your father’s enemies/ Have steeped
their galls in honey, and do serve you/ With hearts create of duty and zealâ€
(29-31). Consequently, Grey is pointing out, in this case, that while they
did try to conspire against the king, they were unable to completely go
through with it because they were not completely liberated from the hive.
They were, as Grey comments, so “steeped†in honey that they wee stuck in the
“duty and zeal†of the monarchical hive mentality. Therefore, they were in a
double bind because not only were they caught by the king but they were
caught in something beyond their control, they were fettered in the
stickiness of the honey comb and bound by the chains of statehood.
Yet, on the other end of the spectrum of monarchical establishments rules
the King of France with a different perspective than that of the English
throne with its reputable mindset of the hive mentality. It is France that
takes up this modern notion of self by permitting the king to make his own
decisions and by showing his own will not to submit to this prevailing buzz
of colonization by the English notion of statehood. The Dauphin of France
comments on this submissive and oppressive rule of King Henry and his court
when he states in Act 2.3.71-74 “Good my sovereign,/ Take up the English
short, and let them know/ Of what a monarchy you are the head./ Self-love my
liege, is not so vile a sin/ As self-neglecting.†This statement by the
Dauphin to the King of France is very telling and very noting of
Shakespeare’s own sympathies because it enlightens the notion of the
liberation of self-hood and the soul, especially when he states that
“self-love†is not as sinful as complete abandonment of self-neglect in which
King Henry is guilty as charged.
This is what I am seeing when I look at my file. Thank-you so much for your
help. Anything at this point is appreciated, even figuring out what happened
and why because I don't want it to happen again. Thanks again!