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A 3 page summary and article critique of Grace Tiffany's 1999 article "Shakespeare's Dionysian prince: Drama, politics and the 'Athenian' history play." In this article, the author presents a fascinating argument relative to the influences that aided Shakespeare in creating the character of Prince Hal/King Henry V in the various history plays that draw on the life of Henry V. No other sources cited.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khhalhen.rtf
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creating the character of Prince Hal/King Henry V. Tiffany asserts that Shakespeare drew upon multiple classical and Renaissance sources for his conception of this character. Citing Platos Symposium --and the
connections it makes between the Greek general Alcibiades with Dionysus, the god of wine and theatre--the author argues that Shakespeare conceived of Prince Hal/Henry V in these terms, as a
"Dionysian Alcibiades, trained in sophistry by his Silenic Socrates, Falstaff and able to dazzle his subjects with mystical rhetoric and to convert war to Dionysian play" (366). Examination of this
intriguing argument shows that Tiffany is persuasive tends to convince the reader that Shakespeare did drawn on the work of Plutarch, Plato, and Eramus in his conception of the historical
figure of Henry V. The connection between Shakespeares Hal/Henry V and various Dionysian sources is not original with Tiffany. She cites numerous critics as referring to the resemblance
between Bacchus (Dionysus) and Falstaff, which is particularly noteworthy in Erasmuss Praise of Folly (366). However, where Tiffanys analysis stands out is that she feels that it is not Falstaff
who represents the ancient Greek god, but Hal/Henry himself. It is "Prince Hal, ultimately King Henry V, who functions as the true Bacchus, or Dionysus, of the history plays" (366).
Rather Dionysus, Falstaff is his "Silenus, the fat, old drunken companion...(who) lends humor to Dionysian celebration" (367). According to Greek myth, it was Silenus who tutored the wine-god in
the gods youth and who later joined the Dionysian entourage (367). Tiffany discusses several instances in the plays that indicate parallels in purpose between Dionysian myth and the Henriad
(Shakespearean plays concerned with the life of Henry V). However, it is when she begins to draw distinct parallels between sources and Shakespeares characterization that her argument becomes truly persuasive.
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