Answer to the Warlike Harry quiz

March 6, 2008 By 4 Comments

Nobody seemed to know the answer to the hidden quiz about the Shakespeare allusions in my Warlike Harry post, so I’ll have to tell you the answer: Many of you caught that “warlike Harry” comes from HENRY V. But the great hero in that play was the irresponsible, party-hearty youth in HENRY IV, part I and part II. In those two plays, we see the reckless Prince Hal getting into trouble and embarrassing the kingdom with his bad-influence pal Falstaff. But then, when his father’s kingdom is threatened, Prince Hal pulls himself together, goes to war, and becomes a hero. When his father dies and Hal succeeds him as Henry V, the first thing he does is banish his friend Falstaff to remove his temptation. He has put away his youthful egotism, assumed his responsibilities, and become a grown-up.

In our world, Prince Harry has been fodder for the tabloids with his irresponsible behavior. But now the same media that luridly disapproved of his drinking and his girlfriends is now hailing him as a hero. This Prince Harry too–who poignantly says that the hardships and dangers of combat have enabled him to have be “normal”– may have grown up too. And, incidentally, he has raised the battered image of the royal family, possibly helping to save the throne.

(Notice how deeply Shakespeare peers into the human condition.)

Filed Under: Literature 4 Comments
About Gene Veith

Professor of Literature at Patrick Henry College, the Director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary, a columnist for World Magazine and TableTalk, and the author of 18 books on different facets of Christianity & Culture.

  • http://bestronginthegrace.blogspot.com Theresa K.

    I was unaware of the extent that people in the U.K. talk about the connection between the Prince Harry of old and the new. And the connection is turning bad now:

    “The renowned publicist Max Clifford told The Guardian he believed the deployment was a “total, superficial, PR exercise” aimed at “rebranding” Harry – who has a reputation as a wayward party animal – in a more positive light…And one columnist at the Mail on Sunday said the focus on Harry and criticism of foreign media for breaking a gentleman’s agreement was “sheer propaganda” that “may make us feel ‘our boys are winning’ in Afghanistan.”

    Instead of sensing a conspiracy theory, I would suggest that families, parents and even children themselves often turn to some sort of event to change the direction of a young person’s life. Isn’t that what we often call “boot camp”?

  • http://bestronginthegrace.blogspot.com Theresa K.

    I was unaware of the extent that people in the U.K. talk about the connection between the Prince Harry of old and the new. And the connection is turning bad now:

    “The renowned publicist Max Clifford told The Guardian he believed the deployment was a “total, superficial, PR exercise” aimed at “rebranding” Harry – who has a reputation as a wayward party animal – in a more positive light…And one columnist at the Mail on Sunday said the focus on Harry and criticism of foreign media for breaking a gentleman’s agreement was “sheer propaganda” that “may make us feel ‘our boys are winning’ in Afghanistan.”

    Instead of sensing a conspiracy theory, I would suggest that families, parents and even children themselves often turn to some sort of event to change the direction of a young person’s life. Isn’t that what we often call “boot camp”?

  • http://bestronginthegrace.blogspot.com Theresa K.

    News flash! Harry, the 23-year-old royal claimant to the disputed Throne of England, is being withdrawn from the dust-up at Agincourt and redeployed to the frontlines at Hastings amid public concerns for his safety.

    This move follows the collapse of the BBC media blackout yesterday after perfidious colonials at CNN leaked the news worldwide.

    There had been fears that the prince, who is third-in-line to the contested Throne of England, might actually survive the French onslaught at Agincourt, a famously one-sided battle. This would slow the complex pan-European machinations designed to restore the House of Stuart in the person of Franz, Duke of Bavaria and rightful King of England, Scotland and Ireland.

    Military experts spent the night poring over maps and dusty copies of Churchill’s History of the English-Speaking Peoples before deciding to withdraw Prince Harry from the Agincourt frontlines and redeploy him elsewhere…

    Read on: http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s1i31201

    (Seems to be the UK equivalent of The Onion?)

  • http://bestronginthegrace.blogspot.com Theresa K.

    News flash! Harry, the 23-year-old royal claimant to the disputed Throne of England, is being withdrawn from the dust-up at Agincourt and redeployed to the frontlines at Hastings amid public concerns for his safety.

    This move follows the collapse of the BBC media blackout yesterday after perfidious colonials at CNN leaked the news worldwide.

    There had been fears that the prince, who is third-in-line to the contested Throne of England, might actually survive the French onslaught at Agincourt, a famously one-sided battle. This would slow the complex pan-European machinations designed to restore the House of Stuart in the person of Franz, Duke of Bavaria and rightful King of England, Scotland and Ireland.

    Military experts spent the night poring over maps and dusty copies of Churchill’s History of the English-Speaking Peoples before deciding to withdraw Prince Harry from the Agincourt frontlines and redeploy him elsewhere…

    Read on: http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s1i31201

    (Seems to be the UK equivalent of The Onion?)