39
Meaning to inflate even further Henry’s warlike ambitions, the Bishop of Ely
,
after Canterbury
had evoked the memory of his ancestors, puffs him up by saying:
Awake remembrance of these valiant dead
And with your puissant arm renew their feats:
You are their heir; you sit upon their throne;
The blood and courage that renowned them
Runs in your veins; and my thrice-puissant liege
Is in the very May-morn of his youth,
Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises. (1.2.115-121, emphases added)
Beyond the use of ‘thrice’ and ‘valiant’ (and besides the context), Ely’s reference to
Henry’s ‘puissant arm’
24
further supports the link between Henry and Pistol. In the
comic battle scene the Frenchman (not understanding Pistol’s policy) despairs, “Is it
impossible to escape the strength of your arm?” (4.4.16-17). Recall Henry’s boastful
vow to, with God’s help, guard the crown even against “the world’s whole strength (put)
into one giant arm” (2H4 4.5.43-4). Henry may be thrice-powerful,
25
largely on account
of men whom he has helped make thrice-valiant, but as Socrates tried to teach Alcibiades,
great power used without wisdom inevitably leads to great harm. It is Pistol’s policy that
garners the praise Henry is truly in search of: being thrice-worthy. Shakespeare, I submit,
is telling us that to be “worthy” of singular distinction
26
Henry should have worried less
about his personal “valour,” and more about the prudent execution of his office. Because
he lacked the wisdom to overcome or guard against his fault, he doomed himself to
failure.
Shakespeare instructs us further on the cause of Henry’s poorly conceived policy
when the boy finally tells the Frenchman that Pistol is willing to “show mercy.” In his
24
Though a French term, ‘puissant’ was commonly used in English at the time. It means strong, powerful, but
carries no connotation of authority, as ‘pouvoir’ does.
25
I suspect that Shakespeare means us to think of Plato’s tripartite soul when he uses ‘thrice’ as a prefix. This is
suggested by the tripartite description of England in the scene, and suggests that Henry and England are ruled
entirely by war.
26
This is, I believe, the import of changing “distinguished” into “worthy”. Changing the ceremonial title ‘knight’
to ‘one’ may merely reflect the boy’s contempt of Pistol, or more likely, refer to the self-sufficiency gained by
overcoming the need for honor.
Convention