Empowerment - Aaron's Essay

If you find yourself stuck about what a good essay needs to look like, read Aaron's below:

Through a variety of techniques both Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’ and Jack Davis’ ‘The Dreamers’, both employ ideas of empowerment and disempowerment in relation to life. Shakespeare’s main focus towards positive connotations provokes feelings of empowerment, not just toward himself but also toward his fellow ‘court men’. While Jack Davis’ focus point is towards the disempowerment of an Australian aboriginal elder in a modernised world. Although both these two diverge in empowerment and disempowerment they both share strong ideas of disempowerment.

Composers display traits of empowerment towards characters, by constructing comments about life.

Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’ demonstrates and explores notions of empowerment, in King Henry V’s “St Crispian’s Day” speech. Shakespeare uses powerful clever reflective language in, “The fewer men, the greater share of honor”, although it would seem the fewer men the greater chance of slaughter. Henry presents a powerful speech, which causes each man to think about the great honor that they would share if they were victorious effectively empowering them. Shakespeare also displays sympathetic language in, “he which hath no stomach to this fight, / Let him depart; his passport shall be made/ And crowns for convoy put into his purse:”, characterising Henry’s positive empowered stature.

In another one of Henry’s speeches “Once more unto the breach”, Shakespeare uses inclusive language and repetition in “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;”, placing emphasis on the close bonded relationship Henry has tried to form in order the empower the men and raise their self-esteem. He uses anthropomorphism in “Then imitate the action of the tiger”, depicting the men descending into their monster blood thirst war mode. The use of facial imagery in “set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide”, furthermore highlights Henry turning the men into killing machines as he proper’s them for a slaughtering battle. Shakespeare also incorporates a patriotic tone, “On, on, you noblest English”, elucidating Henry’s encouragement throughout his speech and the repetition of the ‘on’ inspires them to fight, whereas the ‘noblest English’ creates a sense of equality. Henry brings their mothers into the argument in, “Dishonor not your mothers”, these very words are frightening to here and is another key factor in the empowerment of the soldiers before the try to defeat the French in odds 5 to 1.

Though separated by distant time both playwrights’ works share the common theme of disempowerment.

Worru considered the main character in the play ‘The Dreamers’ is constantly confronted by disempowerment. He was once a respected leader of a tribe and through the settlement on the ‘white people’ he ultimately disempowered. Jack Davis the playwright of ‘The Dreamers’ near the start of the play writes, “The men lead, carrying weapons”, which illustrates these men as the leaders with power. As Worru thinks back into his past he apart from be reminder of the present disempowerment he is reminded by the past empowerment. Jack uses reflective tone in, “are now old and live in suburbia and my longing is an echo, a re-occurring dream”, empasising the loss of power and anachronism. Robert another key character is portrayed as a man who has left the old ways that Worru still believes in and has joined the ‘white people’. Dolly describes him with positive tone as “a nice boy; smart, and he’s got a good job”, we immediately see whom the family envy. They look at his life and see a perfect life, not bound by starvation, drugs, alcohol and abuse.

Later in the play Worru tries to show the family how the old way where, he proclaims “I’ll show you fellas … we danced for the prince of New South Wales”, we sympathies for Worru as he can’t recall the name of the premier and that Australia doesn’t have princes. Additionally “Worru rises and begins a drunken, stumbling version of a half-remembered tribal dance. Peter turns the volume up and continues his own disco dance.” This futher stresses Worru’s disempowerment as he struggles to remember the movements. The word ‘drunken’ also shows that he is a hopeless mess in ultimate sorrow, continuing to reflect on his ‘echo’ of his past. Through stage directions Worru is shone on by “a narrow beam of light revealing Worru alone downstage”, Again we sympathies for him as he is depicted to be the last indigenous Aboriginal struggling to live in the present world.

In Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’, in his “We are glad the Dauphin” speech Henry turns his dis empowerment into empowerment. Shakespeare uses descriptive language in a metaphorical sense in, “When we have match’d our rackets to these balls, / We will, in France, by God’s grace, play a set…/ And tell the pleasant prince this mock of his/ Hath turn’d his balls to gun-stones”, Henry starts war over a simple joke and he crushes the previous words from the Dauphin against him by turning his words against him.

Though Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’ and Jack Davis’ ‘The Dreamers’ diverge in their ideas of empowerment and disempowerment, they are both keenly linked to another, Worru is disempowered as an Aboriginal elder and the Dauphin is also, while Henry is empowered in his war speeches as well as his fellow men. Ultimately they both stay at the disempowering end of the scale.

 Well done, Aaron - great holiday work. You've set yourself up for the upcoming essay.

M