Representations of Boyhood and Manhood in Henry

Representations of Boyhood and Manhood in Henry V and Twelfth Night

William Shakespeare's plays Henry V and Twelfth Night approach the representations of boyhood and manhood in very different ways. Henry V approaches the subject most directly in the play's depiction of King Henry as a good and noble king who is plagued by his need to prove his worthiness to sit on the throne by distancing himself from the frivolous and irresponsible youth that his enemies use against him. Although Twelfth Night offers a variety of characters -- both male and female -- who toy with the meaning of gender, it is the complex relationship between Sebastian and Antonio that perhaps best illuminates the dual ways in which boyhood and manhood can be represented.

The titular character of Henry V serves to represent both boyhood and manhood in the play. King Henry spends much of the play demonstrating to his subjects, advisers, and enemies that he is not the wayward youth that they remember. The manner in which Henry V remains caught between adolescence and adulthood is demonstrated when the Dauphin sends him a crate of tennis balls in Act I. The Prince is attempting to mock King Henry by reminding him that he was once a callow youth who cared more for games than for statesmanship. The King reacts with extreme anger, telling the messenger to "tell the pleasant Prince this mock of his/Hath turned his balls to gunstones" (Henry V, I.ii.281-82). Essentially, the King is blaming the Dauphin for the warfare that will follow, suggesting that it is the Dauphin's cruel gesture that will create "a thousand windows" (I.ii.284). His extreme reaction implies that despite his growing maturity, the King is still a young man in many ways, and not so far removed from his boyhood after all.

Twelfth Night addresses the issue of boyhood and manhood in a vastly different manner. Whereas Henry V directed most of its interest at King Henry himself, exploring the ways in which he attempts to prove that he has attained the maturity necessary for a king, Twelfth Night investigates the various ways in which masculinity can manifest itself. This includes Viola's incarnation as the cross-dressing Cesarino, and her brother Sebastian's sexually-charged relationship with Antonio. Gender roles in this play are ambiguous, to say the least, which causes dramatic tension, humor, and cases of mistaken identity. The differing expectations of boyhood and manhood are especially prevalent in the relationship between Sebastian and Antonio. While Sebastian looks at Antonio as his protector, the man who has kept him from harm and tended to his needs in the wake of the shipwreck, it becomes clear as the play progresses that Antonio has more adult feelings for his young friend. For example, when Antonio says to Sebastian "I could not stay behind you: my desire/More sharp than filed steel, did spur me forth" (Twelfth Night, III.iii.4-5), he is referring metaphorically to his sexual desire for Sebastian. Antonio has put himself at considerable risk by travelling to Ilyria with Sebastian; however, as love has left him blind to his personal peril, Sebastian is equally blind to his benefactor's passion -- still in his boyhood, Sebastian lacks the maturity to see Antonio as anything other than a father-figure.