 Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Table of Contents Lord Talbot In Shakespeare’s characterization of Talbot, the core of his heroic identity is his drive toward a godlike transcendence over all that is base and vile, the scorn for death that comes from assurance of fame, and the final configuration of a noble life in the timeless "pattern" of personal aspiration. The portrayal of Talbot depends on an ideal of aristocratic conduct that is indigenous to sixteenth century England. Talbot’s main function in the play is to solemnize the fall of the great English peers, of whom he is the last representative. With Talbot, the playwright creates a context in which to define true heroic virtue. Talbot is a tragically helpless figure, for he is the champion of a cause which higher powers have already decided to defeat. He trusts the fighting qualities of the English soldier. This trust is inevitably confounded; and, so in the end, is his trust in God, whom he had come to know as England’s unfailing ally in the field. The conventional pieties are often on his lips, "God is our fortress," he tells his men and past victories has justified him in thinking so. And when he faces a triumphant Joan, he pathetically inquires of the heavens how they can "suffer hell so to prevail." Talbot’s warlike virtues exist side by side throughout with a stressed and unnatural ferocity. This is the note, which emerges in his threat to the citizens of Bordeaux. But if you frown upon this proffered peace/ you tempt the fury of my three attendants /lean famine, quartering steel, and climbing fire." More crudely it finds expression more that once in the savagery of the earlier action, ‘Your hearts I’ll stamp out with my horse’s heel/ And make a quagmire of your mingled brains." In these lines a note of precariousness is reflected. In other words, it is a sense of civilized life as balanced on the edge of savagery. Talbot’s last words, when the moment of his death comes, balance the craving for immortality against a persistent sense of vanity and impermanence. The positive affirmation of Talbot’s declaration is flawed by its own rhetoric, felt to be poised finally against emptiness. In his last words, there is a presence of a persistent note of tragic irony. For he is asserting emphatically the opposite of what he knows to be reality. The overall picture of Talbot shows much of numerous dimensions. He is a courageous warrior, loyal friend, an undaunted spirit and with it all he has a human heart. He grieves for the death of his friends, the loss of his men and above all cares immensely for his son’s safety. So much so that he urges him to flee, which goes against the code of honor he himself holds so dear. All in all, Talbot is indeed the "Valiant Talbot" and "hero" of this play. Table of Contents | |
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