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TONHOENSELAARS
riddenpast,PresidentBushhasbeenseentoresembleHal,and,likeHenryV,hehas
beenseento“busygiddyminds”withtheattackonAfghanistanshortlyafterhecame
tooffice.
Importantly,itisnotjustjournalistsandscholarsintheUSwhohavecometoadopt
HenryVastheirframeofreference.ThePentagonitselffacilitatedtheassociationor
analogy.InMarch2003,apressreleasefromthePentagonannouncedthatallAmeri-
cansoldiersleavingfortheGulftotakepartinoperationIraqiFreedomweretore-
ceiveabatchofbooks(issuedintheAmericanServicesEditionsseriesdatingfrom
WorldWarII),includingSunTzu’sTheArtofWar,AllenMikaelian’sMedalof
Honor,AndrewCarroll’scollectionofWarLetters,aswellasacopyofShakespeare’s
HenryV.
Inthisconnectionitmaynotbeunimportanttorecallthatontheeveofthesecond
GulfWar,HenryVhadalsojustprovidedthetitleforStephenAmbrose’sglorification
oftraditionalAmericancourageduringWorldWarII,intheformofBandofBrothers
(dir.TomHanks).WhenweconsiderthePentagon’suseofShakespeare’splayagainst
thisbackground,itseemsasifwearewitnessingastrategybywhichtheassociationof
theAzincourtplaywiththewarthatrestoredfreedomanddemocracyinEuropeatthe
mostcriticalmomentinitshistory,wasre-usedtojustifyalessobviousandconsidera-
blymorequestionablemilitarypursuitintheMiddleEast.
RenaissanceMan
Inallthis,itiscurioustonotehowtheVietnamtrauma–rehearsedinsomanyAmeri-
cannovelsandmoviesofthe1970s,1980s,and1990s–seemedratherquicklytohave
beensupersededbytheconvictionthatthearmywastheplacetobe.Interestingly,this
transitionawayfromtheVietnamtraumatosomethingmoremilitarilyconfident,may
alsobewitnessedinShakespeareanterms,atakeymomentduringtheearly1990s.
ThistransitionmaybewitnessedinthemovieRenaissanceManof1993,featuring
DannydeVitoasanunemployedadvertisingagentsentouttobecomeateacherin
aUSarmytrainingcamp.Inchargeofagroupofwilfulstudentsknownasthedouble
D’s(theyoungstersarebranded“dumb”as“dogshit”),DannyDeVito(aliasBill
Rago)firstdecidestoreadHamletwiththem,andlatertakesthemtoseeaproduction
ofHenryV,acrosstheborder,inCanada.
AsRichardBurthasillustratedinhisdiscussionofthemovie,theplotreliesheavily
ontheVietnamtrauma.InasituationthatrecallsprinceHamletandhisfilialduty,the
fatherofoneofthestudentsinDeVito’sclassdiedinVietnam,butneverreceivedthe
creditduetohim.Inthecourseofthemovie,BillRagodiscoversthetruthaboutthe
boy’sfather,andisinstrumentalinprocuringaposthumoussilverstarforthefatherat
theend.
16
16R.Burt,UnspeakableShaXXXspeares:QueerTheoryandAmericanKiddieCulture,NewYork:
St.Martin’sPress,1998,217–218(andpassim).
