The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 19.0117 Wednesday, 20 February 2008
[1] From: Harry Connors <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Tuesday, 19 Feb 2008 01:59:14 +0000
Subj: Re: SHK 19.0110 Harry, Hal, Henry
[2] From: David Crosby <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Tuesday, 19 Feb 2008 13:32:39 -0600
Subj: RE: SHK 19.0110 Harry, Hal, Henry
[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Harry Connors <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Tuesday, 19 Feb 2008 01:59:14 +0000
Subject: 19.0110 Harry, Hal, Henry
Comment: Re: SHK 19.0110 Harry, Hal, Henry
First, a little personal history here. My given name is "Harry." It
isn't "Henry," "Harold," or anything else. You'll find "Harry" on my
birth certificate. Furthermore, I'm not the first in the family. My
father and grandfather were both "Harrys." Therefore, when I was an
infant, it was awkward for my parents to refer to me as "Harry." So, I
was called "Skip." I didn't lose "Skip" until I went to college when,
like Abigail, I introduced myself as "Harry." To this day, it is
possible to tell whether someone knew me before college by whether they
call me "Skip" or "Harry."
I suspect that Shakespeare imagines Hal/Harry/Henry using names much
like that. Formally, he is "Henry." Friends, and people he wants to be
friends with, use "Harry." Really privileged friends (and those, like
Falstaff, who presume) use "Hal."
And, by the way, Hal, Harry, and Hank are all nicknames for Henry. They
are not nicknames for Harold. Look it up. It's a sore subject for one
who had to endure too many high school teachers who insisted that I was
really a "Harold." Not one came up with the correct "Henry." None,
apparently, knew their Shakespeare.
[2]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: David Crosby <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Tuesday, 19 Feb 2008 13:32:39 -0600
Subject: 19.0110 Harry, Hal, Henry
Comment: RE: SHK 19.0110 Harry, Hal, Henry
Kudos to Don Bloom for bringing the discussion Henry V's nomenclature
down to the solid earth of the text. His observation that only Falstaff
and Poins call him Hal must be the starting point for any further
discussion of the name's significance. All the other speculations seem
fatuous or overblown until grounded in this way. I hope Don's example
will inspire us all to make similar close readings.
Dave Crosby
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