Fluellen is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

in the play ''Henry V'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. Fluellen is a Welsh Captain, a leader of a contingent of troops in the small army of

King Henry V of England Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hu ...

while on campaign in France during the Hundred Years' War. He is a comic figure, whose characterisation draws on stereotypes of the Welsh at that time, but he is also portrayed as a loyal, brave and dedicated soldier.

Name

The name 'Fluellen' is an anglicised version of the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

Llywelyn.Innes, Paul, ''Class and Society in Shakespeare'', Bloomsbury, 2007, p. 535. The Welsh sound does not exist in English, but is perceived by English speakers as similar to sequence ''fl''. A similar process of anglicisation can be seen with '' Floyd'' for ''Llwyd'' (''Lloyd'' being an alternative anglicisation retaining the double L, but changing the spelling of the vowel).

Character

Shakespeare adheres to his seemingly common principle of portraying Welsh characters in his plays as basically comedic, offering the audience an opportunity to mock the manners, language, temperament and outmoded attitudes of their Celtic neighbours; compare with Glendower in '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and Sir Hugh Evans the Welsh

Parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term ...

in '' The Merry Wives of Windsor''. All are wordy 'Welsh windbags' with amusing speech patterns and pronunciations, reactionary, overly sensitive and pedantic to a degree. Fluellen's obsession with proper military procedure epitomises this. Fluellen does, however, have some 281 lines in ''Henry V.'' Neither a peripheral character nor merely comic in nature but a character well rounded, he affords humour but avoids buffoonery; generates great affection from the audience; and has poignancy, scope and dramatic range. We see him first as a soldier, albeit driving rather than leading his men into the breach. This appearance comes after the bombastic "Once more unto the breach..." speech delivered by the King as he drives the comic stragglers Bardolph, Nym, Pistol and the Boy toward the enemy. Soon after, his character is fleshed out, with the emphasis on Fluellen's much mentioned "disciplines of the wars", with the first opportunity for a smirk at his accent, mannerisms and delivery (e.g., the Welsh "B" is far less voiced than the English "B", leading English hearers to half-mistake it for a "P", hence, " Alexander the Pig"). Lest there be underestimation of the Welshman's qualities as the play progresses, it is the King himself whom Shakespeare has deliver the words: By the end of the play, the audience comes to share the King's perspective. The affection for the character is secured by Fluellen's words after the miraculous victory at Agincourt, when the French herald, Montjoy, comes to cede for peace. Fluellen's relief and joy bursts out in his exchange with the King, culminating in his tearful "By Jeshu, I am your majesty's countryman, I care not who know it; I will confess it to all the 'orld: I need not to be ashamed of your majesty, praised be God, so long as your majesty is an honest man." At this point Henry refers to his own Welsh origins, declaring "I am Welsh". Another scene towards the end also undermines the mockery of the Welsh Fluellen:

Ancient Pistol Ancient Pistol is a swaggering soldier who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare. Though full of grandiose boasts about his prowess, he is essentially a coward. The character is introduced in '' Henry IV, Part 2'' and reappears in ''Th ...

mocks Fluellen for wearing a leek in his cap on

Saint David's Day Saint David's Day ( cy, Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant or ; ), or the Feast of Saint David, is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March, the date of Saint David's death in 589 AD. The feast has been regularly celebrat ...

, in commemoration of a legendary Welsh victory against the Saxons. Fluellen beats Pistol and makes him eat the raw leek. His comrade-in-arms, Gower, comments, "You thought, because he could not speak English in the native garb, he could not therefore handle an English cudgel: you find it otherwise; and henceforth let a Welsh correction teach you a good English condition."

Origins

The character of Fluellen draws on stereotypes of Welsh characters in the era, and may have been influenced by the character Lluellen (

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last ( cy, Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit=Llywelyn, Our Last Leader), was the native Prince of Wales ( la, Princeps Wall ...

) in George Peele's play '' The Famous Chronicle of King Edward the First''. He may well also have origins based on historical figures who may have been familiar to at least some of the contemporary theatre audience; comparisons have been made between Fluellen and two real life Welsh soldiers. One was Sir Dafydd ap Llewelyn, known as David Gam, a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Welshman who fought for King Henry IV of England and his son against Owain Glyndŵr during the Welsh rebellion of the early 15th century and subsequently accompanied Henry V of England to France where he was killed at the Battle of Agincourt. Gam ("Davy Gam") is mentioned by name in the play as one of the casualties, and thus as clearly a separate person from Fluellen. Another possible source is an

Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...

Welsh soldier of fortune Roger Williams. A national hero in the wars against Spain, he would certainly have been known to audiences at the time the play was written and performed. Williams, who died in 1595, was a close ally of the Earl of Essex, and had been given a large public funeral in St Paul's cathedral four years before the play was written. Julian S. Corbett wrote that Williams "with his professional pedantry, his quaint and forcible turns of speech, his vanity and cool valour, was another 'Fluellen'.". Shakespeare scholar J. Dover Wilson suggested that Fluellen was intended as "a careful and unmistakable portrait—a real portrait—of Sir Roger Williams, the Welsh soldier who had accompanied Essex during the French campaign of 1592 and had died, tended by Essex to the last, in 1595." He went on to claim that this was evidence that the play promoted the Essex's 1599 expedition to Ireland, to which the Chorus specifically refers: "That this old friend f the Earlshould reappear in a stage-representation of Agincourt four years later is strong evidence that the play was intended to be associated with the hope of England." Fluellen and Bardolph are also Stratford names that appear on the 1592 recusant list, alongside that of William Shakespeare's father.Michael Wood: ''In Search of Shakespeare'' 2003, page 96

Actors playing Fluellen on screen

Fluellen has been portrayed by several notable actors such as: *

Esmond Knight Esmond Penington Knight (4 May 1906 – 23 February 1987) was an English actor. He had a successful stage and film career before World War II. For much of his later career Knight was half-blind. He had been badly wounded in 1941 while on active ...

in Laurence Olivier's

film version A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

Ken Farrington Kenneth William Farrington (born 18 April 1936) is a retired English actor. He first came to fame playing the role of Billy Walker, wayward son of publican Annie, in ITV's long-running soap opera, ''Coronation Street''. Following a brief period ...

in the 1960 BBC production ''

An Age of Kings ''An Age of Kings'' is a fifteen-part serial adaptation of the eight sequential history plays of William Shakespeare (''Richard II'', '' 1 Henry IV'', '' 2 Henry IV'', ''Henry V'', '' 1 Henry VI'', '' 2 Henry VI'', '' 3 Henry VI'' and ''Richar ...

'' *

Tim Wylton Tim Wylton (born Timothy Higginson; 27 February 1940) is a British actor best known for his television roles as Stanley Dawkins in '' My Hero'', and Lol Ferris in '' As Time Goes By''. Career As a stage actor he appeared in Zeffirelli's noted 19 ...

in the

BBC Television Shakespeare The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985, it ...

adaptation in 1979 on UK television *

Ian Holm Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert (12 September 1931 – 19 June 2020) was an English actor who was knighted in 1998 for his contributions to theatre and film. Beginning his career on the British stage as a standout member of the Royal Shakespeare Company ...

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus ...

Owen Teale Owen Teale (born 20 May 1961) is a Welsh character actor known for his role as Ser Alliser Thorne in the HBO fantasy TV series ''Game of Thrones''. Early life Owen Teale was born on 20 May 1961, in North Cornelly, south Wales, son of Roy and ...

in 2012 as part of the BBC

The Hollow Crown ''The Hollow Crown'' may refer to: * a passage in Shakespeare's play '' Richard II'' * ''The Hollow Crown'' (anthology), a 1961 work by John Barton * ''The Hollow Crown'' (TV series), a BBC adaptation of Shakespeare plays * '' Hollow Crown'', a 2 ...

series.

Legacy

* The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

had an anti-submarine

naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

named HMS Fluellen * There is a professional theatre company based in Swansea, Wales named after him. Fluellen Theatre Company.

Fluellenism

In his 1974 article, ''On Fluellen's Figures, Christ Figures, and James Figures'', Shakespeare scholar Richard Levin coined the word "fluellenism" to refer to the habit of critics to construct arguments from mere coincidences, when trying to prove that Shakespeare was modelling his characters on real historical figures. The coinage draws on the speech in ''Henry V'' where Fluellen argues that King Henry was a descendant of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

because they were both born in towns with rivers, and that both rivers had salmon swimming in them.

References & External Links

External links

Opensource Shakespeare : Fluellen's lines in Henry VAll Fluellen's lines from Sonnet 116 website
{{Authority control Male Shakespearean characters Fictional Welsh people Welsh army officers Fictional Hundred Years' War veterans Fictional British military personnel