Character Analysis: Charles VI

"Charles is the King of France, husband of Isabel, and father to Catherine and Lewis. In the play, he seems like a decent enough king (although the historical Charles VI suffered from mental illness and was referred to as Charles la Fou or "Charles the Mad").

In real life, Charles played a very minor role in the Battle of Agincourt (his Constable led the French army against the English), but in Shakespeare's play, Charles appears to be a capable political leader. Unlike his son, the Dauphin, Charles never underestimates Henry's threat to his realm. Instead, he orders his troops to fortify Frances "towns of war" and says, "Think we King Harry strong. / And princes, look you strongly arm to meet him [...] and he is bred out of that bloody strain / That haunted us in our familiar paths"(2.4.2). Charles refers here to Henry's uncle, Edward the Black Prince, who terrorized France and caused them "too-much-memorable shame." In this sense, Shakespeare uses Charles as a mouthpiece to praise England. At the same time, we can see that Charles is shrewd and he knows what he's up against. Also, he's no coward and he refuses to back down.

Even after Henry's army defeats the French at the Battle of Agincourt, Charles proves to be a shrewd and diplomatic king. He agrees to all of Henry's terms and signs a peace treaty that puts a (temporary) end to fighting and bloodshed (5.2)."

Reference: http://www.shmoop.com/henry-v/king-charles-vi.html

This interpretation reflects my own as I perceive Charles as a strong leader, unwilling to easily give up his country to England without a fight. This I believe is displayed in his angry approach, threatening to capture Henry as his prisoner and ask for ransom. To me this suggests that in the final scenes, the niceties which are heard from both Kings may not be genuine, with the subtext being that they only make negotiate in order to make peace.

I feel as though he looks also down on his son, the Prince Dauphin, for his naivety underestimating King Henry and playing petty games with him, sending him "the Paris balls" (tennis balls). This I feel is shown with  Charles' wish to keep him in Rouen instead of at the battle, suggesting he may also not fully trust his son.

I get the impression Charles is a strong King who cares for his country but in comparison to King Henry his approach is less hands on and he would not fight in battle with his people unlike Henry, which implies to me his somewhat less heroic. Charles seems to delegate duties to his court, implying that he may not be fully involved and cares more about status than his people. This is also shown when he says they must fight their battle royally and not carefully in Act II, scene 4.