preview

George Patton And Shakespeare 's Speech

Decent Essays

Imagine thousands of 15th-century English footman plagued with dysentery trying to march the long journey back to their homes after a desperate attempt to gain back land that had been stolen from their beloved country, but their path back home had been blocked by highly skilled french knights, or American soldiers during the climax of WWII planning a full scale allied attack on the German troops who had taken over nearly all of Europe in only three short years. These are the men that the King of England and Lieutenant General George Patton were cursed with motivating. Despite the time difference of nearly half a millennium, similar motivational approaches and techniques were used by the commanders of these armies to lead both of them to …show more content…

This is exactly the feeling that the King is trying to provoke. Although Shakespeare does not necessarily use worth in its traditional way of making people feel important, he sparks competition within his men, which would likely be more effective at such a low point in their war. Similarly, Lieutenant General George Patton needs to motivate his soldiers to fight an equally if not more dangerous battle, but his men were already winning their war so he takes the traditional route and makes them feel more important. He says to his men “All real heroes are not storybook combat fighters, either. Every single man in this Army plays a vital role. Don’t ever let up. Don’t ever think that your job is unimportant. Every man has a job to do and he must do it. Every man has a vital link in the great chain” (Patton 38-40). There is one big difference in the way Shakespeare and Patton used worth. The King 's men were badly losing so their only hope of survival was to compete against each other to stay alive, however since Patton’s men were winning all he had to do was reinforce what they were already worth and they would want to fight. By making each job seem equally important Patton motivates each man to work just as hard as everyone else. Not only does worth have this effect, but also status. Status, much like worth, makes you feel good about yourself, by putting their soldiers above others LTG George Patton and the King, through Shakespeare, motivate their men to want to

Get Access